Dear Ms. Zhuo, Arcadis IBI…

Dear Ms. Zhuo,

Arcadis IBI Group is providing the attached comment letter upon the Environmental Registry of Ontario posting (019-5530) regarding the new City of Barrie Official Plan, on behalf of Pearl Builders, the owner of the lands municipally known as 664, 674 and 692 Essa Road, and 320 Mapleview Drive West (the “subject site”).

The purpose of this letter is to request a Minister’s modification and approval of a current application for an Official Plan Amendment (OPA) filed with the City of Barrie (City File #: D30-002-2020) for the subject site. Specifically, the following are provisions in our OPA that we are respectfully seeking Minister’s approval:
• Changing the land use designation of the subject site from General Commercial and General Industrial to Residential, Open Space, and Environmental Protection;
• Approving increased residential density permissions to facilitates a proposed mixed-use residential development with a total of 1217 dwelling units, and a residential density of 162 units per hectare; and
• Approving non-residential uses to be located on lands designated Residential such as commercial, retail, institutional and community-related uses to allow for 3,476 square metres of non-residential GFA.

The proposed OPA brings the proposed development into conformity with the Medium Density land use policies of the new Official Plan. Ministerial approval for our OPA will save us from potential delays that may occur during the development approvals process and allow us to proceed with our site-specific rezoning application in a timely manner. As the comment letter will briefly outline, the OPA application represents good planning, and are in the public interest. We recommend approval of our OPA for expediting the development approvals process and building more homes faster.

We offer our full support for the approval of the City of Barrie new Official Plan within the context of our development proposal for the subject site. Thank you for the opportunity to provide comment on the City of Barrie new Official Plan. We welcome a meeting to discuss the contents of our letter. Should you require any additional information or have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Kind regards,

Simon Yee, Senior Planner
simon.yee@ibigroup.com