Monday night, Barrie urged the county to reconsider its strategy, which calls for an employment zone along Highway 400 through Innisfil and Bradford West Gwillimbury (BWG), as well as additional employment land for the Alliston area.
The county’s proposal also directs population growth to Innisfil, New Tecumseth, BWG, as well as, but to lesser degrees, Wasaga Beach, Collingwood and Clearview.
“In nearly 10 years, I never ever have had someone approach me and say, ‘Wow, it looks like you guys listened.’ They said they wanted us to do something about sprawl - and you’ve gone ahead and done it. It’s a huge achievement for the county,” said the county’s growth consultant, Antony Lorius, of Toronto-based Hemson Consulting.
Over the past two weeks, the county has hosted three public forums, which attracted 500 people, to garner public input on the plan that will be used to make the county’s Official Plan - the long-range planning document - conform to Ontario’s Places to Grow, which requires sprawl to be contained, agricultural land to be protected and the construction of complete communities (which make better use not only of hard services such as water and sewer, but soft ones, such as transit and recreational facilities).
“The concerns of the development community are the same we’ve heard before,” said Lorius, that the provincial caps are too low and the density targets, which call for 50 people and jobs per hectare, are too high.
“The province will have to be there to help us defend this. While the public is very supportive of change, perhaps they’re not aware of how big a deal this is, with the wide range of interests in Simcoe County.”
The proposed plan, if approved, could hamper development of an array of project proposals already submitted throughout the county, and could result in an Ontario Municipal Board appeal.
“The pressure is for higher growth allocations. We’re not recommending we challenge the (provincially imposed) allocations and constraints - of 667,000 people and 254,000 jobs. What is abnormal is the level of public support we have been receiving,” the consultant said.
County politicians, however, want provincial assurance that the province will support the county when such an appeal occurs. “We want the province as an ally. This plan is coming down on an accelerated real estate market,” said Lorius. “It’s a political discussion we need to have with the province.”
But when it comes to politics, Barrie has come out strongly against the county’s proposed plan.
“We don’t believe the proposed plan conforms to Places to Grow. As well, it fails to address the issues of Barrie’s needs, economically and its role as an urban growth centre,” Barrie Coun. Barry Ward told the county committee Tuesday.
