A highrise project planned near Barrie’s waterfront could be chopped down to size.
On Monday night, city council referred back to staff, with instructions to look at reduced height, rezoning and Official Plan changes needed to eventually build four towers between Bradford Street and Lakeshore Drive, 51-75 Bradford St. and 20 Checkley St., as high as 46, 39, 36 and 25 storeys for 1,900 residential rental units, commercial space and a hotel, by SmartCentres.
“We are talking about something that is three times the current bylaw (in height),” said Mayor Jeff Lehman.
“I don’t know a concrete reason why we can’t reduce the height,” Coun. Ann-Marie Kungl said.
The proposed height of these four towers has fed much of the controversy surrounding this project, as Barrie’s largest towers are 16 storeys, the Nautica buildings near the waterfront, and not far from this project.
“It’s pretty widespread, the opposition to the height,” said Coun. Keenan Aylwin, who represents this area. “It’s worth taking the time to get this right.”
City staff will talk with developer SmartCentres and expect to get back to councillors in January or early February.
Council heard seven deputations concerning the rezoning and Official Plan motions Monday.
“How high is too high?” asked Cathy Colebatch, who lives in Allandale. “Residents in the city are not happy with this project because of the heights.”
She suggested one 24-storey building and three between 16 and 24 storeys.
Gary Bell, consulting planner in the Barrie area, also said the development is just too big.
“The height and massing of the proposal is out of place with the existing and emerging character of the area,” said Bell. “The height of the four towers and the massing of the proposal is out of place in this area.
“The zoning-bylaw amendment would permit an unjustified overintensification of development of the property,” he said. “The height and massing of the proposal is out of place with the skyline, and it is imposing on the public space of our waterfront.”
“The height of all the towers is excessive,” said Bonnie Gill. “It’s undeniably out of character (with the surrounding area) and the density is too intense.”
“A sore thumb. It just does not fit the neighbourhood,” said Arnie Ivsins, also from Allandale.
So council referred it back to staff, so that more talks can be held with SmartCentres on the project’s height.
A motion to further justify the project’s heights and explore any opportunity to reduce them, and mitigate the impact on surrounding neighbourhoods, lost 6-5 at the Nov. 30 meeting.
SmartCentres, on behalf of Barrie Lakeshore Developments (Greenwin Barrie and a numbered Ontario company), has submitted applications to develop a mixed-use project on this 8.6-acre property between Lakeshore Drive and Bradford Street. This project also includes a parking garage, open space and environmental protection land.
A rezoning and Official Plan amendment are both required for this project to go ahead.
A site-plan control application has also been submitted as phase one of the development concept, which includes a 25-storey building fronting Lakeshore Drive for 152 hotel rooms and 230 residential units.
Councillors have decided the site plan should be bumped up — approved by council, not just delegated to city staff, as is the usual procedure. There’s to be an overall site plan for the entire property, plus one for each development stage. All would come to council individually and require its approval.
City planning staff have said the detailed design for this project is ongoing, and that the principle of development and zoning standards are being considered for approval to this point.
Barrie councillors asked for and received a memo from staff about several matters connected to this project, including a conference centre, environmental protection land, parkland (or cash-in-lieu of it), electric vehicle charging stations, a draft zoning-bylaw modification and holding provisions on the property.
The planning staff report justifies the SmartCentres proposed heights this way.
"While the height is significant in terms of existing development, staff do not consider the height requested by this proposal to be out of character in an urban centre, in particular how it relates the city’s goals of providing opportunity for a variety of house type and tenure, and increasing residential presence in the City Centre,” it reads in section 27. “It is recognized that the proposed height of the tower structures is not currently represented in the City of Barrie. However, tall buildings are intended to be directed to this area of the city and numerous examples of this type of built form have been submitted for consideration."
Celeste Kitsemetry, senior city planner, has said locating a conference centre on the site is not really part of the plan. She said some meeting space is contemplated in the hotel, but it’s less than 5,000 square feet. She said hotel room capacity near a facility needed for a mid-size conference of 300 to 400 people isn’t being planned.
Last spring, council rezoned 34-50 Bradford St., and a portion of 125 Dunlop St. W., to permit the development of 600 residential units in multiple buildings, and a new YMCA community facility, on the former high school property. Its final site plan still needs council’s approval for this property located on the west side of Bradford Street, immediately southwest of Simcoe Street, and containing the former Red Storey Field.
This nearly seven-acre site would contain two 20 storey towers, one 10-storey residential building, a three-storey YMCA, a semi-public urban parkette containing the heritage facade of the former Prince of Wales school and a five-storey parking structure. This structure and surface parking is proposed to serve the entire development, providing a total of 822 parking spaces — 600 for the residential units and one space per four people using the YMCA.
