A chunk of Cumberland Street in the Allandale neighbourhood will remain residential, but two properties will be rezoned commercial in an effort to kick-start redevelopment along Essa Road.
City staff had been looking at rezoning several properties along Cumberland Street to commercial, but at Monday night's meeting, council whittled it down and decided only to rezone a pair of properties.
As part of the Essa Road-Bradford Street Corridor Plan, the city was looking at rezoning eight properties, including 9, 11, 13, 15, 19, 21, 27 and 31 Cumberland St., which include several homes on the north side between Essa Road and William Street.
Last night, the plan was amended to have only 9 and 11 Cumberland rezoned commercial, while the others will stay residential.
Coun. Jim Harris, whose ward includes Allandale, said he walked Cumberland Street on Saturday and talked to residents to get a clearer picture of what redevelopment could entail. He said it was still a mix of people who wanted more commercial, and others who thought it would cause too many changes to their neighbourhood.
The adjoining properties at 7 and 9 Cumberland St., Harris noted, have a split zoning, with one side already being commercial and the other residential. However, by also including 11 Cumberland in the commercial rezoning, it lines up with a lot line on the block toward Gowan Street. The building at 5 Cumberland is also already commercial.
"Protecting residential for the rest of the street would be a good compromise," he added.
A late addition to last night's agenda, neighbourhood resident Cathy Colebatch said while there needs to be redevelopment along Essa Road, she did not think it should extend along Cumberland Street, where homes are important to the character and culture of the area, while also "telling its story."
"These have stood for more than a hundred years, some as old as 135, and are in good shape," Colebatch said. "Century homes in our neighbourhood are being revitalized every day by caring homeowners."
After the meeting, Harris told BarrieToday he hopes the zoning changes that were approved will help create a more "walkable" community in Allandale, which years ago had its own grocery store, a pair of banks, a hotel and a men's clothing store, while also being close to the lake. Much of that is now gone.
"It was a vibrant little downtown," Harris said, adding he'd like to see the potential return of businesses such as delis and coffee shops.
How any redevelopment in the area would look is still subject to site-plan approval.
"What we were able to accomplish (Monday night) effectively supports the effort for redevelopment, which everybody is really excited about," Harris said. "There's no debate about the need to see Cumberland improved and revitalized."
Following last week's meeting, there was split concern that too much of Cumberland Street being rezoned commercial wasn't a good thing, while others thought disallowing any commercial along the side street was also a bad move, Harris said.
"People (in the neighbourhood) felt it needed revitalization and they were seeing some of the deterioration because nothing had been happening on the street," he said. "So I think this was a nice compromise to making the area attractive for development, while also maintaining and respecting the residential transition that they wanted to see.
"It's exactly what I heard from the residents, that they wanted balance," Harris added. "They didn't want to do anything that would inhibit the potential for it to be redeveloped. The commercial revitalization has fallen behind the residential. You see it on Essa Road, where it needs a refresh, and the same with Gowan."
The Allandale Waterfront GO Station (and the city's future transit hub) is located just to the north on Gowan Street, which also currently includes several commercial uses.
As reported by BarrieToday in June, city planners have been looking at ways to revitalize the Essa Road corridor, from Mapleton Avenue all the way down to Allandale. City planners foresee Essa Road to Bradford Street as a gateway to the downtown and waterfront, becoming a complete community with mixed uses and building types in a compact design.
The Essa-Bradford Corridor Study takes into account provincial growth targets. In 2017, Barrie had a population of 147,000 residents and 73,000 jobs. Projections show the city will increase to 210,000 people and 101,000 jobs by 2031, and 253,000 residents and 129,000 jobs by 2041.
