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At twice the permitted height, 16-storey proposal up in the air at Dunlop, Henry

'Can you just clarify why you feel on this site it’s appropriate to ask for twice the height?' asked Mayor Jeff Lehman
22-09-2021 16storeys
Four views of the 16 storey apartment building that could go in Barrie's Ward 2.

Sixteen storeys could be the future look of less than an acre of land at Dunlop Street West and Henry Street near downtown Barrie.

A public meeting was held Tuesday night on a rezoning application for a mixed-use residential apartment building with 124 rental units, 11,320 square feet of commercial office and retail space on the bottom two storeys, surface parking and two levels of underground parking at 284 and 286 Dunlop St. W., as well as 119 and 121 Henry St.

Only Matt Barton, who lives on Henry Street, had questions about the proposed development at Tuesday’s meeting.

“I’m just curious of the timeline… and also I want to bring up the lack of low-income housing in Barrie,” he said. “I’m curious what the rent is going to be for this apartment building, because there are already a lot of higher-end apartment buildings in Barrie and there’s not a lot of low-income housing.

“I rent this house by myself for very cheap,” Barton added. “I’m going to have to move out of the city because an apartment building here is getting built.”

Coun. Keenan Aylwin, who represents Ward 2 where the proposed project is located, asked what’s being done to meet Barrie’s Official Plan goal of 10 per cent affordable housing in all new developments.

MHBC Planning's Kory Chisholm, representing Arten Development Group, said there were no defined affordable units in the mix, but apartment sizes could lend themselves to lower-income renters.

What’s being proposed are 28 one-bedroom units, 72 two-bedroom units, and 24 three-bedroom units.

Mayor Jeff Lehman asked about the 16 storeys of height.

“You are seeking about twice the height that’s permitted under the zoning bylaw,” he said. “Can you just clarify why you feel on this site it’s appropriate to ask for twice the height?”

Chisholm mentioned city's intensification and tall-building policies. 

“It does push those taller buildings, both within the city centre and along those five intensification corridors that radiate out almost like spokes on a wheel,” he said. “Then we have intensification nodes at certain key intersections along those, and those are anticipated for higher levels of intensification… at those kind of key spots. 

“This is one of those nodes and at one of the major exits off the (Highway) 400, acting as a gateway into the downtown," Chisholm added. 

The rezoning application is from general commercial and residential multiple dwelling first density to mixed-use node with site-specific provisions. The rezoning application does seek variances from the zoning bylaw  a reduced landscaped buffer, in commercial parking spaces and in the  minimum outdoor amenities space on site, along with additional maximum height, Chisholm said.

This 0.87-acre property is four rectangularly shaped lots located at the north side of Dunlop Street West and south side of Henry Street, west of Anne Street and east of the Highway 400 corridor. 

The land is currently occupied by a two-storey commercial building and parking area fronting Dunlop Street West, and two storey-and-a-half single-detached residential dwellings fronting Henry Street.

It is also located within the Dunlop and Anne street primary intensification node, and along the Dunlop Street West primary intensification corridor.

A public meeting is one of the first stages in Barrie’s planning policy.

Planning staff are targeting the first quarter of 2022 for the report on this rezoning application coming to planning committee. If approved, a subsequent application for site-plan control would be required.