Glossary

• Author: Howard Epstein
• Pages: 561-605

561

GLOSSARY

AAC: annual allowable cut, or allowable annual cut, in forestry

Abandonment:the act and intention to relinquish certain l and-use rights,

for example, non-conforming use rights

Abutting:touching and sharing a common point, line, or boundary

Accessibility: the quality of affording access to a building

Accessory building: (term often used and def‌ined in LUBs) detached

subordinate building not used for human h abitation and located on the

same lot as the main building or use to which it is subordinate

Accessory use. See also Accessory building: use of land naturally or cus-

tomarily incidental to the principal use; not the same use as the princi-

pal use, since that would just extend it into the accessory building; see

Sechelt (District) v Cutlan, 2008 BCCA 368

Acquired rights: (Quebec term) non-conforming use; see Land Use

Planning and Development Act, CQLR c A-19.1, s 113; see Saint-Romuald

(City) v Olivier, 2001 SCC 57

Adaptation: changes made to respond to external circumstances, for ex-

ample, climate change

Adaptive reuse: change in use of an older building, particularly to pre-

serve buildings of heritage signif‌icance

Addition: structure physically attached, added, or connected to a bui lding

LAND-USE PLANNING562

Adjoining: abutting

Adult entertainment: goods, entertainment, or services designed to ap-

peal to erotic or sexual appetites; see Ontario Municipal Act, 2001, SO

2001, c 25, s 151(2)

Adverse environmental ef‌fect: any signif‌icant adverse effect on the

components of the natural environment that may reasonably be antici-

pated; see Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, 2012, SC 2012, c 19,

s 52, ss 4 & 5

Aesthetics: having to do with beauty or taste; aesthetics has been rec-

ognized as a legitimate municipal concern

Af‌fected local government: local government subject to a provincially

mandated regional grow th strategy; see British Columbia Local Govern-

ment Act,RSBC 2015, c 1, Part 13

Aliated municipality: one that is part of an agreement establishing a

joint planning district; see Saskatchewan Planning and Development Act,

2007, SS 2007, c P-13.2, s 94

Agricultural land reserve: land (usually Class I agricultural land) set

aside for agricultural purposes only; see British Columbia Agricultural

Land Commission Act, SBC 2002, c 36

Agricultural use: one of the usual categories of zoning uses; see Surrey

(City) v Holden, 1995 CanLII 1930 (BCSC)

Air pollution: discharge of a pollutant into the ambient ai r; may be from

a discernible point source or non-point source; that is, discharged over

a widespread area from a number of small sources

Air rights: right to use, control, or occupy the space above land; see

Windsor Family Credit Union Ltd v Barat Estate,2010 ONSC 4418

Allowable annual cut: harvest rate or volume of timber permitted to be

taken each year from timber supply areas; see Forest Act, RSBC 1996, c

157, s 173

Alteration permit: permission to make change s to a designated heritage

building; see Vancouver Charter, SBC 1953, c 55; Heritage Conservation

Act, RSBC 1996, c 187

Amalgamation. See also Annexation: blending or fusion of the whole

or part of two or more municipalities to become one. Although special

legislation is sometimes enacted for large amalgamations, the process

of adjustment to borders is not infrequent, and a standard statutory

Glossary 563

framework is usually in place to deal with applications; see MacPump

Developments Ltd v Sarnia (City) (1994), 24 MPLR (2d) 1 (Ont CA)

Amenity: pleasant or useful feature; tangible or intangible benef‌its of

a property, especially those that increase its attractiveness or value, or

that contribute to its comfort or convenience; see Karagic v Calgary

(City),2012 ABCA 309

Amortization: requiring a non-conforming use to be phased out over

time; a policy choice found in the United States but not yet in Canada

Ancient light: (UK term) right to light; a common law right not to be

deprived of natural daylight illumination through windows; see Colls v

Home & Colonial Stores Ltd, [1904] AC 179 (HL)

Annexation. See also Amalgamation: The process of one municipality

seeking to incorporate a part or the whole of an adjacent one; see Innis-

f‌il (Township) v Barrie (City) (1977), 80 DLR (3d) 85 (Ont Div Ct)

ANSI: area of natural and scientif‌ic interest

Antenna structure: telecommunications tower

APA: American Planners Association

Apartment building: (term often used and def‌ined in LUBs) structure,

usually of three or more self-contained rental dwelling units, but not a

hotel; see Pearson v Adams (1914), 50 SCR 204

Appurtenant: belonging to, annexed to, or appended to; see Edmonton

(City) v LA Ventures Inc, 1999 ABQB 649

Arcade: long arched gallery or building; series of arches with their col-

umns or piers; passageway or avenue, for example, between shops

Architectural control district: a designated area in which a municipal

council controls the architectural det ail of buildings; see Saskatchewan

Planning and Development Act, 2007,SS 2007, c P-13.2, s 73

Area redevelopment plan: municipal plan for preserving or improving

land and buildings, rehabilitating buildings, removing buildings, or con-

structing or replacing buildings; see Alberta Municipal Government Act,

RSA 2000, c M-26, s 634

As-of-right: entitlement of the owner of property to use or develop it,

without recourse to a public hearing process or a vote of municipal

council, if the proposed use accords with the zoning by-laws

ATV . See also ORV: all-terrain vehicle