Plans to redraw Barrie’s boundaries to absorb neighbouring land are still being redone.
A city memo issued Wednesday offered the latest update.
“Hemson Consulting has completed their draft scope of work, and the provincial land facilitator has circulated the draft report for comment,” said Michael Prowse, Barrie's chief administrative officer (CAO). “The City of Barrie staff have provided initial comments and are awaiting next steps in the process from the provincial land facilitator.
“Once formalized, a further update will be provided to council,” he added.
The memo was not discussed at Wednesday evening’s affordability or general committee meetings.
Barrie city council unanimously passed a direct motion Dec. 11 its members say stems from a joint land-needs analysis and study by Hemson Consulting, a Toronto firm.
The motion is that given the information contained within the joint needs analysis and study stage one and two, completed by Hemson Consulting, the City of Barrie’s experience with developable land within the city’s boundary and historical experience with the 2009 Innisfil boundary adjustment, the initial land-request proposals to the townships of Springwater and Oro-Medonte be reassessed to better respect and identify the city’s demonstrated need for vacant land required for comprehensive community employment land and residential housing, in order to meet provincial targets.
And that an updated request to include the Little Lake area land in addition to the 4,000 acres of gross land, be forwarded to the province and provincial land facilitator with a request for this matter to be dealt with quickly.
Also, that Mayor Alex Nuttall and the CAO continue with the meeting identified by the provincial land facilitator to negotiate an update to Barrie’s border with neighbouring municipalities and staff report back on Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025 with the scope of work to proceed with stage three, to identify Barrie’s border with neighbouring municipalities, and that as part of the report back, staff verify the developable industrial land needs identified by Hemson.
Barrie’s initial land-request proposal to Oro-Medonte was for 772 hectares, or almost 1,908 acres, east of Penetanguishene Road, south of Gore Road, west of Line 1 South and north of the Shanty Bay rural settlement area. This land consists of active farmland and environmentally sensitive features, the township says.
Barrie has also targeted three parcels of land in Springwater for boundary expansion, totalling 1,324 hectares or almost 3,272 acres.
Hemson has estimated Barrie has 793 hectares, or 1,960 acres, of vacant industrial land, although city staff say that number should be trimmed by 20 per cent because of a new definition for "employment land."
The direct motion also includes conclusions from the Hemson report in its preamble. This includes that there is a need for an additional 930 hectares (2,298 acres) of land for comprehensive community/employment area uses and residential development in Barrie, which could be addressed through a boundary adjustment.
And of the vacant land identified within Barrie, the natural heritage areas that exist within these vacant lands, with several of the parcels of land being vacant within Barrie’s existing boundary, and as a result of them being undevelopable, was not addressed as part of the Hemson report.
A review of the 2009 Barrie-Innisfil boundary adjustment changed Barrie’s boundary to include 2,293 hectares of land, with 61 per cent of it being developable and the remaining being natural heritage/environmentally protected.
And a review of the data, the direct motion reads, says it’s reasonable to consider that approximately 60 per cent of land within a new expanded area would be developable.
As Barrie owns most of the vacant land surrounding Little Lake, the city would work with the province to establish a protection plan surrounding it.
For the city to achieve the 2,300 acres of developable land, Barrie would require approximately 4,000 acres of gross land, a much larger number than initially proposed by the city to Springwater and Oro-Medonte, the direct motion reads.
The motion also says it’s understood by all that there will be no servicing provided to the neighbouring municipalities without a boundary adjustment.
Oro-Medonte Mayor Randy Greenlaw has said the Hemson Consulting report confirms that Barrie has sufficient employment land to meet its long-term demand through 2051.
Greenlaw also said the land located in Oro-Medonte requested by the city to expand Barrie’s boundary is not needed, nor is it appropriate for industrial purposes.
Hemson has offered two options for area land needs.
The first choice maintains municipal boundaries. Growth would slow in Barrie, with some growth shifting to Oro-Medonte and Springwater, likely requiring regional co-ordination and servicing agreements. Slower growth in Barrie may be expected from the mid-2030s (residential) and mid-2040s (employment).
The second choice is to adjust municipal boundaries. The annexation of land to Barrie would address community area needs, requiring detailed evaluation of servicing, fiscal impacts and environmental considerations. Under this option, provision should be made to address future employment area needs before and after 2051.
Hemson's Stefan Krzeczunowicz said last month that both choices are perfectly viable, reasonable options.
It’s been more than a year since Nuttall made a presentation to a provincial standing committee that included a proposal to expand Barrie’s boundaries into Oro-Medonte and Springwater, saying it was required because the city does not have enough employment land.
Nuttall has said expanding Barrie’s boundaries could lead to the creation of up to 20,000 new industrial manufacturing and warehousing jobs during the next 20 years.
Springwater and Oro-Medonte councils also discussed the Hemson report Dec. 11 and agreed to continue talks with Barrie.
