A proposed residential highrise on a prominent corner in downtown Barrie has already raised the ire of residents.
They filled the Council Chambers at Barrie City Hall on Wednesday night for a public meeting to hear a rezoning application needed to build 25 storeys where Dunlop East and Mulcaster streets meet — a project which would include 160 residences, 135 parking spaces and ground-floor commercial units on these 0.38 acres, adjacent to Sam Cancilla Park.
Ian Rowe, a lifelong Barrie resident and for 30 years the city’s lawyer, said this was the third time he has responded to a proposed highrise on this site.
“My long-held opinion is this is a very poor piece of land for intensive development. There are a lot of warts,” he said. “It will obliterate one of the three public vistas of Kempenfelt Bay.”
Rowe, an area resident, raised concerns about the project’s lack of parking spaces, the traffic it would create and the slope of the hill at an already difficult intersection at Dunlop East and Mulcaster streets.
He even questioned whether the soil there would support the weight of a 25-storey building.
Diane Vetter, a Dunlop Street East resident, said the project simply doesn’t fit there — and described how it would look from Kempenfelt Bay.
“Right there in front of you, you see this 25-storey tower sticking up like a sore thumb into the landscape,” she said. “Is this the best use of a very environmentally sensitive piece of land?
“This piece of land we are discussing is the very last jewel of open waterfront land. The very last piece," Vetter added.
In that light, the city’s interest in acquiring 149, 151 and 153 Dunlop St. E., and 5 Mulcaster St., was not discussed at Wednesday’s public meeting, but is expected to be a subject at the March 5 city council meeting.
The site would be included in a motion to get public input on the feasibility of establishing a park from Mulcaster Street to the eastern border of Sam Cancilla Park.
At the same time, council will consider final approval to a new capital project to decommission the Bayview Park reservoir and complete the removal of the booster pumping station at Sam Cancilla Park, budgeted at $2.56 million.
Coun. Craig Nixon, speaking Wednesday to officials representing Blackthorn Development, on behalf of Dunlop Developments (Barrie), the property’s owners/developers, mentioned the challenges of building there, including parking and the business of residential development.
“Should your client decide that the lengthy process and this challenging endeavour is something that you choose not to do and they want to sell the property, you know how to get a hold of us,” said Nixon. “I’ll just put that out there right now.”
At least a dozen people spoke at Wednesday’s public meeting about the rezoning request by Blackthorn.
Jocelyn Gillespie wrote to the city to say she's opposed to the proposed development.
“The 25-storey structural design will block visual access to Barrie’s waterfront from existing housing and businesses,” she wrote. “It creates more congestion on roads and intersections.
“There's a lack of jobs in Barrie, increasing homelessness and addiction,” added Gillespie. “There are not enough grocery stores for the current residents. The infrastructure doesn't support this type of growth. Adding more highrise condominiums does not help the residents of Barrie.”
Wanda Morden, who also wrote to the city, said it’s already busy in this area.
“There is enough congestion at these corners and downtown with all the other highrises you (city council) have let be built downtown,” she said. “The lot space (0.38 acres) is way too small for all that they want to place on it and it would be a total eyesore.
“Another good reason not to build is blocking people's view of the lake, which no one seems to care about anymore,” Morden added. “Downtown has enough highrises and places to live.”
Donna Taylor also wrote that she opposes the development.
“Personally, I am opposed, but more so I feel this height is not consistent with the hard work and careful planning the City of Barrie has strived to maintain for the last 25 years,” she said. “(A) height restriction would also help alleviate the congestion and traffic on Mulcaster, which is already geographically compromised to support the current traffic.”
The developer is proposing a rezoning to the existing central area commercial zone. It would add special provisions, or variances, to the existing central area commercial zone to facilitate the project.
This includes, but is not limited to, a maximum building height of 80 metres or 25 storeys, an increase in gross floor area to 1,000 per cent, a reduced standard for commercial space, removal of the requirement for a landscape buffer area and a reduced parking standard to 0.6 spaces per residential unit.
The property is designated high-density use in Barrie’s Official Plan, and located on the southeast corner of the intersection of Dunlop Street East and Mulcaster Street.
David Riley of SLG Planning and Design, speaking for Blackthorn, said the project also had advantages.
“This is unique from a topographic and grade perspective,” he said. “There really is an opportunity with this development to create an interesting building with at-grade retail along Mulcaster, along Dunlop, and even access for pedestrians.
“There’s a really great mix of units,” Riley added. “We’ve got one studio unit, but when you add the two and three-bedroom units, that’s 86 units, which is just over half the units within the building. And then there are 73 one-bedroom units. It’s a good, healthy unit mix with family-sized units in this building."
Currently on the property is a restaurant, Cocina Mexican, and ENDO, a cannabis dispensary, plus three empty storefronts in the plaza portion of the building.
Wednesday’s public meeting was held as part of the city’s affordability committee meeting. The neighbourhood meeting for this rezoning application was held March 4, 2024.
A public meeting is one the first steps in Barrie’s planning process. The application will now be sent to city planning staff for a report to Barrie councillors, who can approve, reject or modify the rezoning.