Barrie’s downtown could be getting another lift.
A public meeting will be held Wednesday evening on a rezoning needed for 36 storeys of mostly residential development at Vespra and Bradford streets.
It would include a five-storey podium and total 462 residences, 320 parking spaces and ground-floor retail fronting Bradford Street.
But in a letter to the city, area residents Gary and Lynda MacDermott say the tower doesn’t fit there.
They said that all six condominiums along the waterfront, near the proposed development, are 16 storeys in height — 65 and 75 Ellen St., 33 and 37 Ellen St., and 2 and 6 Toronto St.
“The proposed 36-storey development is completely out of character with the surrounding buildings,” the MacDermotts wrote in their letter. “The congestion around the Bradford-Vespra area will be awful.
“We are aware there is a housing shortage, but there is no need for Barrie to become another highrise city like New York and Toronto with 30-plus storied buildings crammed together," they said.
The first of two similar Debut Waterfront Residences towers on Dunlop Street West is mostly built, to a height of 32 storeys.
The MacDermotts also said the proposed parking seems to be unrealistic, at 0.69 spaces per dwelling unit, because several units may have more than one vehicle.
The standard for this area is one parking space per dwelling.
They also have concerns about why the number of one-bedroom units is so high at 371, compared to the others.
“We will be directly affected by this large development with so many people living on a very small footprint,” wrote the MacDermotts.
The breakdown of residences is 371 one-bedroom, 53 two-bedroom and 38 three-bedroom units, on an acre of property at 22, 28, 34 Vespra St., and 97 and 101 Bradford St.
Developer Black Creek Vespra’s rezoning application is from general commercial to central area commercial with special provisions.
These variances are an increase in the gross floor area from what is allowed, a decrease in the standard for parking spaces and an increase in height allowed from 15 metres to 122 metres.
The land is located in an intensification corridor at the northeast corner of the Bradford Street and Vespra Street intersection, and is composed of an assembly of four parcels. They are occupied by single-detached dwellings, except for 97 Bradford St., which is occupied by a tire repair shop.
A public meeting is one of the first stages of Barrie’s planning process.
Following the public meeting, a city planning staff report is anticipated to come before Barrie councillors, sitting in general committee, in the first quarter of 2025 to consider the proposed zoning-bylaw amendment.
The Nov. 27 public meeting on this rezoning application is part of the affordability committee meeting scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. in the Council Chamber at Barrie City Hall, 70 Collier St., and online.
