Proposed Essa Road development sparks concern

Barrie is growing by leaps and bounds, to the point almost where people are beginning to worry about such growth, where it’s taking place, and how fast.

In a contentious – at times, raucous – meeting Tuesday night at Holy Spirit Roman Catholic Church on Essa Road, residents aired their concerns about high-density development in the southwest corner of the city.

The bone of contention is a slate of buildings on Essa Road, immediately off City View Circle, near Veterans Drive, across the street from a mini-mall which is host to a Shoppers Drug Mart, among other stores. The area is already a high-traffic one, and with more development, would increase in pedestrian and vehicle traffic, and the potential for mishaps.

Developer Sean Mason of Sean Homes has applied to amend the current zoning of the lands at 405 Essa, currently zoned Agricultural, to Residential Multiple Dwelling Second Density to permit the development of 12 back-to-back townhouse units and four block townhouse units. The density proposed for the development is 59 units per hectare.

Residents told Mason, city and other officials they were upset at the prospect of four-storey buildings towering over current houses on City View, many of them bungalows, citing privacy and noise concerns. A few pressed Mason to consider lowering the target to three storeys, and planting newer trees behind a privacy fence to minimize noise from Essa Road.

Some among the 40-or-so residents – most of them calling City View home -- were quite direct in expressing style concerns of past projects, including exterior colour schemes, and others suggesting structures are being put up in a slapdash manner to save time and maximize profit. Some scoffed at the idea that the three-week period before the development's presented to city council constituted enough time to hear from everyone concerned.

Quite a few attendees quarrelled with what they saw as reluctance to hear public input, calling out officials as to whether they had actually been to the proposed development site, suggesting the scheme is impractical in its current form.

At least one current City View resident confided to BarrieToday that, despite assurances to the contrary, she believed decisions had already been made and added some neighbours are considering selling their homes to escape the aggravation.

The proposed development of 405 Essa Road will be presented to city council on Monday night, February 26, and residents vowed to make their voices heard.