The National Capital Commission (NCC) has developed new draft guidelines that aim to improve its land use and design approval process for projects on federal lands in the Capital Region. The draft guidelines are a major step toward modernizing the NCC’s planning framework, the NCC says in a news release. “The goal is to achieve design excellence through greater policy clarity and a simplified, more predictable approval process.”
In order to support the NCC’s role of co-ordinating and approving projects related to federal lands and buildings in the Capital Region, the guidelines lay out design expectations to proponents, before projects are developed. The use of design guidelines is considered a best practice in the fields of planning and design, as they provide predictability and transparency to proponents.
“By modernizing the planning framework, we hope to improve service delivery by engaging clients earlier in the process and ensuring that projects gain value through our design review process,” NCC chief executive officer Mark Kristmanson said in the statement.
The NCC will be consulting with stakeholders in the coming months on the following draft guidelines:
- Archaeology
- Views Protection and Enhancement
- Planting
- Landscapes Surrounding Buildings
- Shorelines and Wetlands
- Modifications to Non-Heritage Buildings
- Security Installations
- Lighting
Additional guidelines are currently in development, and will be brought forward at a later date.
