Ours to enjoy ... ours to protect
History
The Resort Village of Echo Bay is located around a sheltered bay on the northeast shore of Big Shell Lake, a small lake approximately 697 hectares in area. the land consists of a portion of Section 8-49-8-3, within the area of the Rural Municipality of Spiritwood.
The Resort Village of Echo Bay was formed from a private leasehold cottage development that was subdivided to provide titled lots in 1977, and subsequently expanded by stages in 1978, 79, 80 and 83. The area was designated as an Organized Hamlet in 1980 and incorporated as a Resort Villages in 1982 to achieve local control over municipal development and taxation. In 1987, the Resort Village contained 153 cottage lots.
Over the period of 1986-87, a Lake Management Plan for Big Shell Lake was conducted by UMA Engineering Ltd., in association with J.D. Mollard and Associates on behalf of the three municipalities abutting the lake: the Resort Village of Echo Bay and Big Shell and the Rural Municipality of Spiritwood. the plan formed a background for [the] Basic Planning Statement and the Statement embodies the basic principles and recommendations of that plan as they apply to the Resort Village of Echo Bay.
Council supports the concepts of the Lake Management Plan and will work with the other two municipalities towards its implementation.
Goals
The goals of the Resort Village of Echo Bay describe the main emphasis for future development of the community. These goals provide the framework for the objectives and policies of Council in the Resort Village of Echo Bay.
The planning and development goals of the Resort Village of Echo Bay are:
1. To protect and enhance the environmental quality of the Resort Village and its surrounding region for the primary purpose of developing a recreational/residential community for its citizens.
2. To provide for the orderly and appropriate development of land, consistent with and complementary to the primary purpose of the community, by reason of appropriate size, superior quality and proper location of recreational development.
3. To ensure that development on Big Shell Lake remains within the capacity of the environment to absorb that development in co-operation with its surrounding municipalities.
Residential Development
It is recognized that the potential for further development of new cottage sites on Big Shell Lake is very limited by the size of the lake. The Resort Village of Echo Bay considers that, with the development of the remaining subdivided lots, the desirable number of residences within the Resort Village will have been reached. Therefore, Council is not in favor of added cottage subdivision development in the municipality beyond the number of lots existing in 1987. The primary functions suitable for the remaining lands within the municipality are considered to provide recreational space, to serve as a buffer to the agricultural lands near the lake and for municipal uses accessory to the function of the Resort Village.