Development permits: An emerging policy instrument for local governments to manage interface fire risk in a changing climate

Development permits are planning tools that local governments can use to manage development, protect the environment and address local health and safety issues. The system can be used to combine management of zoning, site planning and minor variants into a single process. More than a dozen communities in British Columbia and Alberta have begun to use development permits to control the extent, nature and location of new residential development in the wildland-urban interface, establishing an emerging policy instrument for local governments to address the risk of loss from wildland fire and ensure that communities are safe places to live, work and play. Of interest in this report is the emerging role of local government planning officials.