‘I was stunned to find out how expensive you are’: Planning consultant lays out options for Collingwood official plan

Collingwood’s next official plan should focus residential and commercial development to its existing retail corridors.

That includes, notably, Collingwood’s historic downtown, which should receive further protections and recognition of its importance to the community, recommends the town’s planning consultant, Ron Palmer of The Planning Partnership.

Palmer presented councillors with recommendations to consider as part of the town’s updated official plan, including that it reflect a planning horizon into the mid-2040s so that it is consistent with provincial and county planning policies.

The next steps in the official plan will be a series of public workshops in the next week, followed by a presentation of the draft plan to council in early 2021.

Palmer said the official plan should focus around a series of values for Collingwood, including walkability, inclusivity, healthy lifestyles, sustainability, and quality urban design.

It should also focus intensification efforts to community centres and corridors to reduce the need to intensify in existing neighbourhoods.

The approach to protecting the downtown in the past — such as restricting certain commercial uses, including banks, to the core — has worked, he said, but he also wanted to see broader permissions for commercial uses throughout the community.

That includes allowing for residential within the commercial corridors, “and talk about new development in the terms of compatible development.”

There are also recommendations on how to encourage — and measure the success of — sustainable development such as ‘green’ building technologies, with the potential of the town offering some kind of incentives.

One of the key elements of the plan will be to find ways to ensure Collingwood is affordable for a broad demographic. Palmer said the issue of housing was one he heard the most about during the public input process.

“I was stunned to find out how expensive you are relative to other municipalities in southern Ontario,” Palmer said, referring to his research into local real estate prices. “You have a significant dependence on low-intensity, single-attached and very expensive housing.”

Palmer told councillors that tools could be put in the official plan compelling developers to build a range and mix of housing as part of their projects — including affordable housing. However, he added, that still relied on the province to approve the mechanics of how that’s implemented, and whether Collingwood would be permitted to use that tool.

Other elements the council can consider in the official plan would be to “up the bar” when it comes to urban design, and how the architectural control process can be expanded through the town’s comprehensive zoning bylaw.

A heritage conservation section could also be added to the urban design manual, and new development could be integrated into the heritage character of areas such as the downtown.

“That doesn’t necessarily mean it has to mimic historic built forms, but it means it has to be compatible, and understand what makes Collingwood historically important,” he said.