BILL NO. 95

(as introduced)

1st Session, 60th General Assembly
Nova Scotia
55 Elizabeth II, 2006

Government Bill

Municipal Government Act
(amended)

The Honourable Jamie Muir
Minister of Service Nova Scotia and Municipal Relations

First Reading: November 9, 2006

(Explanatory Notes)

Second Reading: November 17, 2006

Third Reading: November 23, 2006 (LINK TO BILL AS PASSED)

Clause 1 adds a definition of "transit facilities."

Clause 2 removes the requirement for the term of office for a warden to be adopted by policy.

Clause 3 removes the requirement for the term of the office of a deputy mayor or deputy warden to be determined by policy.

Clause 4

(a) adds to the by-law making authority of a municipality the power to recover the cost of solid-waste management facilities and transit facilities; and

(b) changes "transportation facilities" to "transit facilities."

Clause 5 substitutes "vendor" for "owner" to clarify that when a purchaser pays taxes on a property the purchaser has bought, the taxes include the vendor's business occupancy tax. This Clause is retroactive to April 1, 2006.

Clause 6 provides authority for the Minister to appoint an Assistant Provincial Director of Planning to perform the Provincial Director's duties when necessary.

Clause 7 provides authority for a land-use by-law to regulate the floor area ratio of a building which had been contained in the old Act.

Clause 8 provides authority for a development officer to discharge a site plan.

Clause 9 clarifies that the development officer rather than the municipal council discharges the site-plan.

Clause 10 adds to the exemption for municipalities that the disposal of Provincial streets or the consolidation of Provincial streets with adjacent land is not subject to subdivision approval.

Clause 11 adds that a municipal council may transfer funds from the sale of land that is no longer needed to be used for parks, playgrounds and similar public purposes, to non-profit organizations that provide the same.

Clause 12 adds "new or expanded transit facilities" and "new or expanded solid-waste management facilities" to the list of capital costs that can be recovered by an infrastructure charge under a subdivision by-law.

Clause 13 adds that two original copies of the approved final plan of subdivision are to be sent to the registry, one of which is to be filed.

Clause 14 adds by-law making power to regulate or prohibit access to controlled access streets.

Clause 15 removes the requirement for "personal" service to allow for a broader range of methods of serving a person, consistent with other provisions in this Act regarding service.

Clause 16 extends the protection from disclosure of information under the Freedom of Information and Protection and Privacy Act contained in that Section, to a municipality's collective agreement.

Clause 17 provides that the Act comes into force on proclamation.

1 Section 3 of Chapter 18, as amended by Chapter 9 of the Acts of 2000, Chapter 6 of the Acts of 2001, Chapter 35 of the Acts of 2001 and Chapter 9 of the Acts of 2003, is further amended by adding immediately after clause (ca) the following clause:

(caa) "transit facilities" includes a bus, a bus terminal, a bus shelter, a bus bay, a parking lot, a ferry, a ferry terminal and a ferry dock;

2 Subsection 12(2) of Chapter 18 of the Acts of 1998, the Municipal Government Act, is amended by striking out ", by policy," in the third line.

3 Subsection 16(2) of Chapter 18 is amended by striking out ", by policy" in the second line.

4 Subsection 81(1) of Chapter 18, as amended by Chapter 7 of the Acts of 2004, is amended by

(a) adding immediately after clause (b) the following clauses:

(ba) solid-waste management facilities;

(bc) transit facilities;

and

(b) striking out "transportation" in the fourth line of clause (g) and substituting "transit".

5 Subsection 131(4) of Chapter 18 is amended by

(a) striking out "owner" in the fifth line and substituting "vendor"; and

(b) striking out "owner's" in the fifth line and substituting "vendor's".

6 Section 192 of Chapter 18 is amended by adding immediately after subsection (2) the following subsection:

(3) The Minister may appoint an Assistant Provincial Director of Planning to perform the duties of the Provincial Director subject to the Director's supervision and direction.

7 Subsection 220(4) of Chapter 18, as amended by Chapter 9 of the Acts of 2000, is further amended by adding immediately after clause (k) the following clause:

(ka) regulate the floor area ratio of a building;

8 Section 232 of Chapter 18, as amended by Chapter 9 of the Acts of 2003, is further amended by adding immediately after subsection (4) the following subsection:

(5) A development officer may, with the concurrence of the property owner, discharge a site-plan, in whole or in part.

9 Section 234 of Chapter 18 is amended by striking out "discharged by council" in the fifth and sixth lines and substituting ", in the case of a development agreement, it is discharged by council and, in the case of a site-plan, it is discharged by the development officer."

10 Clause 268(2)(f) of Chapter 18, as enacted by Chapter 9 of the Acts of 2003, is amended by adding "or Her Majesty the Queen in right of the Province" immediately after "municipality" in the first line.

11 Subsection 273(5A) of Chapter 18, as enacted by Chapter 7 of the Acts of 2004, is amended by

(a) striking out "subsection (5)" in the first line and substituting "subsections (5) and (13)";

(b) striking out "subsection (5)" in the first line of clause (a) and substituting "subsections (5) and (13)"; and

(c) striking out "subsection (5)" in the first and second lines of clause (b) and substituting "subsections (5) and (13)".

12 Subsection 274(2) of Chapter 18, as amended by Chapter 9 of the Acts of 2003, is further amended by

(a) striking out "new transit bus bays" in the second line of clause (e) and substituting "new or expanded transit facilities"; and

(b) adding immediately after clause (d) the following clause: