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Shore v. Town of Georgina - decision

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In 2018, William Shore appealed the Town of Georgina's approval of a proposed draft plan of subdivision, arguing that the development failed to conform with relevant Official Plan and Secondary Plan policies concerning tree preservation and compensation. He contended that the Town had not adequately considered the ecological significance and functions of trees that would be removed, that the required replacement planting was insufficient, and that compensation should maintain the carbon sequestration capacity of the lost trees. Shore also argued that the subdivision had been approved without proper consideration of climate change and that the design failed to take sufficient advantage of passive solar-heating opportunities.

In response, the developer submitted expert planning evidence showing that environmental studies had been conducted by Beacon Environmental and reviewed by the Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority (LSRCA) and the Town. These studies informed tree preservation, compensation, and ecological offsetting measures incorporated into the draft plan conditions. The expert evidence further stated that climate-change considerations had been addressed through woodland protection, tree-compensation requirements, compact subdivision design, and proposed energy-efficient home construction. 

The Town and LSRCA were satisfied that the proposal complied with applicable municipal, regional, and provincial planning policies.

Shore v. Town of Georgina

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An aim to achieve a quantifiable outcome within a given time-frame, set by an institution such as a national government.

Policy instruments are techniques or tools used by governing authorities to promote certain policies in order to achieve predetermined goals. Put simply, instruments are how a government tries to achieve its goals, with this taxonomy being focused on national policy instruments.

Risk is the potential for adverse consequences resulting from the dynamic interplay between (climate-related) hazards, exposure, and vulnerability of affected human or ecological systems.

Groups  of people who are adversely affected by climate change or the response to it

A set of principles, processes, and practices that build economic and political power to shift from an extractive economy to a regenerative economy.

Justice is the ethical and political framework that addresses fairness, including issues of responsibility, rights, and structural inequity.

Renewable energy means all forms of energy produced from renewable sources in a sustainable manner.

Fossil fuel is a generic term for non-renewable energy sources such as coal, fossil gas, and oil (including crude oil, and petroleum products), that can be used for electricity and heat generation. Fossil fuels are hydrocarbons formed from pressurised and heated organic material buried over millions of years.

Molecules in the atmosphere that play a key role in the greenhouse effect by trapping heat radiating from Earth’s surface.

Area of the economy in which actors engage in identical or related activities.

In human systems, the process of adjustment to actual or expected climate change and its effects, in order to moderate harm, increase resilience or exploit beneficial opportunities. In natural systems, the process of adjustment to actual climate change and its effects; human intervention may facilitate adjustment to expected climate change and its effects.

The management and allocation of funds, assets and investments to meet various objectives

Zoning and spatial planning are both methods for guiding the distribution of people and activities in a space, and are regulatory restriction.

Actions or measures to adapt freshwater systems to climate change.

Actions to adapt and increase the resilience of rural and urban infrastructure and settlements to climate change.

Actions or measures to adapt freshwater, coastal and marine systems to climate change.

Production of electricity and heat from solar irradiation.

Activities that involve planning, designing and building infrastructure, residential, and commercial structures.

Activities that provide lodging, food, and entertainment services to guests, including hotels, restaurants, and resorts.

Activities of government agencies and institutions that provide public services, enforce laws and manage public resources.

Shore v. Town of Georgina - decision

Policy instrument

Renewable energy

Economic sector

Adaptation/resilience