The message is clear: Build or ride off into the sunset.
Tollendale Village 2, a large seniors continuum-of-care and retirement facility slated for Big Bay Point Road in Innisfil, has apparently been put on notice by the Ontario government.
In an announcement Dec. 13, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Paul Calandra confirmed the provincial government is proposing to revoke or amend eight minister’s zoning orders (MZOs) and has demanded progress be made on 14 more, including the Tollendale project.
The eight MZOs on the chopping block are for employment and cultural projects, The Trillium has reported.
Those 14 others being monitored are housing-related and may be revoked or changed in the future.
Simcoe County Christian Senior Home Inc., a non-profit registered charity, was already operating the Tollendale Village campus on Hurst Drive in south-end Barrie when it acquired the 32 acres of land in Innisfil in 2012.
The plans for a second campus on property that abuts the Barrie municipal boundary grew out of a spike in demand and a lengthening wait-list for service.
In March 2021, Tollendale submitted a site-plan agreement application to Innisfil. A project history page on its website suggests Tollendale is “currently working through this process and hope to have approval ... in the coming months.”
The Big Bay Point site has already been granted Official Plan and zoning-bylaw amendments from Innisfil council, though it would need to be serviced by the City of Barrie.
The ministry says Tollendale Village 2 is under review due to a "lack of water or wastewater servicing."
If built as planned, the project would include a 160-bed long-term-care facility, an approximately 52-bed extended/memory-care facility, and four retirement residences with a total of 388 one- and two-bedroom units. There would also be a doctor’s office and restaurant.
In 2019, the price tag was estimated at $200 million, though construction costs have skyrocketed across many sectors since then.
As of the publication of this article, a Tollendale representative has not returned a call from InnisfilToday for a request for comment.
Innisfil Mayor Lynn Dollin, who was part of the council that approved the amendments more than four years ago, said at the time: “We up here have the luxury of bowing to popular opinion. We up here have the luxury of following our hearts.”
On Thursday, she declined comment.
MZOs are a tool the provincial government can issue to overrule local planning decisions and bylaws, often to fast-track developments.
The Ford government had, prior to the Greenbelt scandal, utilized MZOs at an unprecedented rate, issuing more than 100 from 2019 until earlier this year.
The “use it or lose it” MZO policy announced by Calandra has been in development for a few months, The Trillium reports.
“If we do not see the results in respect to a minister’s zoning order, our government will not hesitate to amend or revoke it,” Calandra told reporters at Queen’s Park on Wednesday. “It sends a clear message that when we issue a zoning order to support priorities like housing, long-term care that we expect to see results.”
One of the postings the municipal affairs and housing ministry made to the Environmental Registry of Ontario said the 14 MZOs placed on notice will be tracked over the next 18 months and revoked or amended “if there is a lack of significant progress.”
