A proposed townhouse development in Springwater that would deliver “attainable and affordable” housing has earned the township’s backing in the form of a letter supporting a minister’s zoning order (MZO).
At its meeting Wednesday night, Springwater council listened to a pitch for support and endorsement of the MZO request to the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing from Eldon Theodore, of MacNaughton Hermsen Britton Clarkson Planning Ltd. (MHBC), who was representing developers Sunnidale OP Inc.
According to Theodore’s presentation, the developer is “offering entry-level housing for people living in Springwater that want to stay in Springwater.”
He said of the 509 residential units that are planned for the development, 20 of them will be reserved for affordable housing.
“Our MZO request is to permit development to allow for the expeditious approval to bring new affordable and attainable housing options to assist in meeting much-needed housing demand in the township,” Theodore said.
“If the proposal were to follow a typical approval route, given the current policy framework in place, it could take years, delaying the ability for this type of housing to come onto the market.”
Theodore said the townhouses would list for $400,000 to $500,000.
“When the shovels actually hit the ground, it may be a different price,” he said.
The proposed development will be located at 731 Sunnidale Rd., immediately south of Sunnidale Road to the City of Barrie/Township of Springwater boundary and about a kilometre east of the Centre Vespra Settlement Area. The 10.97-hectare site would host:
- a total of 509 residential units across three townhome types (162 conventional, 278 back to back and 69 double front)
- four parks totalling 16,400 square metres of parkland
- one commercial block totalling 400 square metres in area
- one sanitary pumping station block
- internal condominium road network
- 128 visitor parking spaces
An alternative concept site plan was also submitted where the commercial block was replaced with an additional seven townhouse units.
Late in the discussion about the proposal, Deputy Mayor George Cabral put forth an amendment to remove the reference to the number of units that will be built, freeing the township and the developer from a set-in-stone number that may change based on a variety of outside influences. Council supported the amendment.
According to the staff report prepared by Chris Russell, manager of planning services, and Evan Taylor, junior planner, since the proposed site is located outside of a settlement area and does not have access to municipal servicing, township staff are unable to support typical land-use applications required for such proposals.
“Accordingly,” they wrote, “the applicant intends to seek approval through a provincial minister’s zoning order.”
The report noted that while the minister does not require the support of council to issue an MZO, council’s endorsement can assist the minister in prioritizing projects having political support.
To provide the letter of support, council required a two-thirds majority — the item passed with unanimous approval.
However, not everyone in the township is in support.
Springwater’s agricultural advisory committee expressed a number of concerns.
“There is a need to protect our township’s Grade A farmland, and the subject location of this application is within the one-kilometre buffer zone that has been recently zoned as agricultural indefinitely by council,” the committee wrote when the proposal was circulated to internal departments and agencies for comment. “The intention of this zoning was to ensure that a buffer exists between farmland and residential subdivisions for the benefit of both the township’s farmers and residents.
“Support of this application by council would set a dangerous precedent that any farmland in the township is available for development,” the committee added.
Theodore acknowledged the concerns of the committee and agreed there is a need for agricultural land.
“That said, we believe these lands are suitable for conversion to residential to meet the housing needs for this community,” he said.
“We had an agricultural assessment completed to ensure that we’re on the right track and that assessment confirms that these lands are not prime agricultural land and that the proposed community will not negatively impact farm operations within the area.”
The committee was one of a number of groups that provided written comments when the proposal was circulated internally.
Ainley Group, an engineering and planning firm with expertise in water and wastewater and infrastructure management, made two notations related to water and wastewater servicing.
According to Ainley, both the wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) in Centre Vespra and the water treatment plant in Snow Valley are near capacity.
According to the staff report, which included comments and responses from the public information session that was held in January, various water and wastewater servicing options have been considered.
“The preliminary strategy for water servicing is to extend the existing 300-millimetre diameter municipal watermain from the intersection of Sunnidale Road and Dobson Road to the proposed development site,” the developer’s representatives said during the public information session. “For sanitary servicing, the preliminary strategy is to install a private pumping station on site and a forcemain along Sunnidale Road and Dobson Road, leading to the Centre Vespra WWTP.”
Cabral noted there was another MZO before the minister for a development on Bayfield Street that also wants to connect to the wastewater treatment plant and he wondered if staff had considered that need in relation to the current request.
Trevor Harvey, director of public works for the township, said the issues around water and wastewater servicing have been discussed with both parties but more discussions will be required if the MZO is approved.
“Should these MZOs be approved, then there would be further discussions on the detailed design and, obviously, upgrades,” Harvey said.
“It has been comments from staff to both proponents and developers here that there will need to be upgrades that will be through a cost-sharing agreement.
“That’s the stage we’re at at this point,” he added.