The vision for Barrie between now and 2051 — to take this city to 298,000 people and 150,000 jobs — is now on the horizon.
More than three years in the works, the process for a new Official Plan (OP) is at last grinding to halt.
The new OP will be formally debated by councillors in February and could be approved by month’s end
“The job of the Official Plan is to set the vision for years to come,” said Michelle Banfield, the city’s director of development services.
“We have marching orders from the province," she added. “We have to look this far into the future and we have to plan for people and jobs.”
Between the fall of 2018 and now, there has been significant consultation with the community, property owners, stakeholders by way of open house, town hall and workshops about the OP.
And a municipal comprehensive review needed to be done.
“How much land do we need to accommodate the people and jobs,” Banfield said. “How do we fit them in our municipality? Can we service them? Do we have the infrastructure? And not just water and wastewater (sewer), not just the pipes in the ground — parks, libraries, fire halls, community centres.”
She also said this OP is not going to be the only one which defines land use in Barrie between now and 2051. The Planning Act requires that municipalities look at their Official Plans on a regular basis.
Banfield took questions from Barrie councillors at the Jan. 18 planning committee meeting, and one request was to clarify the changes between the current OP and the new document, which is of considerable size.
The draft OP itself is 230 pages, its consultation and engagement summary is 615 pages, the long-term urban land needs study is 276 pages and the report on servicing growth 79 pages.
Coun. Clare Riepma has asked for better clarity — a map or a document that is very consumer friendly, telling people exactly what the changes to the OP are going to be.
“I think it is important for the public to know what the changes are,” he said Monday. “I don't want someone to come to council in six months and say ‘I didn't know about that.’
“That is why I asked for a ‘consumer-friendly’ memo so that everyone can understand easily what the changes are.”
Barrie Mayor Jeff Lehman said he anticipates there will be many last-minute submissions from different organizations as well as different landowners who have an interest in seeing a change in the plan.
“This is often what happens with Official Plans, a flurry of last-minute requests as the rubber hits the road,” he said. “One of the biggest challenges that council can be faced with is rather than having to deal with 100 one-off requests, from individual properties, trying to stay out of the weeds, as we should, as city council, and yet be fair to all and keep the best interests of our residents in mind.”
The mayor did ask how the new OP moves Barrie closer to being a complete community, and avoids the city becoming a bedroom community — a place where people live but work elsewhere.
“That is what we heard from our community,” Banfield said. “Our community wants us to be urban and complete.”
She cited the importance of urban design, mobility, the waterfront, a green city, resiliency and responding to climate change.
“Those main themes of the Official Plan didn’t come from me, they came from our community,” Banfield said. “What I like about some of the policies in the Official Plan is that we’re talking about contextual planning, true community planning.
“And if you have a development we’ve got policies that say what’s happening 450 metres around you (because) it’s going to impact how high you should be or how dense you should be. So all of these pieces go together.”
The new Official Plan is expected to be on planning committee’s agenda at the Feb. 8 meeting.
