Barrie is approving a series of back-to-back townhouses on a site just east of Yonge Street on Big Bay Point Road.
The developer is continuing, however, to fine-tune his twice-revised his plans before final approval at city council next Monday.
“We’re working with the applicant to make sure the layout is built well,” said Ward 9 Coun. Sergio Morales, after meeting with the developer Wednesday.
He highlighted concerns such as distance between the buildings, aesthetics and materials that age well.
“I expect some changes to come before council on Monday,” Morales added.
At Monday night’s general committee meeting when councillors gave their initial approval, Mayor Jeff Lehman said it was important to get the concept for the development at 521 and 527 Big Bay Point Road right.
Lehman said he has concerns about the stacked townhome blocks being 12 metres tall and only 6 metres apart and the front doors being approximately 1.5 metres apart.
“It’s important this built form works well, because we need it for affordable housing in the city,” Lehman said, adding he’s worried the tall buildings that would be built so close together would make it dark and feel closed in.
Back-to-back townhouses weren’t what Innovative Planning Solutions originally submitted in January 2017 on behalf of two Ontario numbered companies.
The original plan was for 25 townhomes, but because of concerns from neighbours about parking and the lack of space on the 0.36-hectare (0.88-acre) site, Innovative came back with back-to-back townhomes, a plan that allowed his clients to boost the count to 34 while adding some visitor parking and leaving more open space on the site.
That reiteration increased the height of the townhomes to almost four storeys from three, as the plan put the garages on the ground floor of the buildings.
Neighbours complained about that too, however, saying the extra height would reduce their privacy and create too much shadowing in their back yards.
So Innovative changed the plan to have the homes face Big Bay Point Road, rather than the homes to the east and west.
With part of the site in one of Barrie’s intensification nodes – the one that extends from the intersection of Big Bay Point Road and Yonge – city staff recommended the plan be approved.
“The current proposal has addressed many concerns from members of the public regarding privacy and compatibility. The configuration and built-form also support staff comments with respect to ensuring the site is develop to support the transition between the existing lower-density residential development to the east and the anticipated intensification of Yonge Street/Big Bay Point Road intensification node to the west,” said city planner Bailey Chabot.
She said the plan supports the city’s vision for more-dense development on main roads, which enables residents to use public transit as well as take advantage of nearby schools and stores.
The price point is aimed near $400,000 for the condominium townhomes.
