FARM 2025: Weber, Huron County work to find a planning balance
BY SCOTT STEPHENSON
For too many Ontarians, the first time they encounter a municipal planner is the moment they need something from one, whether it be a minor bylaw variance or a major zoning change. But planners do so much more than just suggest that your idea needs a bit of a rework; local planning departments play a vital role in maintaining healthy rural communities, especially in agriculturally-rich places like Huron County, where a balance must be struck between development and the protection of prime farmland.
Rural planners are responsible for helping communities to manage land-use changes and growth, so that our communities can be healthy and prosper. But who makes plans for the planners? In Huron County, that honour goes to Sandra Weber - the Director of Planning and Development. Although Weber works everyday to keep our collective future on the right track, she was kind enough to oblige The Citizen’s request for a sit-down at her office in Goderich for an informative overview of what her department is all about.
In Huron County, the planning services are shared between the county and the nine local municipalities of which it’s comprised. In a nutshell, it’s Weber’s job to lead an entire team of planners who do both policy work and review development proposals, in order to ensure that the work is in line with the strategic priorities of Huron County Council. “In municipalities, we have limited resources, so it’s important to make sure that we’re all rowing in the same direction,” she explained. “We work alongside residents, stakeholder groups, and municipal councils to develop policy directions for how and where we grow. And how and where we grow matters.”
Most people know planners as the people who review their individual requests for variances to the rules set out by the zoning bylaws. And that is a big part of their jobs - each application that comes through, be it big or small, is thoroughly reviewed by planners before a recommendation is made. “We look at balancing the interest of individual applications with the interest of the broader community and the goals of the community, and a part of that is ensuring compatibility between various land uses,” she explained. “So, as an example, the separation distance requirements between a new barn and a house, for odour purposes… I think the land-use planning side of things is very interesting and exciting, because we work with property owners, and sometimes they will come in with just a very preliminary thought, idea, concept for a development that they want to do. And we get to work with them throughout the process so we can see it right from that initial stage of an idea through the process to actually seeing it built and occupied. And then we can sort of see how it fits into the community. So that's exciting!”
But planning isn’t just about helping people figure out if their current desires align with the best interests of their community. “We also look at the longer term protection of resources, such as agricultural land and our natural areas,” she said.
Weber knows firsthand how important it is to protect farmland. “I’ve always had a connection to the rural community,” Weber told The Citizen. She grew up on a farm just outside of Brussels, where she loved driving tractors and tolerated picking stones. “That’s probably every farm kid’s least-favourite chore,” she explained.
Weber has carried on with her family's farming tradition - she lives on a small beef farm, just outside of Belgrave. All three of her sons were in the 4-H Beef Club when they were younger, and showed calves, both locally and at the Royal Winter Fair in Toronto. Now, Weber is beginning to develop a succession plan for her farm. “We are fortunate to have kids that want to take over our farming operations. It’s super exciting to have them involved, and they’re hard workers, they’re passionate about it. And just to see that carry on to the next generation is really great.”
Being the Director of Planning and Development isn’t all about planning - it’s also about development. And Weber likes that element of her job just as much as the rest of it. “I think the community development side of my work is equally as rewarding,” she said. “Because I get to work with a lot of different stakeholders and partners across the community… I think I am very much a people person and planning and development is sort of about understanding the needs and goals of the community and what helps to improve their lives and their livelihoods. So it’s a unique opportunity to really get to know the community that you work in.”
Currently, the Huron County Planning Department is engaged with a variety of initiatives, including Take Action for Sustainable Huron Committee, the Water Protection Steering Committee, and the Huron Clean Water Project. “So we call that more on the community development side of things,” she explained. “For the Huron Clean Water Project, we work with two partner conservation authorities, and it provides funding to property owners for stewardship projects on their own properties, like planting trees or putting in cover crops or hiring registered professional foresters to help them to manage their wood lots or add value to their commercial harvests… if anyone wants more information, they can find it on our county website. It’s a really successful and well-used project, especially by the agricultural community.” The department also provides forestry and stewardship and climate change services across the county.
But planners don’t just pull their recommendations out of thin air - there are various levels of government actually setting out the legislative framework for all the planning policies and processes within which planners must work. “Planners rely on some key legislation from the province,” Weber pointed out. “There’s the Planning Act, there’s the Provincial Policy Statement. And then our own county and local official plans and zoning bylaws. And that provides the direction and the requirements for development across the county.”
Whenever planners are asked to give a recommendation, they start by consulting all these legislative documents. They also don’t work alone. “Quite often, that is a team approach in that there would be staff from the local municipalities, public works, and CAOs, and building officials, that might also participate in those meetings so that they have all of the information that they need. And then, of course, we consider input from the public and neighbours when making our recommendations, as well as agencies and municipal staff. We consider the impacts of development on resources, such as agriculture and natural areas. Another important part of it, especially now, when we have more development happening across the county, is making sure that we’re in-step with infrastructure in the community.”
Once all of the relevant information has been collected and organized, it is provided to local councils. “Local councils make the final decisions,” Weber said. “So planners make recommendations, local councils make the decisions.”
One challenge facing planning departments these days is keeping up with the recent sweeping changes made to legislation on the provincial level. “There’s been lots of changes over the last five years,” Weber pointed out. “And I think their recent changes to the Planning Act and the Provincial Policy Statement have focused on streamlining development approval processes in response to the housing shortage. They need to have flexibility for more housing and different types of housing. That can be done as of right now, without the need to do a planning application. So, just moving right onto the building permit stage… in the agricultural areas, where residences are permitted, there can be two additional residential units, subject to certain criteria. So I think that is probably a good change for the agricultural community who is looking for opportunities for housing for succession planning, family members, farm workers. So, to be able to do some of that housing, where it’s appropriate as of right without having to come for a planning application, I think is beneficial for folks.”
Another provincial-level change designed to help farmers is allowing for on-farm, diversified uses to be established on farms to help supplement farm incomes. “It’s things like home occupations, home industry, agri-tourism type businesses. And any sort of value-added to the farm products, like food processing. Examples of that could be an on-farm machinery repair shop, or a winery, or a cidery. And the province has a whole guide for municipalities on permitted uses in agricultural areas. It’s another opportunity, in locations where it’s appropriate and it’s not sort of negatively affecting the farming.”
Yet another big change that’s happened in the last few years - the province has changed appeal rights to the Ontario Land Tribunal. Weber broke down what that means for the average citizen. “Say, for example, for a neighbour to appeal someone’s planning application. So I think that for us that that means making sure that people participate early in the process and let their concerns be heard at the local level so that there’s maybe some opportunity to try to address their concerns, because they no longer have the right to appeal that to the higher level, which is the Ontario Land Tribunal. So that was a big change.”
Many of the changes implemented by the province are being done in the name of expedited housing development, a pressing issue that Weber’s department deals with on a daily basis. “We have already recognized the need to review our Official Plan and zoning bylaw, and all of our planning documents across Huron County, with a housing-friendly lens… if anyone is curious how to add additional residential units to their property, they can reach out to the building official or the planner for their local municipality and we’re happy to to talk about that. The county also has done a series of housing videos that shows different forms of housing that have been built across the county, and if anyone’s interested in looking at those videos, they’re on the county website under ‘How We Grow’”.
When Weber first decided to go into planning, she attended the University of Waterloo, but found that the program’s focus on urban planning didn’t quite align with her core interests; she wanted to help plan the future of a community like the one in which she grew up. “I really love the rural community and sort of the close-knit way that people support each other and family in rural communities,” she admitted. “I think once I got to the city, I realized that I really missed home… so, when I had a chance to apply for a student position with the county, I did that and came here. I worked all five of my student co-op terms here, which was a really unique opportunity, and I was very, very thankful for the chance that I got to come back home and work with a team of planners in Huron County that are really passionate about agriculture and community. While I was working here, they encouraged me to go back to school and do my masters in Rural Planning and Development from the University of Guelph. So that is what I did.”
Attending Guelph turned out to be the right move - Weber knew right away that rural planning was where it’s at. “I think it requires a broader knowledge and some innovative solutions, sort of based on the fact that resources are often limited in smaller, rural municipalities. Rural planners often work in municipalities with a larger geographical area and sort of a wider range of uses. In Huron County, we have agriculture, we have natural environment, we have aggregates, we have lakeshore, we have urban settlement areas.”
At Guelph, she also had the opportunity to learn from some truly great professors, including Dr. Wayne Caldwell. “I know he was featured in your ‘Salute to Agriculture’ edition last year!” Weber exclaimed. “He was my thesis advisor, so it was really great to work with Wayne. I had previously worked with him when he was a planner in our department here.”
While a good education is an important part of the job, being a great planner takes more than book smarts, it’s just as important to know how to effectively communicate with the general populace. “Planning can sometimes be complex or technical,” Weber explained. “I always sort of think about it, like, if I was explaining the planning process to my parents, would they have understood what I was talking about? Both when we’re writing and speaking, it’s always in the back of our minds - ‘like, is our audience understanding what we're saying? Because that’s so important, you know? And I think many of our planners would tell you that it’s the interaction with the public that they like the best. They like meeting with people, talking to them. They like trying to help them figure out the right process or the right path to take with something.”
But planners don’t just spend their time making plans for a healthier future for the community outside their offices, they’re also actively planning for the future of their own department through their student mentorship program.
“It’s really great to have those young students here, to give them a good learning experience, and for them to know that they can go away to school and come back, and there will be a rewarding career here for them…. I think we’re a very optimistic group. I think we understand the need for growth in communities, and we’re always trying to look for ways to be supportive and to help that growth happen. So, I think the future is very bright.”