One of Collingwood’s longest-standing on-the-books developments scored a win this week, as the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT) ruled the town cannot arbitrarily assign requirements for affordable housing.
However, the town’s planning director says work underway through the town’s official plan process means that might not be the case in the future.
The Bridgewater on Georgian Bay development (previously named The Preserve at Georgian Bay) filed an appeal against the Town of Collingwood for non-decision on its zoning bylaw amendment, which was originally presented to the town in 2018 and was revised in 2019. Consulate Developments, the developer behind the project, appealed in August 2021 to the tribunal as it still had not been brought forward to council for a decision at that time.
The development has been on the town’s books since at least 2007, originally receiving draft approval for 320 dwelling units on the 11664 Hwy. 26 property. Consulate Developments revised the proposal in 2018 and applied for a zoning bylaw amendment to instead allow a mix of 655 apartment, single detached dwellings, semi-detached dwellings, and back-to-back townhouse dwelling units.
The property is in Collingwood’s west end, on the north side of Highway 26 across from Georgian Bay Hotel and near Princeton Shore Boulevard.
“It boils down to whether the planning policy documents compel the provision of affordable housing in the proposed development, and if so, whether the method employed by the town to determine how to provide it is sound, reasonable and represents good land-use planning,” OLT member Carolyn Molinari wrote in her ruling released July 25.
Collingwood’s director of planning, Summer Valentine, clarified that once the developer appealed to the OLT for non-decision, all subsequent decisions by council on the file were done in-camera.
However, she confirmed councillors voted in-camera to request 10 per cent (about 60) of the units within the development be of a smaller size, as was recommended by one of the consultants working on the file, through the zoning bylaw amendment.
“It was a request to improve affordability, as a smaller unit is likely to be more attainable,” said Valentine.
However, the tribunal ruled the town doesn’t have authority to make such a requirement of a developer at this time. With the Bridgewater development specifically, Molinari said such a requirement wouldn’t make sense due to the location.
“The location of affordable/attainable housing should ideally be in areas with nearby community services and commercial developments,” she wrote.
She also noted in her decision the town does not have any policies or rules to compel developers to provide affordable/attainable housing in development proposals.
Colin Travis, an agent for the developer, said this week that the developer could still consider including affordable units as the planning process progresses.
“The difference is we’re not going to be forced to provide units at a minimum certain size. Who knows? It might be a component of a future plan,” he said.
“Bridgewater now has firm knowledge of the zoning permission. That translates into the ability for us to work on more detailed plans, mostly engineering and environmental. Now we know what we’re dealing with. Everyone on the team is looking forward to moving forward.”
Overall, Valentine said, housing is one of Collingwood council’s main concerns.
“The municipality has no ability, under current policy and legislative regime of the province, to directly compel an applicant to provide affordable housing. This is one of council’s key priorities to address the housing crisis in our town,” she said.
“It is a key challenge. Council is trying to pull every lever within their control to improve the housing situation in our community.”
Looking ahead, Valentine says, the town is working through its official plan update to include pursuing smaller units in new developments to help with affordability.
The town is also working on its first affordable housing master plan, for which it will hold a public consultation session Aug. 15 from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Collingwood Public Library.
“The work doesn’t stop. We’re working very hard to ensure we can improve affordability,” said Valentine.
