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City planners want help looking into the future

'It's going to chart the course for the future. We really want this to be a plan that is for Barrie and by Barrie,' says planning director Andrea Bourrie
2019-01-16 Official Plan open house
Barrie residents are being invited to drop-in workshops to provide input on the city's Official Plan. One such open house was held on Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2019 at the Allandale Recreation Centre. Raymond Bowe/BarrieToday

What will Barrie look like in the next decade or two?

The city's planning staff want to do what residents want, so they are hosting drop-in workshops, including another one tonight at the Dorian Parker Centre at Sunnidale Park. 

Andrea Bourrie, the city's director of planning and building services, was in attendance on Wednesday night at the Allandale Recreation Centre to walk residents -- and a reporter -- through some of the finer points about what the city is trying to achieve. 

"The Building Barrie Official Plan Project is probably one of the most important policy initiatives that the city has undertaken in the last 10, 15 years," Bourrie said. "It's going to chart the course for the future. We really want this to be a plan that is for Barrie and by Barrie."

That means input from people are all ages and backgrounds, particularly young people. 

Bourrie said city staff to make the policy "flexible and reflective" of what is coming, but also respecting and protecting the past. 

"The city has changed a lot," she told BarrieToday last night. "There's population, but it's not just the population. It's also about the kind of services, the kind of land uses, the type of protection we need to offer."

The city's Official Plan hasn't been updated in several years, Bourrie said. 

"It does get updated and reviewed about every five years, but it actually hasn't been formally updated in 10 or 15 years," she said. 

The document will also touch on the Hewitt's and Salem secondary plan areas, massive swaths of former Innisfil land that the province handed over to Barrie to accommodate growth several years ago, which are also part of the review. 

"There could potentially be some tweaks to those policies, as necessary," Bourrie said. 

Many residents have been engaged. 

"We've been getting some really great feedback," said Bourrie. "We're hearing from people about how they recognize the city is maturing, it's becoming more urban. We've been hearing a lot about making sure people can get around the city; different types of housing and housing affordability has been a big focus, too."

Other topics have included safety and "vibrancy" in the downtown, Bourrie added, as well as waterfront protection and the build form used in construction, particularly as it relates to intensification. 

"We've had a lot of good feedback from residents saying they know we need to grow up," she said. "They just want it to be in the right location and they want it to be well done. They want really good urban design and lots of really good public places that people can visit."

The city has been posting drop-in workshops where local residents can provide input on a wide range of topics, from transit and taxation to servicing and sustainability. 

Another workshop will be held Thursday evening at the Dorian Parker Centre at Sunnidale Park. A similar meeting was also held before Christmas. 

For more information or to participate online, visit www.BuildingBarrie.ca

The information gleaned at the meetings and through the website will be organized with focus on various themes and then presented to council. More public consultation is expected to happen before next summer. 

Bourrie and her department hope to have a recommended Official Plan in front of council before next Christmas. 

The province must approve the city's Official Plan, which will be followed by a Zoning Bylaw review in 2020.