Last Updated: July 10, 2008
MASTER PLAN SECTION
Master Plan Document
- Master Plan Highlights
To find specific sections within the Master Plan, refer to the following pages: - Neighbourhoods - Page 25
- Views & Special Places - Page 31
- Wetlands, Green Areas & Wildlife Corridors - Page 30
- Linkages to Village - Page 32
- Roads - Page 33
- Lot 4 Concept Plan - Page 24
- Lot 9B Concept Plan - Page 23
The Master Plan – Trilogy’s “big picture”
When a substantial amount of information about the Trilogy lands had been assembled, the land planning work began in earnest. At this stage, the developer, project leader, planners, and engineers put their professional expertise together, and begin to sketch out various scenarios that address the specific physical, environmental, infrastructure, transportation and market aspects that they have learned about the land.
Looking at each lot’s position with respect to its neighbouring lots and to the surrounding landscape, an overall “Conceptual Structure Plan” starts to emerge. This plan summarizes the characteristics of each lot, identifies its best land use according to its characteristics, and lays out the proposed land uses in a natural flow from one lot to another and to adjacent Village or rural properties.
The end result of months of documentation and sketches, together with several hundred hours of back-and-forth discussion, is the Master Plan. This is a document that conveys the “big picture” of Trilogy’s intentions to the Village, showing proposed land uses, environmentally sensitive and “off-limits” development areas, infrastructure, stormwater management and transportation strategies, suggested greenway and accessibility links, and the approximate balance between built areas and open space/ green space.
A framework for today; a roadmap for the future
Much like a large-scale road map provides a general overview at the beginning of a journey by showing various destinations, important features of the landscape, and the routes between them, Trilogy’s Master Plan provides a guide to its proposed development at build-out, and is used as a framework for the rest of the development process.
The Master Plan summarizes the comprehensive planning process, but it is only the beginning of Trilogy’s journey at Cumberland. Conceptual as it is, it paints the first picture of what a substantial part of the Village might look like ten to fifteen years down the road, and starts the process of making formal Municipal applications so that the next stages of the development process might proceed.
Demonstrating the principles of Smart Growth
Incorporating Best Practises in land use planning, infrastructure, and environmental stewardship, Trilogy’s Master Plan follows the precepts of Smart Growth development as follows:
- It introduces new Commercial and Residential to the Village, helping to expand the Village tax base and create new economic opportunities.
- It balances land use between Commercial and Residential; introduces a “Mixed Use Commercial” designation to assure that the development has the flexibility to meet changing market demands and absorption capabilities.
- It creates walkable neighbourhoods and links these neighbourhoods back to the Village core through a series of trails, bike paths and new roadways.
- It identifies and is committed to maintaining and/or enhancing all critical wetlands and marshes, and all creeks and fish habitats.
- It preserves a substantial amount of existing green space, including the environmentally sensitive areas noted above, plus important wildlife corridors, new and existing trails, new green buffers, and many existing forest remnants.
Conceptual Structure Plan
This Plan represents the beginning of the formal Master Plan work. For an enlarged view, click here.
Learn More
For those persons interested in learning more about the Master Plan process and some of its elements, click on the following links.
- The Developer’s Dilemma
A Holland Barrs presentation on land use planning and sustainability, with good insights from both a developer’s and a community’s point of view. Suggests building sustainability from the inside out, and using it as a ‘brand differentiator”. - The New Suburb
An interactive site by National Geographic which shows how a community can avoid sprawl by learning from the "Main Street" model. - This is Smart Growth
A U.S. based publication that illustrates how good master planning and responsible development has improved the quality of residents’ lives in 40 rural and urban communities. - Visualizing Density
A very interesting learning tool for understanding the concepts and benefits of well-designed compact development.
For those persons interested in learning more about sustainability issues, explore the following links:
- Treehugger
A chic forum of new ideas, products and information about climate change and sustainability. -
The Sustainability Report
Issues and trends shaping Canada’s health, economy and environment.