Guardians Of Growth: Additional Options For Enforcement Of Development Agreements

The Planning Act, C.C.S.M. P80 (the "Act") provides the legal framework for municipalities to manage land use and development in a way that promotes orderly growth and sustainable communities. One of the critical components of The Planning Act is the ability of the municipality to request that the Developer enter into a development agreement with the municipality as a condition of subdivision (section 135), re-zoning (section 81), variance (section 98(1)) or conditional use (section 106(2)).

While various conditions can be included in the development agreement (see section 135 of the Act (subdivision) and section 150 of the Act (re-zoning, variance and conditional use)), the focus of this article is how to ensure your development agreement is enforceable and protects the interests of the municipality. How can the municipality enforce against a developer or subsequent landowner when the development agreement terms are not respected? How can the municipality best