The Blue Mountains council has asked planning staff for more information in a follow up report about the town’s new draft Official Plan.
At its meeting on Dec. 16, council voted to expand the additional information it is seeking from staff as the official plan update project draws to a conclusion.
At a committee of the whole meeting on Dec. 10, council voted to put approval of the updated official plan on hold and instead requested a second report from staff to cover a number of concerns that have been raised including:
- Building heights
- Parkland dedication fees
- The time and budget invested in the official plan review process
- Attainable/affordable housing
- Language surrounding how new developments would approach accessing the Georgian Trail
At the Dec. 16 council meeting, council lifted the committee of the whole report on the official plan from the consent agenda to discuss the matter further.
Mayor Andrea Matrosovs asked for the item to be pulled for further discussion and expressed a concern about trees not being mentioned on the list of items for the follow-up report.
“There is a noticeable absence of trees on that list,” said Matrosovs.
Coun. Paula Hope also amended the request for more information in the follow-up report about “building heights” to “building heights and density.”
The process to update the official plan is in the home stretch after three years of work and public input. Once council has given its final thumbs up, the document will be sent to Grey County for final approval. A 20-day appeal period follows the county’s decision.
At the Dec. 10 committee of the whole meeting, members of council said there were still some outstanding concerns that had been raised by the community about a number of items in the updated official plan including: building heights and density, environmental protections, affordable/attainable housing, embedding other town plans (example: the upcoming master drainage plan) in the official plan and protection of trees in the community. Those concerns prompted the request for a follow-up report.
