Neighbour calls proposed Essa Rd. development 'grotesque' and 'totally inappropriate'

They had their say and then some.

Neighbours opposed to a new development along Barrie’s Essa Road made their position clear at Tuesday night’s public meeting on a rezoning application needed to allow an eight-storey, mixed-use condominium building with 89 residences, six townhouses and ground-floor commercial space at 405 Essa Rd., along with a ground-floor parking garage and an amenity area.

The project’s height and density, and how it compares to neighbours' homes in the area, was a popular theme.

“It will tower over the existing neighbourhood and there will be no privacy in front and back yards,” said Steve Twiss of Cityview Circle, which is situated behind the Essa Road property.

Steve Trotter, a former Barrie councillor who lives on Primrose Crescent, said the project doesn’t fit. 

“It’s generally accepted that development should be tiered from a single-family use to multi-residential to highrise, and this proposal has it all backwards,” he said. “This proposal has an eight-storey building abutting single-family homes. The scale, the scope and the massing of this proposal is not suitable for the location. 

“Just because you can — based on things like it’s an intensification corridor — doesn’t mean that you should,” Trotter added.

The vacant, rectangular property, which covers 0.67 acres, is located on the west side of Essa Road, north of the Ferndale Drive South and Veterans Drive intersection.

David Mckenzie, another Cityview Circle resident, even quoted the late planner Al McNair in calling this project a “grotesque” use of density.

“This new development proposal is totally inappropriate,” Mckenzie said.

Almost a dozen people spoke at last night's public meeting, none in favour of the proposed development.

And they raised questions about nearly all aspects of the project.

Wayne Doucette has lived on Cityview Circle for nearly 30 years and has concerns about noise pollution.

“There will probably be three or more years of construction noise,” he said, noting more traffic will also make the area more noisy.

“We have already noticed the increase in traffic in the area,” said Margaret Ellis of Cityview Circle.

Graeme Montgomery, also of Cityview Circle, asked if a proper architectural study was done on this potentially historic site. And he mentioned getting better feedback from the developer.

“We are all looking forward to being part of the solution,” he said, “and having our concerns respectively responded to.” 

Plans have changed at least twice for this proposed development.

In June 2018, city council rezoned this property to multiple residential use from agricultural. The land is within the Essa Road secondary intensification corridor and is adjacent to a mature residential development which has existed for more than 25 years.

A previous proposal for 16 townhouses was appealed to and subsequently approved by the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal (LPAT) last March.

Then, at one point, Sean Mason Homes was proposing 115 residences, which included 103 condos, six townhouses and six mixed-use (live/work) units and 15 per cent affordable housing.

The latest rezoning application seeks to amend the existing zoning from residential multiple dwelling with a hold provision to mixed-use corridor with special provisions — including smaller rear-yard setbacks and landscape buffering.

At a June 2021 neighbourhood meeting, area residents raised concerns about increased traffic this development could cause, insufficient parking and the building’s height along with the effect of shadowing and loss of privacy on single-family homes in the area.

Residents have also said they have concerns about the building’s orientation, placement, materials, site servicing and access.

The land is designated for residential use in Barrie’s Official Plan. 

The apartment building would be 25.5 metres in height, with the condos on the top seven storeys, and they would range in size from studio apartments to three-bedroom units. The townhouses would be three storeys in height and there will be a total of 104 parking spaces.

Developer Sean Mason Homes says 12 per cent of the residences will be affordable housing. 

A public meeting is one of the initial stages of Barrie’s planning process. This application now goes to city planners for a staff report for the consideration of Barrie councillors, sitting as planning committee. City council will eventually decide to accept, reject or modify the rezoning application.