Eight major developments across Collingwood were given preliminary approval for water allocation this week by council, putting them all one step closer to getting shovels in the ground.
However, many of those applications weren’t familiar to councillors tasked with giving them the rubber stamp.
During the Nov. 18 committee of the whole meeting, councillors voted in favour of allocating 298 single dwelling units (SDUs) worth of the town’s remaining water capacity, and 383 SDUs of municipal wastewater capacity to the eight development projects. This leaves 22 SDUs of municipal water and 17 SDUs of municipal wastewater capacity unused that will be carried forward to 2025.
The process is guided by the town’s servicing capacity allocation policy (SCAP), a merit-based system where the town allocates points to a development applying for a building permit based on the inclusion of elements in their proposal such as green technology, affordable housing, mixed uses, water conservation measures, employment generation, natural heritage protection, walkability, active transportation and intensification.
In the latest batch of eight projects, town staff say none reached the minimum 50 per cent of available points under the SCAP.
“The formula has to change, because it’s not – in the implementation – realistic,” said Coun. Christopher Baines. “There seems to be a disconnect.”
Coun. Deb Doherty shared that she would be reluctantly approving the batch.
“I do believe that there appear to be issues with our SCAP, particularly relative to commercial developments,” said Doherty. “I think we should consider... having some different criteria for commercial versus residential.”
The eight projects up for discussion were:
- 629 Hurontario Street (medical office project)
- 135 Sandford Fleming Drive (Georgian Triangle Humane Society project)
- 10045 Highway 26 East (industrial project, seven units)
- 140 Mountain Road (Phase One – industrial project)
- 40 Sandford Fleming Drive (Isowater industrial project)
- 415 First Street (commercial project, six units)
- 11589 Highway 26 West (Cranberry Marsh Estates residential project, 26 townhouses)
- 298 Pretty River Parkway (automatic car wash project)
The SCAP system was first approved by council in March 2022, and was amended in January 2023 following consultation with the community.
While 95 points are possible under the scoring, developments should score at least 50 points to be eligible for water allocation, however council is given the discretion to approve developments that score lower as they see fit.
While originally planned to happen twice a year, only one developer applied for water allocation this past spring, so their application was pushed to this fall batch instead.
“It is challenging at times for smaller scale development proposals that are infill projects, adaptive reuse or single-use proposals to gain sufficient points,” explained senior planner Nathan Wukasch.
Doherty pointed specifically to the 11589 Highway 26 West application – the only residential project in the batch – which she felt could have improved their score had the developer agreed to using some green development standards.
“There are benefits to the community that come out of the SCAP. I’m concerned we’re not using these criteria as they were intended in my mind, which was to get the best possible developments for our community,” she said. “We’re tempted just to let it go. I feel like we’re squeezing them by.”
“There are larger issues emerging. I hope we’re not going to walk away from one of the original guiding principles of SCAP,” said Doherty.
Annually, the Town of Collingwood sets aside 320 SDUs of water capacity and 400 SDUs of wastewater capacity for development projects that are shovel-ready.
When asked what the SCAP process might mean to the state of development in Collingwood, the town’s planning director Summer Valentine said this season’s batch bodes well for the future of development in town.
“In the spring, we didn’t have any shovel-ready developments, but what we’re hearing from developers is high inflation, high interest rates, challenges with labour force and materials are pushing them more into the planning phases and less into construction,” said Valentine.
Valentine also noted the types of projects are shifting – into more infill and industrial-type projects.
“We’ve seen a shift in applications coming through the window of planning services – more pre-consultation, zoning and Official Plan related, and fewer site plan applications and implementation of existing approvals,” she said.
Due to changes to the provincial Planning Act made in 2021, councils across Ontario must now delegate decisions on site plan applications to staff. This meant that many of the applications considered for SCAP approval this time around were brand new to councillors at the table.
“Council is being given interesting information about major projects happening in our community. Because we’re not involved in site plan anymore, I didn’t know about them,” said Mayor Yvonne Hamlin. “Is there an ability of staff, once site plan is approved, if they could be giving us an update on these kinds of projects?”
Valentine reminded council that notices are put online once they are approved by staff, but said staff could provide an update either biannually or quarterly, likely ahead of each SCAP approval request.
The town is also expecting to review the SCAP in the first quarter of 2025 to determine if changes or amendments should be made to the process.
At the end of discussion, council voted unanimously in favour of approving water allocation for all eight projects. Coun. Brandon Houston is on a leave of absence.
All decisions made during a committee of the whole meeting need to be ratified by council before going into effect. The next regular council meeting is Dec. 2.
