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The form of such legislation varies fromprovince to province. In Prince EdwardIsland and Newfoundland and Labrador,some of the larger municipalities are subjectto their own particular legislation (e.g. theCharlottetown Area Municipalities Act andthe City of St. John’s Act), with theremaining municipalities being covered by ageneral municipalities statute. In NovaScotia, all legislation relevant tomunicipalities, including planning legislation,was combined into the MunicipalGovernment Act (“MGA”) in 1999. HalifaxRegional Municipality (“HRM”) has its ownHRM Charter. All municipalities in NewBrunswick are governed principally by asingle municipalities act.While the form of the legislation may vary, insubstance, most municipalities acrossAtlantic Canada have very similar powersand responsibilities. Municipalities aregoverned by elected councils, which aregenerally empowered to enact regulationsor by-laws governing matters such as waterand sewage, land use, buildingconstruction, fire prevention, street lighting,parking, recreation, community economicdevelopment, animal control, heritagebuildings, noise and other nuisances, andadministration of the municipality, all ofwhich are commonly referred to as “local”matters. Municipalities are also oftenconsulted by the relevant provincialauthority in the context of other areas ofprovincial jurisdiction, such as liquorlicensing.Municipal by-laws (and/or administrativeorders) are available for examination atmunicipal clerk offices. Unofficial versions ofmunicipal by-laws of most major centres arealso published or available through eachmunicipality’s official website. However, theparticular municipality should always beconsulted directly, to confirm the nature ofany relevant regulation or by-law that mayexist.DEVELOPMENT AND PLANNINGLand use planning and development controlare governed by provincial planninglegislation in all the Atlantic provinces.Planning legislation provides for thedevelopment by municipalities of municipalplans which set out statements of policywith respect to the future development anduse of land, including such factors asconservation, abatement of pollution,development of communications andtransportation systems, and provision ofmunicipal services. Municipalities aregenerally prevented from undertaking futuredevelopments in a manner that isinconsistent with their municipal plans.In Nova Scotia, the MGA includes sixProvincial Interest Statements, andmunicipalities may not adopt a municipalplanning strategy ( “MPS”) that isinconsistent with a provincial Statement.Nova Scotia also has provincial SubdivisionRegulations which apply to everymunicipality and they set out the frameworkfor subdividing land; municipalities may alsoenact their own subdivision by-laws.In addition to the municipal plan,municipalities are often required to adopt adevelopment scheme setting out in greaterdetail whether certain lands are to bedesignated for industrial, commercial, orresidential use. Zoning by-laws adopted bymunicipalities must be consistent with theirmunicipal plans and development schemes.Municipal Law 141