The building permit for a 120,000 square-foot medical cannabis facility is ready to go, but the town is waiting on approximately $1 million in charges and fees before it can be issued.
The site of the Georgian Bay Biomed facility has been prepared for a building, but has remained in that state for most of the winter.
“Our building services department has shared that we are awaiting the payment of town, county, and education development charges and building fees,” said Adam Ferguson, communications officer for the Town of Collingwood.
Georgian Bay Biomed has a development charge deferral agreement with the town, allowing the company to pay 50 per cent of the town-wide development charges – in the amount of $367,584.06 – as late as May 31, 2023.
As a rule, all development charges are due at the time of issuing a building permit. On occasion, the town has entered into a deferral agreement to extend that deadline. According to Treasurer Marjory Leonard, builds by Habitat for Humanity and the Collingwood Youth Centre have such agreements with the town requiring the development charges to be paid if the building is sold or the use is changed.
Georgian Bay Biomed did not respond to a request for an interview with CollingwoodToday. According to their website, the company was founded in 2014, and the office is currently based out of Toronto.
The website states Georgian Bay Biomed will be implementing automated and advanced production techniques. The site also states the company is planning a second building project called Georgian Pines, which is proposed at 800,000 square feet, though the location is not listed.
The Collingwood site is located on Mountain Road near the Tenth Line intersection.
*Editor's note: After publication, Georgian Bay Biomed did return CollingwoodToday's request for a comment, and stated they hadn't paid the charges and fees yet because they didn't need building permit until now. Read more on that here.
