The Village at Blue is on the verge of getting a whole lot bigger.
At its committee of the whole meeting on April 4, The Blue Mountain council received its first glimpse of what Freed Hotels and Resorts is planning for the remaining developable lands at the popular village resort area.
In 2021, Freed acquired the properties at the village (known as sites B, E and F) in a mega-deal that also involved Deerhurst and Horseshoe Resorts.
Planning consultant Derrick Canete made a presentation to council about the proposal for the village properties. Freed is seeking official plan amendments that would increase the maximum building heights allowed from five storeys to seven storeys. In addition, they are seeking an increase in the total number of residential units permitted from 1,290 to 1,852 (800 exist now, 682 are proposed for sites E and F and 370 for site B). The proposed new units would be sold as residential condos, with all units being entered into a rental management program.
The company is also proposing to more than double the allowed commercial space at the village from 9,300 square metres to 21,000 square meters (7,432
square metres exist, 8,490 square metres are proposed for sites E and F and a further 5,003 square metres are proposed for site B).
The company is also proposing an ambitious timeline with the company envisioning a public meeting on the proposed changes in April/May 2023 and a council decision by July 2023.
As part of the presentation, Canete also showed preliminary design concepts of the two seven-storey buildings and how they would fit in with the existing buildings at the village.
Canete said the process would be “collaborative” with the town, village stakeholders and the local community and said they are in the early stages of the process.
“We have retailers lining up to rent the space. We know the demand is there,” said Canete.
Members of council were guarded with their comments about the concepts being presented. Councillors peppered Canete with questions about parking, staff housing, snow removal, impacts of the proposals on the village area, why seven storey buildings were being proposed, how 1,052 new units at the village would impact local services and amenities and more.
In response to some questions, Canete said the proponents would be doing more research and would be involved with consultations with town staff as the process continues. He said currently the focus is on obtaining the planning approvals for the project.
“We are at the beginning stages of collaborating with our neighbours,” he said.
Coun. June Porter asked questions about the number of employees that would be required for the hotel and commercial aspects of the proposed development. Poster expressed disappointment with the answers council received to some questions.
“I find there are an excessive number of questions and information that can’t be provided,” said Porter. “I’m a bit disappointed you haven’t been able to answer our questions.”
Porter also questioned the request for seven-storey buildings.
“Why do you want seven storeys? Why not five?” she asked.
Canete said Freed knows the local area is a “prime and premier destination in Ontario” and increased capacity at the village is needed.
“We’re trying to meet the demand we’ve seen for units in the village,” he said.
Councillors Gail Ardiel and Alex Maxwell warned the delegation that local amenities are already being stretched by the sheer volume of visitors to the region.
“I worry about our hospital. Our hospital is very old,” said Ardiel, noting that the area already attracts 2.5 to 2.8 million visitors per year. “It’s putting a lot of stress on everything.”
Maxwell said the impacts of an expansion at the village would be profound.
“We need to start looking at the impacts on our natural and built assets,” he said, citing local parks, beaches, trails and the escarpment as well as services like water, sewage and snow removal. “Our areas can only support so much load in them. We have to be mindful of that.”
Mayor Andrea Matrosovs praised the proponents for coming to council at the outset of the process.
“You are coming early in the game to provide information to the public,” said Matrosovs, who also advised the questions being brought up by council would be “ongoing” as the planning process unfolded.
The mayor also encouraged the proponents to consider green building standards for the projects and to do more research into how visitors coming to the new areas of the village would interact with the community as a whole.
Coun. Paula Hope said it would be important for the proponents to provide solid data to justify the official plan changes they seek.
“I do want to see a business case for the increase to seven storeys and the increase to the number of units,” said Hope. “God forbid we go ahead with a development like this and then don’t have the clientele to support it.”
Hope also questioned the timeline proposed in the presentation.
“It seems awfully fast,” he said.
The town's director of planning, Adam Smith, said town staff are currently reviewing the file and did not have a concrete timeline for the next step, which would be to schedule a public meeting on the proposed changes.
“It’s not necessarily a timeline the town can meet,” Hope warned.
Council voted 6-0 to receive the presentation as information. Deputy Mayor Peter Bordignon was absent.
