Planners Update 2011

Planners Part 3 – Town of Collingwood – Trevor Houghton – Senior Planner

Trevor started his presentation by going over the various communication tools that the Planning Department is taking advantage of: their website, Facebook – where you can see applications, public notices, meetings, etc.) ; Developments map and subdivisions map. He noted that they have undertaken a population growth study, a directive from the province, in 2011 to determine what lands are needed to achieve 33,400 people and 13,500 jobs by the year 2031. Collingwood is 1 of 5 urban nodes in Simcoe County, and must achieve 40% intensification target or 50 residents/jobs per hectare.

DEVELOPMENTS

Balmoral Village – Harbour St. at Highway 26, currently going through approval process.
Total of 290 units: Commercial space, a rec-centre, 20 singles, 24 semi-detached, 36 townhomes, 210 apartment units, 120 suite retirement home and a 96 bed long-term care facility.

Duke of Connaught – 125 Napier Street
An addition will be added to the rear of the building to make a fourplex plus 2 units in the original building. 2 lots to be severed to the north and 2 lots to be severed to the south for Single Family Residences

Admiral Collingwood – Corner Hume and Hurontario Streets
OP and zoning amendments are Town of Collingwood initiated (not developer-initiated). Assaff has applied to the town for amendments, Strandholdt has not. Differences since the mediated settlement: height, density, and omission of Section 37 bonusing. Cannot bring forward development application unless Heritage Plan is amended.

Shopper’s Drugmart – 18,000 sq.ft. building on First Street opening first week of January 2012

Esso Gas Station – First at Cedar Streets, with new corner store, coffee shop, drive-through, car wash

Wyldewood – Cranberry Trail East and Highway 26 W. – Now under construction 

 
 Related Posts:

Part 1:  Meaford
Part 2: Town of Blue Mountains

Toronto Star:  Neighbours Suing Neighbours:  Potentially Precedent Setting Lawsuit Regarding Wind Turbines 
Now this is going to be interesting to watch unfold.  I say three cheers for John Wiggins suing WPD.  Not so sure about suing the neighbours though.  

The Enterprise Bulletin:  Rally Planned To Support Admiral Development 
So let me get this straight.  A (likely large) group of citizens are going to rally to essentially send a message that says to the Town council, “we support you in spending hundreds of thousands  of our tax dollars to break and bend rules for a private business interest.   Hooray!”  How odd.

The Blue Mountains Courier Herald:  Telfer Comes Back With New Ideas for Thornbury Village 
This one has been pretty controversial as citizens debate how the village should grow.  

The Meaford Express:  Meaford Proposes Heritage District Now 
Yay Meaford.  Wish you’d thought of this BEFORE the Harbour Moose got demolished.

Think of the Chelsea Market in New York City or the Distillery District in Toronto and you can imagine the vision for an exciting cultural corridor which is evolving in the heart of downtown Collingwood.

Theatre Collingwood announces it will be creating a new home base on March 1st at 51 St. Marie Street, at the corner of Simcoe Street. Theatre Collingwood’s new Production Centre will become the location where the professional company will construct sets, render scenic art, create costumes and build props. The Box Office & Administration will join the operations, for the first time ever under the same roof.

As well, the new year-round Drama Training program for Teens and for Adults and rehearsals for productions will take centre stage here. Member events, play readings, and special events are also planned for the future. Theatre Collingwood’s mainstage summer season performances will continue at the Historic Gayety Theatre.

Hella Sandberg is credited for being the catalyst of this new relationship between the Lex’s and the theatre company. A passionate supporter of Theatre Collingwood since its inception in 1984, Hella has served in various capacities during these 27 years as costume designer, head of wardrobe, volunteer committee member and 24/7 cheerleader. Acutely aware of Theatre Collingwood’s needs and its nomadic existence over the years, she suggested the initial meeting between Artistic Director Steven Thomas with Rick Lex. Steven comments, “There was an instant meeting of minds. We have had a common vision but have been working independently toward the same goal: creating an arts hub in the downtown district in which the theatre company would be the core professional performing arts magnet.”

Rick and Anke plan to link the theatre space to the main hall/foyer and feature organic local foods and creative studio spaces. Rick notes, “the conceptional rendering of the exterior by local artist Jason Alexander suggests a grand entrance and facade which complements the heritage surroundings. The renovation of the building’s facade will take place early this year.” Anke adds, “the concept of adaptive reuse has always been very exciting to us. We are absolutely thrilled to house the Theatre Collingwood Production Centre in part of the former Newspaper building.”

The Theatre Collingwood Board of Directors, chaired by Harold Bickerstaff, are equally enthusiastic about the potential. “This represents an exciting and meaningful partnership between a private developer and a non-profit arts organization. We believe this synergy of performing and visual arts will also inspire local residents to more actively engage in their culture” says Bickerstaff proudly.

The new Theatre Collingwood Production Centre will be located across from the Library, in the building formerly known as the Enterprise Bulletin, originally built in 1985 and known as the historic Press Building. Coinciding with this move, the Enterprise Bulletin newspaper is moving next door to the 140 year old historic building which has just been newly restored by the Lex’s.

Theatre Collingwood’s move to the heart of St. Marie and Simcoe Streets connects a cultural pathway between the new Library, the Tremont’s artist studios, The Bay School of Art, the Enterprise Bulletin newspaper, the Collingwood Museum, and just a short walk away, the Blue Mountain Foundation for the Arts and the Historic Gayety Theatre.

The collective dream of a vibrant cultural arts scene is truly a win-win partnership between Rick & Anke Lex and Theatre Collingwood for the benefit of the entire community.

For the first time this year, the folks at Downtown Collingwood are hosting an Ice Sculpture Festival that runs now through to New Year’s Eve.  The work is being done by a company called Iceculture and this year’s event here will consist of more than 22,000 pounds of ice!
 
According to the website, “Iceculture is one of the larger players in the hospitality ice business, worldwide, and is recognized as a leader when it comes to developing unique and exciting designs in ice, such as the beaded ice curtain and the ice portrait. The company currently holds the Guinness World Record for the largest ice sculpture; created for GM at the Canadian Auto Show in Toronto using 2000 blocks of ice and completed by a team of fourteen ice carvers. Iceculture has also designed and installed more than twenty permanent and semi-permanent ice lounges and restaurants around the world – in Dubai, Thailand, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Spain, Portugal, India, Greece and throughout theUnited States.”

I popped own this morning in the -12 degree freeze to have a look for myself and was darn impressed.  Then I found this terrirfic video done by Big Screen FX here in town that shows the creation of one of these sculptures from beginning to end.  So that’s how they do it!

• Check out the Ice Sculpture Festival from December 27 – 31 in Downtown Collingwood  PS.  There is free parking Downtown now until January 1st, 2012

• Go Bowling in Collingwood or Meaford

• Rewind and rejuvenate at the Scandinave Spa

• Try out the new Ridge Runner Mountain Coaster at Blue

• Go to an arcade in Creemore

• Go skating of course!

• Head on Over to Rounds Ranch Pardner!

• Play Paintball or Laser Tag in Wasaga Beach

If by some miracle the snow should decide to fall, here are a few more ideas:

• How about a snowshoe tour?  

• Cross-country, snowshoe or hike along the trails and across the suspension bridge at  Scenic Caves 

• Rent a snowmobile for an hour or a day

• Take the family Dog Sledding in Rob Roy!

Do you have some favourite ideas to share?  Please add your comments and let everyone else know too.

The building is also now home to The Market which offers an excellent selection of goods grown or produced within 100 miles of Meaford.  The market was previously located in downtown Meaford but with its new location and owners, the business has the opportunity to expand which is very good news indeed.

On a recent visit, I was able to buy some delicious raw honey produced by a local apiary. I got the most wonderful Kamut pitas by baker, Vitold Kreutzer, some organic veggies, red lentil pasta and a hand-made hummingbird feeder made by a retired farmer who happened to walk into the store while I was there.

The market carries fresh bread and eggs, as well as fresh fish, beef, pork, chicken.elk and bison meat as well as prepared meals.  They carry local jams, honey, maple syrup, pickles, chutneys, salsa, pasta sauce, pasta. Dairy products include goat and sheep cheese, goat milk, goat and sheep yogurt, and organic milk, ice cream, butter, cottage cheese and yogurt. You’ll also find a wide variety of flours, beans, rice, quinoa, cereals, baking supplies, tea, locally roasted Ashanti coffee, sauces and many other common pantry and grocery items.

The Market is open Wednesday to Sunday. Maybe we’ll see you there.

This contentious site was once home to the town’s original high school which was built in 1874 and then rebuilt after a fire in 1925.  It eventually became an elementary school which many of today’s local residents fondly recall having attended.  In 2003, a new school was built on another site and the existing property was sold to local developers.

In 2005, the developers applied to change both the Official Plan designation and zoning by-laws for the lands to permit a retirement facility and  a six-storey, mixed use, residential/commercial building.  There was significant public opposition as the site is located within Collingwood’s Heritage Conservation District which basically restricted new projects to having a form, scale and height of existing buildings along Hurontario Street with building heights to be a maximum of 11 meters or, 2-3 storeys in the Downtown core.  Despite this restriction and despite a heritage impact assessment saying the building did not conform, the council of the day gave their approvals to the plan.

An appeal to the OMB (Ontario Municipal Board) was launched by a ratepayers group (full disclosure:  I was integrally involved) and during that time, a new council was also elected.  The new council DID NOT revoke any development approvals however, they did over turn the previous council’s approval of the Heritage Impact Assessment, thereby nullifying the basis of the appeal to the OMB.  They subsequently negotiated a compromise with the developer allowing a 5 storey building with the 5th storey set back from the road to reduce impact on the streetscape.

Reportedly due to economic times, the development did not proceed beyond the digging of a large and unsightly hole on the site.  The public became increasingly agitated and a sentiment to see it built in some form took hold.  Another election was fought and a new council now took on the political responsibility for seeing the project move forward.

This is a long and complicated story with many twists and turns but in a nutshell, the developer, knowing he had a sympathetic council, came back to the table with a proposal for a 6 storey, plus partial 7th storey altered plan to be approved.

Public emotion is again raging and passionate.  There are those who wish to see this project built at any cost and, there are those who fear it will jeopardize the existence of Collingwood’s respected Heritage Conservation District.  In the last week, the discussion seems to be turning toward the design of such a massive building on a prominent site.

Here is a rendering of what the developer has proposed:

Here is an excellent example of a new condominium being built on a very similar site in Etobicoke. In my view, there is simply no contest as to which one stands out as an iconic, heritage style building:

This week-end, I received an anonymous email with several mock-ups attached that show the scale and density of the existing proposal.  The writer refers to the proposed structure as a “monster” and says, “The look and feel of a town is very delicate and a sense of place in one’s mind is easily destroyed.”  I would certainly agree and share the same sentiments.  The writer also attached a number of “professionally generated images” of the building to give people a perspective on just how much this will change our sense of place:

 The Town is holding a public meeting on December 5th to discuss amendments to the Heritage District which would allow the present plan to proceed.  It is sure to be an interesting evening.

This fall, a family from east of here purchased a condo in Craigleith and spent their first week-end their over Thanksgiving.  Here is what they said in their latest email:

“We picked up the keys on Thursday evening, went home and the drove back Friday evening. We stayed for the entire long weekend. I think it was the best Thanksgiving weekend for weather I have ever seen.  The colour change on the mountain was beautiful . We had a great time (no buyers remorse). We love the location. We sat on the patio several times and had a meal while looking at Georgian Bay. We did lots of walks, went to the Village. Roasted marshmallows on the shore at night.  It was a nonstop weekend but great.  We were doing lots of shopping too, as all the wall coverings and other small items we were looking for new pictures, art, etc. to make it feel home like. Lots of fun.  Toured a lot of the apple festival studios like the rest of the tourists. Long story short we are very happy with the purchase. Looking forward to seeing you some time for a beverage on the patio.”

In 2007, a group of community minded citizens formed a non-profit corporation called North East Grey Health Clinics Inc with a goal to raise funds to build and operate self sustaining Health Clinics in Blue Mountain and Meaford.  Well big KUDOS to them as their first tangible goal is now a reality.

The Blue Mountains Community Health Centre has opened in Thornbury and with five doctors slated for practice, they state that the facility will accommodate everyone in the area without a family doctor.  The facility will also be home to a physiotherapy clinic. You can register on their website for information and updates as doctors are ready to take on new patients.

Next step will be the building of a similar clinic in Meaford next year.