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Arguments leaned both ways during Tuesday evening’s public meeting for a proposed nine-storey residential condominium development on Dundonald Street in Barrie's east end.
John and Pat Hargreaves want to rezone 19 Dundonald St., to develop 58 condo units and two levels of underground parking on just less than an acre of land north of Collier and Blake streets, south of Theresa Street.
But neighbours say nine storeys on this property don’t fit with their community.
“This isn’t an anti-development rant,” said Charles Biehn, who lives on nearby Theresa Street. “Our feeling is this building is just too tall, too large and too dense for this particular use. The neighbourhood is primarily single-family, low-rise apartment buildings.”
Amelia Street resident Beth Foster said she was speaking for the community of trees on 19 Dundonald.
“Bulldozing this urban forest and replacing it with an ill-conceived tower of concrete and an unsafe parade of cars is irresponsible, short-sighted and environmentally disastrous,” she said.
There is an existing single-detached home located on the northern half of this triangular property. Its southern half is vacant with considerable vegetation and scattered tree cover. This property also contains a significant grade change of approximately 18 metres from north to south.
“My husband (Chris) and I are both runners,” said Anne Marie Dixon, who lives on Highland Avenue. “Runners typically train by running up hills. Dundonald is about the only hill that runners will not run up because it’s too steep, there are no sidewalls and there is poor visibility.”
Peter Dauphinee, who also resides on Amelia Street, has lived there for about 20 years and rejects the not-in-my-back-yard (NIMBY) argument.
“I think it’s easy politically to look at this as NIMBY-ism and see a bunch of people who are here to protect their neighbourhood. We do love our neighbourhood,” he said. “Nobody… has said we don’t expect they’ll be some development on that site. We’re just asking that it’s reasonable and that it follows the city’s plan.”
“Our east end is a neighbourhood of predominantly established… it’s a fabric of one- and two-storey single-family dwellings,” said Barrie Vickers of Amelia Street. “And I’m just wondering how does the imposition of a nine-storey building contribute to this urban fabric in a way that might be thought of as positive?”
But others said it was a matter of housing supply meeting growing population demand.
“We are in a housing shortage, but what I’m hearing here is ‘How dare you build housing next to my house, or my area’,” said Chris Franco of Puget Street. “What I heard is… protect my area. This isn’t about protecting an area, it’s about providing housing.”
“I don’t live near the site (Dundonald Street) because I can’t afford to,” said Stephen de Russet, a Yonge Street resident. “It’s a great place for a young family to get an opportunity and they can’t afford the homes, the singe-detached homes, that are in this community.”
But Donna Winfield, who lives on Dundonald, questioned making the housing-stock argument.
“It was mentioned about affordability… I doubt they will even be able to afford to be in this (19 Dundonald) complex,” she said. “There are lots of condos available in Barrie for rent.”
Blake Edgar, 24, is a Midhurst resident who said he could use more housing choices.
“I go to Barrie every day, and I work in Barrie, went to school in Barrie,” he said. “I can’t afford to live in Barrie either and I’m a young guy, I’m starting my career, I’m getting paid pretty well but I still can’t afford to live in Barrie. I live in my parents’ basement.”
“Part of the reason I moved to that neighbourhood was because I couldn’t afford to live in Midhurst,” countered Dauphinee. “Property values will change over time, but that’s not how we make a city plan.”
Concerns were also raised at Tuesday’s public meeting about the source of support for this project in correspondence to the city.
“I reviewed the package of support and concern letters that were sent,” said Nick Lougheed, a Dundonald Street resident who says he’s the second closest neighbour to 19 Dundonald.
“The support letters mostly seem to come from people who don’t live in Barrie,” he said. “Several left their e-mail trail and submitted to a family member of the applicant, then the applicant forwarded it onto the city. I would just ask that the councillors put some weight on letters written by those who provided their addresses and live in the respective ward.”
This application is to rezone the property from residential single detached dwelling, second density (R2) to residential apartment dwelling first density, with special provisions (SP-XXX) and site specific provisions.
City planning staff say a portion of this property may need to be rezoned to environmental protection (EP), pending the outcome of a review of the environmental impact study submitted in support of the application to establish the limits of development on this land.
Should a portion of the subject property be rezoned to EP, the developable area of the site would be reduced, thereby necessitating an application for an Official Plan amendment to permit a density in excess of 150 units per hectare outside of Barrie’s urban growth centre.
The property is not located within a designated city intensification area.
Planning staff have targeted the second quarter of 2023 for a report for planning committee’s consideration of the zoning-bylaw amendment application, which would also require final approval from Barrie city council.
