And more change could be coming to Barrie’s Yonge Street.
City councillors gave initial approval Wednesday night to rezone property for two seven-storey residential buildings along the Yonge corridor in the city's south end. With 177 and 196 units, they would crowd each side of MacLaren Avenue.
These rezonings could be considered for final approval by city council at its Sept. 20 meeting.
Only Couns. Clare Riepma and Jim Harris, who represents residents in this part of Barrie, voted against rezoning the property.
Harris said many area residents were opposed to the development.
“Their position is they will not support the recommendations in this report,” he said of the staff report. “I ask you to consider their interests. Their objection is rooted in two key policy areas — density and conformity.”
In other words, the project has too many units for their neighbourhood and the housing type doesn’t conform with what’s already there.
“There’s no question there is going to be intensification on that site,” Riepma said. “The question is how do we make it fit in with the community. I think this is too high and we need to go back to the drawing board and figure it out.”
But the majority of councillors supported the rezoning.
“It’s frustrating when we have residents who don’t want change,” said Coun. Sergio Morales. “It’s no longer not in my backyard (NIMBY), it’s not in your backyard.”
“At the end of the day, we have to make decisions based on policies in place,” said Coun. Bryn Hamilton. “We can’t get away from the fact that Yonge Street is an intensification corridor. I have to make decisions based on policy.”
Coun. Gary Harvey said defeating the rezoning application wouldn’t survive a challenge to the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT), a provincial body which rules on contentious planning matters.
“I see our chances of winning at the (OLT) as zero,” he said.
Mayor Alex Nuttall agreed.
“I worry … we go in (to the OLT), we spend a bunch of money and (the development) gets higher and denser with less setbacks,” he said.
Barrie Yonge Developments GP wants to rezone 1.35 acres at 447, 449, 451, 453 and 455 Yonge St., from residential single-detached dwelling first density to mixed-use corridor with special provisions.
Increased side- and rear-yard setbacks, for example, would ensure that the building massing is located farther away from the surrounding low-density residential land uses, to ensure adequate separation distances and to provide an appropriate transition to the ground-oriented residential development in the surrounding area, according to city staff.
The building would also have ground-floor commercial.
The same goes for 1.63 acres at 427, 429, 431, 435 and 437 Yonge St., which is relatively flat land, in terms of the rezoning application, from residential single-detached dwelling first density to mixed-use corridor with the same special provisions, along with underground and surface parking.
This development could, according to city staff, integrate with adjacent land to the north at 410 and 481 Yonge St., which are being redeveloped into mixed-use projects.
This part of Yonge Street is slated for significant development.
At 410 Yonge St. and 343 Little Ave., Mason Homes plans to build a 117-unit condominium townhouse development. Its site plan is under review by planning staff, according to the city’s development page.
At 481 Yonge St., the city has received a site-plan control application to construct a four-storey residential apartment building with 67 units. It is under review by city planning staff.
For 505, 511, 515 and 533 Yonge St., the city has received a rezoning application needed to build four multi-residential buildings, ranging in height from eight to 12 storeys, along with commercial space. The four buildings would have 400 residential units. This project would also include 469 parking spots and amenity space.
