'Fundamentally flawed': Council says steep hill no place for 6-storey tower

The steepness of Dundonald Street has helped halt a proposed, controversial residential development near Barrie’s downtown.

City council denied a rezoning application Wednesday evening, with no discussion, needed to develop a six-storey apartment with 50 condominiums and three underground levels for 61 parking spaces at 19 Dundonald St.

But there were reasons besides Dundonald’s steepness.

“I couldn’t think of a worse place to put a development of this size,” said Charles Biehn, who lives near the corner of Dundonald and Theresa streets, and made a deputation to council Wednesday.

About a dozen residents in the Council Chambers applauded when council denied the rezoning.

Deputy Mayor Robert Thomson has noted there is dense residential in this part of Barrie, so the fit isn’t the issue for him. It’s the slope of Dundonald and safety issues it creates.

The property contains a grade change of approximately 18 metres, sloping from north to south. 

Barrie Historical Archive curator Deb Exel, in a BarrieToday column published in 2022, called Dundonald Street “breathtakingly steep.”

Area residents have also raised concerns about increased traffic this project would generate, and safety concerns about vehicles turning into or out of this proposed development on this steep hill.

Only Coun. Sergio Morales did not vote to deny the rezoning, noting previously that city transportation planning staff supported the rezoning application, although he did not speak to the motion Wednesday evening.

The land is triangular in shape and is just less than an acre in size, with approximately 99 metres fronting Dundonald Street. 

Pat and John Hargreaves wanted to rezone their property from residential, single-detached dwelling second density to residential apartment dwelling first density – with variances relating to front-yard setbacks, rear-yard setbacks, maximum gross floor area and parking spaces required.

There is an existing single-detached home located on the northern half of this property. Its southern half is vacant with considerable vegetation and scattered tree cover.

City staff support the proposed built form and site design at 19 Dundonald St., and say the proposal represents an appropriate form of development in an area where intensification is permitted.

At one point, the development proposal was for nine storeys, and 52 to 58 residences, before the project was down-scaled.

The land is not located within a designated city intensification area, although development applications that propose residential intensification outside of the designated intensification areas are considered on their merits.

City staff also say the rezoning application would facilitate a modest form of intensification on the edge of a neighbourhood area with available services and infrastructure, adjacent to the intersection of arterial and collector roads.

But that was not the only interpretation of the area.

“Dundonald is not an intensification node or corridor,” said Michael Larkin, a Richmond Hill land-use planning consultant representing Nadine Carr and several residents. “It simply does not meet the criteria set out in the Official Plan.

“The application was fundamentally flawed,” added Larkin, who also made a deputation to council Wednesday. 

Staff did not recommend denying this rezoning application, saying the property is ideally suited for this form and density of development, given the full range of services and facilities available in the area.

Should the applicant appeal council’s decision to deny the rezoning, city planning staff would not be in a position to offer supporting evidence.

An appeal would most likely be to the Ontario Land Tribunal, formerly the Ontario Municipal Board, which rules on contentious property development issues.