A proposed eight-storey building along Dunlop Street West could be a catalyst for further development in the Anne Street area, or it could be too much for the neighbourhood.
A public meeting was held Monday night at Barrie City Hall to discuss a mixed-use building with 96 residential apartment units, including one- and two-bedroom units as well as a pair of commercial units, at 233-245 Dunlop St. W., one block east of Anne Street.
The property, which backs onto Milligan’s Pond and Bunker’s Creek, is just over one acre in size.
Most of the developable area is vacant, in addition to a small house to the west.
The MDM Developments proposal requires both Official Plan and zoning bylaw amendments.
Cameron Sellers, from Innovative Planning Solutions, made a presentation on behalf of MDM Developments. He said the properties are located within a primary intensification area.
“The development makes efficient use of the lands and is near existing infrastructure,” said Sellers, adding it also addresses the city’s need for more rental units, while also being close to transit routes.
The project would “rejuvenate” the land and be a “catalyst” for future revitalization along Dunlop West, Sellers added.
A women’s shelter had once been slated for the vacant property, but it never came to fruition.
Steve Ferguson said he lives in the old home belonging to Audrey Milligan for whom the pond is named after donating land to the city.
“If she were alive today, she’d be awfully upset over this proposal,” he said. “I also think the building is much too high. I can see maybe a three-storey proposal, but that’s crazy. Eight. That’s just not feasible to people in the area.”
Andrew Gameiro, with the city’s planning and building services department, said the application remains under review, including its impact on local traffic. It will also be subject to site-plan approval.
Gameiro said the project will also require a 20-metre setback to the flow channel of Bunker’s Creek, plus a six-metre buffer, to be rezoned as an environmentally protected area.
City resident Al McNair, a member of Nature Barrie/Brereton Field Naturalists’ Club, spoke of some concerns with the proposal about tree removal.
“We have a long history of use and involvement with the Milligan’s Pond, Bunker’s Creek property,” he said, adding he would like to see an urban forest management plan. “It’s clear that preserving existing trees around the city wherever we can is beneficial on a whole range of issues.”
A staff report is expected to back to council early in the new year.
