Approvals are now in place for three six-storey mixed-use residential and commercial buildings on Collingwood’s waterfront.
The development known as Perfect World is slated for a three-acre parcel of land at the corner of Heritage Drive and Side Launch Way. The property is currently flooded, but was the former home of Collingwood Shipyards buildings.
The developer, Larry Dunn, president and CEO of DunnCap, will still need to obtain a building permit, but the proposal, as far as it’s been made public, now conforms with the zoning and official plan stipulations for the property.
According to Dunn, the development will include three, six-storey buildings situated north to south with view corridors between running east to west. The building closest to the harbour will include a three-storey boutique hotel with 40 five-star rooms, a waterfront restaurant, and a spa. There will be residential condominiums on floors four through six. The other two buildings will have retail/commercial space on the ground floor and residential condominiums on floors two through six. Each of the three buildings will be joined by a second-floor indoor walkway.
“The reason there are three buildings on the site is I didn’t want to block the view corridors,” said Dunn. “By putting three separate buildings you create the good view corridors from east to west.”
The name Perfect World came from the ad campaign Dunn built for the proposal, but he said the building names will be different and will be announced later.
In total there will be 88 residential units and 40 hotel rooms plus the retail/commercial spaces at the ground floor level. According to Dunn, the buildings will be fully accessible to the public via a boardwalk installed around the buildings.
There will also be 260 underground parking spaces on site.
“We need a wonderful facility in town. We have some good hotels and I’m actually just building a Holiday Inn right now [at Hume and Raglan streets], but I think we need something that’s totally different and something that’s on the waterfront,” said Dunn. “I want something that is five-star, we don’t have that right now, so that’s where [the idea] came from. All of the condos will have full access to all the amenities in the hotel. Housekeeping, room service, access to pool and spa, the restaurant and bar.”
According to a staff report submitted to council on March 26. The site was included in the Shipyards Special Policy Area in the town’s official plan in May 2006. This means the land-designation on this block allows a maximum building height of six storeys.
DunnCap did have to apply for a zoning bylaw amendment and official plan amendment on the property to allow a mix of residential and commercial uses as the site was zoned for medium-density residential use only, which would allow between 40 and 130 dwelling units on the property. Dunn is proposing 128 residential units plus the retail/commercial space.
As part of the amendment process, the town held a public meeting on January 29, 2018, and received written and verbal submissions from Collingwood, many of which were opposed to the development.
Wendy Sherwood and Michael Walker are residents on Waterside Lane, which is on the east side of Heritage Drive. They submitted a long list of objections suggesting the height of the buildings would “have a very negative impact” on adjacent homeowners by reducing sunlight and limiting “physical and visual” access.
They also suggested there was a “surplus” of retail and commercial space along Highway 26 and Hurontario Street with better visibility than the Perfect World site.
“It appears from the proposed application that it serves the interest of the developer and not that of the majority of the residents in the Shipyards and the citizens of Collingwood,” they stated in their letter to town council. “We feel that these proposed amendments move this parcel of land farther from the future needs of Collingwood and the Waterfront Master Plan that identifies public access to a revitalized waterfront as one of the town’s top five goals for the next 20 years.”
Anne Hersh, also a resident on Waterside Lane called the proposed development “another nail in the coffin of Collingwood's waterfront.” She objected to the height and density planned for the site.
Bruce and Joanne Winn of Waterside Lane said adding commercial space will “change the intended character of the waterfront” and “greatly increase truck and car traffic.”
“It will put an additional strain on the existing businesses along Hurontario St. in the downtown,” said the Winns in their submission to council. “There is no benefit to the community, only to the developer.”
Dunn begs to differ. He said he has 650 people who have registered their interest in purchasing a condo in the development and two national companies interested in the waterfront restaurant option.
“I think for every single development you have to take a look at what’s in the best interest of all stakeholders, said Dunn. “If you’re talking specifically about this development, 90 per cent of the objectors live right there [Waterside Lane], and when they bought there, [this site] was approved for six storeys. They were objecting to something that was already approved when they bought their house.”
Dunn said he had two staff members at each of the public meetings to gather comments from residents on the proposal.
“Ninety-nine per cent of the concerns that were being voiced were with regard to the height and the density and we were already approved for that,” he said, referring to the existing land designation allowing a maximum of six storeys and 130 dwelling units. “If you’re driving or walking down the street, and there’s a one storey building, does that impede your views? Do two storeys? Do two storeys impede your views more than one storey? … It’s going to be a change for sure, there’s going to be six storeys on the waterfront. But certainly, the view when you’re driving by, your view to the water is exactly the same whether there’s one, two or six storeys.”
On March 26, the town approved both the zoning bylaw amendment and the official plan amendment to allow commercial uses on the site. Simcoe County council is required to approve all official plan amendments and did so at the Aug. 14 meeting.
Dunn still needs to obtain a building permit via the site plan control process. A site plan control approval does not require a statutory public meeting as the zoning bylaw and official plan amendments do.
Collingwood’s director of communication, Jennett Mays said a site plan control application can be made available for public review and the public may add their comments if desired. Town council decision to approve a site plan control application.
Dunn said he and his architect, Rudy Wallman of Wallman Architects, are working on the building design and will be incorporating elements of the former Shipyards buildings both for the interior and exterior of the building. He plans to start work on the site in 2019 and said it will take two years to complete the project and the first step is to rebuild the retaining wall to keep water out of the site.
Dunn said he participated in the work done to develop Collingwood’s Waterfront Master Plan, which has been approved by council, and has designed his plans for the site with the master plan in mind.
“When I went to do the rezoning of this piece to put the commercial on the ground floor, that was in conformity with the waterfront master plan,” he said. “It really was bringing it into conformity with what was already approved.”
According to the staff report, DunnCap did participate in the Waterfront Master Plan process in 2016 and shared the Perfect World concept with the consultant leading the development of the plan.
“No concern was expressed by the town’s consultant that this concept would impede the town’s strategy for improving the waterfront,” states the staff report. “Moreover, the lands have been identified in the Waterfront Master Plan as a key mixed-use opportunity.”
Dunn said he is excited about the development and believes it will make a positive economic impact in town. He sees it as the best use of the three-acre parcel for the highest percentage of stakeholders.
“When I take a look at that piece of land, the highest and best use is for it is residential and commercial and I think that was fully supported by the stakeholders in town because they had all the stakeholder meetings for the Waterfront Master Plan study and they wanted activity on the waterfront, they wanted commercial on the waterfront,” said Dunn. “So when in fact we had a small group of people who are concerned about the height, we had a very large group of people who wanted to see development on the waterfront – good development. There’s a highest and best use for every piece of property.”
At a recent public meeting (Aug. 22) to unveil a draft Parks, Recreation and Culture Master Plan, Collingwood resident Ulli Rath, who lives at Saint Lawrence St. said the town needs to protect waterfront views.
“I don't believe the Town should only be driven by huge, tall developments to reach the 30,000 citizens goal if this means we are prepared to sacrifice large chunks of our beautiful natural environment,” said Rath in a statement he prepared for the meeting. “We should also become obsessed and driven by efforts to preserve what nature has given us, and if this means we remain a smaller but more beautiful town, well, that isn't so bad.”
According to records at the Collingwood Museum, the Perfect World property was the site of Collingwood Shipyards’ first dry dock and pumping station. Boats were side-launched from the dry dock there and some of the original buildings included a Shipyards building and a blacksmith shop.
It isn’t clear whether the site was filled in for the purposes of the shipyards or whether the land stretched into the bay and dredging occurred around it to create a dry dock and launch basin. At the museum, there’s a map dating back to 1875, which shows land, not water, at the site.
Since the shipyards closed in 1986, the property has undergone remediation to remove contaminated soil and fill from the site. Dunn has owned the land for about a year and a half.
