Density continues to come south Barrie’s way.
A public meeting will be held Wednesday, April 5 on applications to rezone and redesignate 25.4 acres of land at the northeast corner Mapleview Drive West and Essa Road needed to build 1,217 residential units, in buildings of three to 12 storeys, along with commercial and institutional space, together with underground parking and private outdoor amenity areas.
Developer Pearl Builders is also proposing a draft plan of subdivision for the irregularly shaped property at 320 and 364 Mapleview Dr. W., as well as 664, 674 and 692 Essa Rd.
Not all of the neighbours are content with these plans, however.
Plaza Retail REIT owns 315 and 323 Mapleview Dr. W. and is applying for Official Plan and zoning bylaw amendments needed for a retail, service commercial development there with a food store anchor.
“We are very concerned that the proposed development by the applicant on the north side of Mapleview Drive West is being put forward in isolation of the neighbouring situation, and that the applicants’ access points do not align with the fixed access points of the lands which are on the south side for Mapleview,” said Bill Bilkas, REIT’s chief development officer, in correspondence with the city.
The city also received concerns about increased traffic created by this project, a lack of public transit and even if there are enough family doctors in Barrie for these additional residents.
Pearl’s Official Plan change would redesignate its land from general industrial and general commercial use to residential, environmental protection and open space. This would permit a mixture of land uses, including but not limited to medium- and high-density residential, commercial and institutional uses.
The zoning bylaw would change the current zoning from light industrial and general commercial to residential multiple dwelling second-density — special provision, mixed-use corridor — special provision, open space and environmental protection (EP).
The draft plan of subdivision would create two mixed-use blocks, along with two open space blocks and an EP block, which would be conveyed to the city.
The mixed-use blocks are proposed on the northern and southern portions of the site, while the open space and EP blocks are proposed in the central part of the site.
The northern mixed-use block includes 464 residential units with building heights of three to four storeys, consisting of 55 traditional townhouses, 390 back-to-back townhouses, 19 live-work units and outdoor amenity areas, along with 679 parking spaces.
The southern mixed-use block includes four mid-rise, mixed-use buildings ranging from six to 12 storeys with a total of 753 residential units, 2,600 sq. m. of retail space, and 800 sq. m. of library/community use space.
The EP and open space blocks include and provide a buffer to the Bear Creek corridor.
This land is relatively flat with a variety of trees and shrubs, as well as a segment of the Bear Creek tributary which runs through the central portion of the property from east to west. This site is occupied by two residential buildings that would be demolished to facilitate the proposed development
A public meeting is one of the first stages in Barrie’s planning process.
Once held, applications go to city committees and then city council for approval or change.
This is not the first residential development plan for this property. A previous submission for a high-density, mixed-use community was made in October 2020 on behalf of the previous landowner.
It included 2,569 residential units, 28,000 sq. m. of commercial and institutional space and 53,000 sq. m. of open space. The building heights proposed at that time ranged from one to 27 storeys, with most buildings measuring between seven and nine storeys.
Wednesday evening's public meeting on Pearl’s applications is part of the affordability committee meeting, which is scheduled to begin virtually and in-person at 6 p.m.
