About 200 residents, politicians and major developers packed a room at the Nottawasaga Inn to hear more about the proposed Official Plan last Wednesday.
The strategic document guides growth and development for the next 25 years; it must also translate Ontario's Places to Grow into local terms and initiatives.
Simcoe County council is to approve its plan this fall; the statutory public meeting required under Ontario's Planning Act is Aug. 13 at 9 a.m.
Ontario's Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe is calling for growth to occur in such a way as to bolster economic productivity, limit sprawl and protect the environment.
"Nothing is appealable until the province approves the plan, so don't get excited about it at this point in time," retiring county planning director Ian Bender told the crowd.
County planners are hitting the road to explain the proposed plan at a series of open houses that began July 23 at the Alliston resort. Another took place in Midland Monday and the series wraps up in Wasaga Beach tomorrow night (Thursday) at the RecPlex. It starts at 6 p.m., features a presentation at 7 p.m. and wraps up at 9 p.m.
The new plan is significant.
"The proposed Official Plan is a substantial modification of our current OP. It has allocated population to various municipalities and set intensification and density targets," Bender added.
The plan has already received some negative feedback especially concerning new employment nodes on Highway 400 - from the City of Barrie, the province, and even a few members of the public - although it does introduce some important changes that will protect agricultural land.
For the first time, the county is defining settlement boundaries; areas outside settlements will remain agricultural, rural or an array of EP designations - including the new Greenlands designation. New mapping has enabled the county to increase its Greenlands from 31 per cent to 39 per cent.
The new plan also introduces Special Development Areas. There are four: the Lake Simcoe Regional Airport in Oro-Medonte, Big Bay Point in Innisfil, and the two Highway 400 economic zones at Innisfil Beach Road and at County Road 88 in Bradford West Gwillimbury.
These areas are not yet well defined; no boundaries have been established, but the county is looking to use them as economic growth centres. The two Highway 400 zones still require provincial approval and the province has already requested the county justify the need to convert the agricultural land.
The more-southerly zone, at County Road 88, includes class 1, 2 or 3 agricultural soil, as well as organic soil; at Innisfil Beach Road, the soil is evaluated as class 1, 2 or 3.
Lower-class soil type 4 is located in a strip that extends from the southeast part of Barrie in the Veteran's Drive area on the west side of Highway 400 and north of Innisfil Beach Road.
The airport would be expanded and upgraded, and already a company has told Oro-Medonte it has plans to develop 200 acres near the airport for a variety of aviation-related business and industrial uses.
The Big Bay Point designation recognizes a new resort, approved by the Ontario Municipal Board last year. The plan includes a championship golf course, marina, hotel, theatre and seasonal units.
