The Town of The Blue Mountains has become the first community in Ontario to receive approval for a community infrastructure and housing accelerator application for its Campus of Care long-term care project.
On April 3, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Steve Clark announced that he had issued an order through the accelerator program for the town’s proposal to build a Campus of Care on property on Peel Street.
“I’m pleased to see our municipal partners using the community infrastructure and housing accelerator to better meet the needs of its seniors and build much-needed housing and long-term care beds faster,” said Clark. “This is exactly the kind of partnership that our government needs to support. We continue to encourage municipalities to consider using this new tool to help address needs in their communities and get priority projects off the ground faster.”
The order from the minister essentially speeds up the process to rezone the Peel Street property to allow the Campus of Care project to proceed, which potentially was faster than the traditional municipal rezoning process. The community infrastructure and housing accelerator has replaced the oft-criticized minister’s zoning order process.
The Blue Mountains had initially pursued a minister’s zoning order for the campus project, but pivoted to the accelerator program when it was implemented.
The Campus of Care project would see a 160-bed long-term care facility constructed on property purchased by the town just outside of Thornbury. The concept also includes affordable and attainable housing, daycare facilities and some commercial uses.
The town itself would not be building and operating the long-term care facility. The town is currently engaged in negotiations with peopleCare and SkyDev to become the proponents of the project. The province previously announced an allotment of 160 long-term care beds for the proposal.
“The approval will help expedite the Campus of Care project to add 160 long-term care beds to our community,” The Blue Mountains Mayor Andrea Matrosovs said in a news release. “This is a central component to the creation of a micro-community on a multi-generational campus. Through this initiative, the town has an opportunity to increase much-needed long-term care access and support services for our local residents. It is vital our residents have options to stay in our community to remain close to their social support network.”
Simcoe-Grey MPP Brian Saunderson praised the town for working together with the province to move the project forward.
“The Town of The Blue Mountains has worked collaboratively with the province and Minister Clark to accelerate the planning approvals for the construction of the much-needed Campus of Care project,” said Saunderson. “This is an exciting announcement and I want to congratulate Mayor Matrosovs and the Town of The Blue Mountains current and former councils and staff for their vision and diligence in making this announcement happen.”
