Ontario Construction News staff writer
The City of Barrie has submitted recommendations for its Official Plan to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, including feedback received from the public by email and at a town hall meeting in November.
Click the link to see the submission.
“After extensive consultation with the public, we heard that protecting the environment, Lake Simcoe and supporting the creation of new affordable housing in Barrie are critical priorities for our community,” said Mayor Alex Nuttall. “These themes were heard loud and clear during our community engagement. These matters are important to our community, and they are important to me.
“They should be important to the province as well and as such, I want these policies reverted in the Official Plan back to the stronger language that Council originally adopted.”
The Ontario Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing approved the City of Barrie’s Official Plan, with 73 modifications in April. The 73 modifications address provincial policy direction related to land use compatibility, source water protection, and government priorities related to housing and streamlining the development process, among other matters, including site specific changes.
On Oct. 23, new Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Paul Calandra announced that he would be reviewing the changes to official plans made by the previous minister. The Minister provided impacted municipalities 45 days to submit changes and updates to those plans to the ministry.
To learn more and to download the current Official Plan, visit barrie.ca/OfficialPlan.