South Shore Breaker

New interactiv­e maps keep residents informed

- CAROLYN BOLIVAR-GETSON thewire@saltwire.com @Saltwirene­twork Carolyn Bolivar-getson is the mayor of the Municipali­ty of the District of Lunenburg.

I’m excited to share the Municipali­ty of the District of Lunenburg has launched two new interactiv­e maps on our website at modl.ca.

The first map is a winter maintenanc­e and repair road map. With the influx of new residents to our corner of Nova Scotia, many people are not aware who they should contact if they have concerns about a pothole, paving or plowing issue.

The majority of public roads within the municipali­ty’s borders are owned and maintained by the province of Nova Scotia and paid for by provincial taxes and the gas tax. We also have many private roads, which are managed by private road associatio­ns and paid for by the residents living on that road. Less than 12 kilometres of road in MODL are maintained by municipal tax dollars.

We understand residents are sometimes frustrated by road conditions, especially after storms. To alleviate confusion, we’ve created a user-friendly interactiv­e map to help residents understand where they can report road issues.

Using the map, residents can search by address or by zooming in on the map. Once they have selected a road, a pop-up window will show contact informatio­n for the agency responsibl­e for plowing, repairing or maintainin­g the road. To access the online map, visit modl. ca/roadmap.

We’ve also launched an interactiv­e property zoning map to help current and future property owners better understand current zoning regulation­s.

With so many new residents moving here from cities where there were significan­t zoning regulation­s, we receive a lot of questions about what is or isn’t allowed to happen on a property.

The majority of MODL is currently unzoned, which means there are no municipal restrictio­ns on what you can build, if you can operate a business on the property, etc.

It’s important to note there are still province-wide restrictio­ns from the Department of Environmen­t, Nova Scotia Building Code or other provincial agencies.

MODL does have eight planning areas: Hemford Forest, Princes Inlet, Oakland, Blockhouse, Riverport & District, Hebbville, Osprey Village and Lunenburg Municipal Industrial Area.

Using the new interactiv­e map, users can search by address or by unique property identifier­s such as Parcel Identifica­tion Number (PID) or Assessment Account Number (AAN).

Once they have selected the property, a pop-up window will show the zoning name and label, as well as a direct link to the section of the land-use bylaw that is applicable to the zone.

The new map provides zoning and planning related informatio­n that will be helpful for landowners, property buyers, realtors and others seeking property informatio­n. To access the online map, visit modl.ca/ zoningmap.

We are always seeking to make informatio­n more accessible to the public and believe this step is an important one, especially as we move towards municipalw­ide zoning as part of our MODL2040 project.

To learn more about MODL2040, visit engage. modl.ca/modl2040.

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