Restrictions around building on Prince Edward Island’s shorelines have been in place for almost two years, and a Progressive Conservative MLA wants to know when that will change.
The province signed an order prohibiting new development in certain areas on the Island, including buffer zones, until a formal policy could be put in place. Those restrictions have been in place since December 2022.
“I’m really pushing toward this. This can’t continue to drag on. There’s got to be a solution,” backbench PC MLA Matthew MacKay said in the legislature Thursday.
“They’re frustrated that it’s dragging on so long because after every year they’re seeing their bank diminish or their property line diminishing.”
Since the order in 2022, permits related to new development in the coastal buffer zone were stopped.
Some development is still allowed with a permit, including:
- Critical infrastructure repair and protection.
- Repair to existing erosion control structures damaged by post-tropical storm Fiona.
- Provincial or federal erosion control structures required for the protection of public infrastructure.
- Projects that receive a provincial environmental impact assessment approval.
The province is working with UPEI’s School of Climate Change and Adaptation to develop a new coastal zone policy.
In late 2023, the centre released a report outlining 16 recommendations to inform the government’s future decisions about coastal development.
