Given the large amount of businesses in the area and the site’s “severe grading challenges,” a long-vacant chunk of land at Little Avenue and Yonge Street would be better suited for condos than commercial, city councillors heard Monday night.
A public meeting was held last night at Barrie City Hall to discuss a proposed residential development there.
Mason Homes is looking for zoning bylaw and Official Plan (from general commercial to residential) amendments at 410 Yonge St. and 343 Little Ave., to build a 153-unit condominium townhouse development.
The development would feature 15 standard townhouses; 36 back-to-back units, three storeys in height within the development; 76 back-to-back stacked townhouses four storeys in height along Yonge Street; and 26 reverse frontage units three storeys high along Little Avenue and Firman Drive.
Jared Dykstra, in a presentation on behalf of Mason Homes, said the property owner has not been able to find a leaser in almost three decades since the subdivision construction was completed. He said it might be better suited to residential versus its zoned commercial use.
One of its main downfalls, Dykstra said, is the substantial downward grade of the property, which slopes down significantly from Yonge Street.
Michelle Banfield, the city’s manager of growth and development, said the planning department is looking into the proposed change from commercial to residential and how it could affect the area.
Coun. Mike McCann asked Dykstra about their study into commercial uses in the area.
“When I drive down Yonge Street and I look to the right … it’s filled with commercial units. A new Starbucks just got built,” McCann said. “Further down Yonge Street, there’s a whole slew of commercial that are all filled, there are no vacancies. So I’m just wondering, is this the real reason why you want to switch to residential?”
Dykstra said Mason Homes has tried for 30 years to find a tenant for the site, who noted the 16.5-metre grade change “is real.”
“The reality is, most retail establishments want to have viewing ability from the street,” he said. “When your stores are located one sometimes two storeys below the street, you’re not attracting people to drive into a development. It’s not considered a viable retail location.”
McCann asked city staff for more information in commercial demand in the area.
Banfield also said about 25 people attended a neighbourhood meeting on Nov. 28 where concerns included traffic patterns, parking and the site plan.
The only entrance to the complex, if approved as designed, would be from Firman Drive.
No one from the audience spoke about the proposal.
A city staff report is expected to come back to general committee in early 2019.
