Despite Collingwood’s mayor saying she sent correspondence to Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Steve Clark on Nov. 11 asking him to wait on approving a zoning order until she could get the matter before her new council for reconsideration, it appears the decision may have been made before the new council took their seats for the first time.
Early Thursday (Nov. 17), Mayor Yvonne Hamlin said she was informed Clark had approved a request for a minister’s zoning order (MZO) for the proposed Poplar Regional Health & Wellness Village.
This followed a mostly in-camera meeting of the new council, which took place on Nov. 16, where council voted to press pause on their endorsement of a possible MZO until they could come to a development agreement with developers Live Work Learn Place Inc. and Di Poce Management Ltd.
The order approval, signed by Clark, is dated Nov. 16.
“I’m confused about why the minister is doing this,” Hamlin told CollingwoodToday on Thursday.
Hamlin told CollingwoodToday she sent a copy of the resolution, which was passed by the new council on Wednesday, to the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing first thing on Thursday morning.
“After my letter went, we received notice that the MZO had been approved yesterday,” said Hamlin. “Today, I have reached out to the minister to ask him to clarify his position, and have reiterated council’s request.”
When asked about next steps, Hamlin says she’ll have to wait to see if the town can get more information from the ministry before considering options.
“We’ll see if we get some clarification. Council is going to have to meet and decide what steps, if any, we want to take on this,” she said. “I do believe there will be some anger and upset in the community.”
The Poplar Village Regional Health and Wellness Village proposal for 130 acres on the southeast corner of Poplar Sideroad and Raglan St. was first brought forward to Collingwood council in March 2022.
According to the initial vision for the project presented to council, there will be seven key areas incorporated into the design of the village including a regional health and wellness campus, a market district, long-term care/assisted living facilities, bio-science and medical research facilities, an eco-wellness centre, a regional transit hub, student and workforce housing and sports medicine clinics.
While Hamlin waits for a call back from the ministry, she said she still would like to get to work with the developer to come up with a final development agreement for the project to ensure that what is promised is what will be built.
“The developer has said they want to negotiate agreements, so I guess we’ll see,” said Hamlin.
“Every day brings a new twist and turn. This is enough for today. Let’s see what tomorrow brings,” said Hamlin, with a laugh.
When reached for comment by CollingwoodToday, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing said the housing crisis was a major driver for why the Poplar Village MZO was approved in such short order.
"Driven by a severe shortage of supply, rental housing and home ownership are even further out of reach for too many hardworking Ontarians. That is why, in response to a request from the Town of Collingwood, the minister has granted an municipal zoning order to help accelerate the development of a new mixed-use community known as the Poplar Regional Health and Wellness Village," said Chris Poulos, director of issues management for Minister Steve Clark.
"It will help get shovels in the ground faster to create over 2,200 much-needed new homes. This project will also support the local economy by bringing over 3,500 permanent jobs to the community," said Poulos. "It is our expectation that municipal councils do their due diligence and conduct proper consultation in their communities before any request for an MZO comes to the minister for consideration."
