The first firm step in developing Barrie’s old fairgrounds property was taken Wednesday night by city council.
It gave final approval to a motion supporting a community infrastructure and housing accelerator (CIHA) application to the province, which could lead to building more than 4,000 residences on 55.3 acres at Highway 400 and Essa Road.
The CIHA gives Ontario’s minister of municipal affairs and housing the power to make orders to respond to municipal requests to speed approvals of rezoning, in this case from highway industrial to residential and open space.
Coun. Jim Harris, who represents this part of Barrie, noted the lack of recent opposition to the CIHA application from area residents.
“The people in the area are reasonable and rational and they’re understanding and not against having something built,” he said.
Ryan Windle, Greenworld Construction’s vice-president of land development, said the project adds to Barrie’s housing stock, is in a designated growth area, an intensification corridor, close to the Allandale Waterfront GO station, addresses the provincial housing goal of 1.5 million new homes by 2031, and Barrie’s housing pledge of 23,000 new units by then. It also redevelops a brownfield property.
“We want to get it right, too,” he said. “Our plans have been created by experienced planners, engineers and an internationally renowned architect that has significant experience in designing similarly scaled developments.
"We certainly believe in this plan, at this stage, to provide at least a proof of concept for the zoning," Windle added.
The motion for a CIHA application passed by an 8-2 margin of councillors.
“The CIHA is the way to go,” said Coun. Gary Harvey. “There are just too many big, moving parts that the province needs to step in and make those decisions.”
Ontario’s transportation and education ministries could also figure in the zoning decision.
“I think this gets things moving, and hopefully gets a shovel in the ground in the next couple of years,” Harvey said. “Whereas if we don’t go this route, I’m not confident that we would see much movement on this for several years.”
Coun. Bryn Hamilton and Coun. Amy Courser voted against the CIHA application.
“We’re sitting with a blank canvas,” Courser said. “If we can turn around, I want to turn around. I think there are way too many unknowns.”
“This is a development we want to get right,” Hamilton said. “We don’t want to screw this up. This is massive.”
The city should still have some control of what gets built there, as council added to the motion that the province be requested to send the plans back to the city for draft- and site-plan approval. Both plans show what goes where on a parcel of land, from buildings and roads to sidewalks and parks.
Also added to the main CIHA motion is that there be direction from the Ontario ministries of municipal affairs and housing, education and transportation, as this residential development has potential school sites and transportation concerns — on Essa Road, for example.
Council also directed staff to investigate the use of the rail spur extending from the future Allandale transit hub, which is now being built at Essa Road and Tiffin Street, to the fairgrounds for use by Barrie Transit for public transportation.
A motion by Harris that the CIHA cannot be transferred to another landowner was added last night. The Ward 8 councillor also noted 40 per cent of property would be green space or school space. Windle said the density would not increase.
“The challenge for us, with the levers we have, is the multi-ministry complexity that we don’t have the authority to solve,” Harris said. “So this is why the CIHA.”
The CIHA order could eventually lead to the construction of 4,054 residential units, school blocks and parks for 175 and 199 Essa Rd. and 50 Wood St.
Within 15 days of passing the council resolution, the city must submit the request to the minister of municipal affairs and housing with the required supporting information. The minister would undertake a review and has the sole authority to issue a CIHA order and to impose conditions on that order.
A CIHA order cannot be appealed and there is no required timeline to issue a decision.
Norman Speake, a director with the Barrie Curling Club (BCC) board, asked that the CIHA motion to be deferred until it’s known that Greenworld’s plans satisfy city zoning standards.
“The developer and BCC have yet to come to an agreement,” he said. “There is an awful lot that needs to be done to sort this out.”
The Barrie Curling Club is located on the fairgrounds property and has a long-term lease, meaning it must be part of Greenworld’s development plans there.
“The BCC building facility, its size and utilization will remain in its current location,” he said in a Feb. 26 letter to the city cited in his deputation. “However, the lands associated with its use such as access, parking, pedestrian and vehicle circulation, loading, garbage removal, landscaping, lighting and servicing, etc., will require reconfiguration as a result of the proposed development, street patterns and zoning bylaw amendment.
“At this time, it is not known or can be confirmed, whether the proposed (zoning) is capable and can satisfy (zoning) standards, city urban design standards, (Ontario) Fire Code regulations and all servicing requirements," Speake added.
Craig Busch, of Vision Barrie, also made a deputation to council on the CIHA application. He asked council to defer its decision for 60 days, while Greenworld works with the city to create a development beneficial to Barrie.
This would include a pedestrian urban village with minimums for retail, restaurants, offices space and pocket parks, along with a public transit using road and rail, and a service road along Essa Road and Highway 400 with pedestrian areas between two rows of skyscrapers.
Also to be considered could be increased density with five-storey buildings instead of townhouses.
After the 60 days, the city would approve or decline the CIHA process based on the quality of the development presented, Busch said.
“I think we’ve gotten a little distracted,” he said, mentioning the school site and Barrie Curling Club. “I think we are so looking in the future with the other things we have to deal with that we’re not looking at what sort of development we’re actually getting for Barrie.
“When we get it, we’re going to regret it,” Busch added. “We are going to regret this.”
Greenworld asked the city to support the CIHA order and initiate the application.
That order would support the development of 4,054 total residences — highrises, mixed-use highrises and townhouses, along with commercial uses and a school block. That breaks down to 13 residential towers of 15 to 40 storeys, 113 townhouses and 98 three-storey townhouses.
Also proposed in the new development is 196 parking spaces for the townhouses and 3,260 spots for the highrises, including those in a five-storey parking podium. There could be a public/private park almost a half-acre in size and walking trails.
Commercial uses would front Essa Road, and there would be no development on the Wood Street property, which includes Hotchkiss Creek. It would be for stormwater management and open space uses.
The development proposed includes two new city access points from Essa Road and Anne Street.
The Simcoe County District School Board and Simcoe Muskoka Catholic District School Board have collectively requested approximately 12 acres of developable land for future schools there. Greenworld has identified six acres in its CHIA submission.
If neither school board exercises the option to build a school in this development, the property would be given to the city at no cost for parkland as part of Greenworld’s parkland dedication requirements. This could mean Campbell Avenue residents would back onto either a park or a school.
City planning staff support the application for a CIHA order because the proposed development would contribute to the number and variety of residential units available in Barrie, and say the land use and planning approvals should be efficiently addressed to ensure the construction and occupancy of this project as soon as possible.
A CIHA can be used to regulate land use and the location, use, height, size and spacing of buildings and structures to permit certain types of development. The requesting municipality is responsible for providing public notice and undertaking consultation and ensuring the order, once made, is available to the public.
The minister can provide an exemption for other necessary planning-related approvals from provincial plans, the Provincial Policy Statement and municipal official plans, if specifically requested by the municipality, and impose conditions on the municipality and/or proponent.
