A legacy project that has been on the books for more than four years came before Collingwood council this week, hoping for some movement on the file.
Georgian Manor Resort & Country Club Inc. came before the development and operations services standing committee on Monday (Jan. 16) to ask councillors for initial approval for an official plan and zoning bylaw amendment to have zoning changed on a portion of their property from commercial to residential in order to facilitate the building of a condominium project, called Wyldewood Creek.
First proposed on Aug. 14, 2018, the project would see 165 apartment units built on the land adjacent to the existing Georgian Bay Hotel on Vacation Inn Drive. Also included in the preliminary design are amenity spaces and a swimming pool.
If granted, the changes being requested now would also refine the environmental protection boundaries on portions of the land, as requested by the Nottawasaga Valley Conservation Authority (NVCA).
Helen Montauks, a resident of Whisper Woods which is a private condominium community adjacent to the land, spoke during the meeting to raise concerns from the existing condo corporations that all abutted the land.
“This is pretty much landlocked, and it requires the use of existing roadways and services from six different condo (corporations), plus the hotel,” said Montauks. “It’s putting a strain on all the services and, to us, it really doesn’t make a lot of sense from a practical standpoint.”
As part of the staff report regarding the proposal, Manager of Planning Lindsay Ayers noted staff were also concerned about the existing private roads and private services on the land. She wrote that the town had requested the developer create a second water connection to the municipal water servicing system as well as a second emergency-vehicle access as some ways the risk could be mitigated.
The report notes the town last held a public meeting regarding the proposal back in February 2019, at which time resident concerns raised included the second emergency-vehicle access, proximity to and buffering of the adjacent provincially significant wetland, increased traffic, construction access, future plans for the stormwater management block and private waste collection services. Some of these concerns were brought forward by attendees again during Monday’s meeting.
While town staff noted during their presentation that apartment-style units tend to be more affordable, the developer has not indicated whether the units proposed will be affordable housing under provincial definitions.
During Monday’s meeting, Coun. Deb Doherty said the current iteration of the proposal was an improvement over previous versions she had seen.
“Certainly in terms of the protections that are on offer with regards to the provincially significant wetlands,” she said.
As part of discussions, Mayor Yvonne Hamlin put forward an amendment to refer the matter back to staff to include a site plan before council votes on whether to recommend the Official Plan and zoning bylaw amendment.
“This is a very complicated and unusual development,” said Hamlin. “I think it would behoove us to see the full site plan come forward.”
“I’m not opposed to the development here... but I would also like to see if we could get some affordable units included,” she said.
The referral was defeated. Council voted 8-1 (Hamlin opposed) to proceed with approving the Official Plan and zoning bylaw amendments. The matter will still need to be ratified at the Jan. 30 regular council meeting before going into effect.
All Official Plan amendments contemplated by the town also require approval at the County of Simcoe council level before going into effect.
If the Official Plan and zoning bylaw amendment requests are approved, the developer would still be required to receive approval from council on a site plan for the project, which would include more detailed designs, before any building could proceed.
