230 CO M MISSION OF CONSERVATION 



A local authority may consider that certain restrictions on the height 

 of buildings may be necessary to secure the amenity of part of its dis- 

 trict in the interests of the majority of property owners, yet the higher 

 buildings might be the more beautiful. A scheme may require that 

 factories shall only be erected in a certain part or zone of a district, 

 because that is most pleasant and agreeable to the majority of the 

 residents, yet the effect may be to destroy more natural beauty by 

 this restriction than if it were not imposed. Reasonable restriction 

 by a local authority on the use of property may be applied without 

 being deemed to injuriously affect the property — and therefore with- 

 out being a subject for a compensation claim — but if a scheme involves 

 the acquisition of any property by a local authority, such as the pur- 

 chase of the site of a historical landmark or an open space, the market 

 price of the property would of course have to be paid. 



The Principal Contents of Development Schemes in 



Rural Areas 



Practically anything connected with the development of 

 land can be included in a development scheme under a planning and 

 development act. Only by this means can development be planned 

 comprehensively, and its various parts be considered in relation to 

 each other at the same time. Even those matters which are the sub- 

 ject of general provincial statutes or by-laws should be permitted to 

 be varied by the provisions of a scheme. This is an additional reason 

 why the final approval of the scheme must rest with the provincial 

 authority. The following outline gives an indication of some of the 

 matters which may be dealt with : — 



(a) Fixing varied widths of streets and roads; altering or 

 closing existing highways; determining building lines or set-backs 

 of buildings according to a comprehensive scheme for a large 

 area. The relationship between the street and the character 

 and density of the buildings to be erected upon it should be 

 taken into account. 



(b) Reserving land for new main thoroughfares. 



(c) Limiting the number of dwelling houses to be erected 

 per acre and prescribing the amount of any lot which may be built 

 upon in order to ensure ample light and air for all buildings and 

 healthy housing conditions. 



(d) Prescribing zones in urban parts of rural areas within 

 which to regulate different degrees of density and height of build- 

 ings, according to local conditions. 



