Breaking News
City of Barrie-New Conversion Policy on Employment Lands
By Ali Ikram, Consultant
According to a recent proposal brought before the City of Barrie Council by the Planning Department, all applications for the conversion of employment lands to non-employment uses, including residential, commercial, or retail, within the City's boundaries should be considered premature and held in abeyance until a municipal comprehensive review is undertaken. This policy initiative will have significant implications for land owners and investors in the City of Barrie.
According to the Planning Department's Staff Report, presented to the Council on August 31, 2009, the Department has received a number of applications for the conversion of employment lands to non-employment uses, including residential and general commercial. Moreover, there has been a great deal of interest in using employment lands for purposes not normally permitted in an Industrial zone, such as the introduction of a church or free standing restaurant. The Department is concerned about receiving further applications without fully understanding the implications of these conversions, especially in light of Bill 196, newly introduced by the Province. This Bill proposes the addition of 2,293 ha. of land, currently in the Town of Innisfil, to be annexed the City of Barrie. As such, the Planning Department has deemed the need for a municipal comprehensive review to evaluate the consequences of applications for conversion and to be able to deal with all future applications on a policy, rather than an ad hoc basis. The municipal comprehensive review would take over a year to complete.
Under the current planning regulatory framework, conversion of employment lands to non-employment uses is permissible so long as certain conditions are met. Under both the Provincial Policy Statement (2005) and the Places to Grow study (June 2006), conversion of employment lands to non-employment uses is permissible so long as a municipal comprehensive review shows that there is a need for conversion and that the lands are not required for employment purposes over the long run.
This approach is further reinforced in the City of Barrie's Official Plan. The present policy in the Official Plan was established by the City's Employment Lands Conversion Study, which was completed in June 2004. Apart from weighing the consequences of conversion of employment lands, the Study also identified lands which may be suitable for conversion. However, the newly proposed Bill 196 by the Province, which would add 2,293 ha. of lands to the city of Barrie, requires the City to develop a comprehensive growth management strategy, which necessitates a municipal comprehensive review.
According to Commercial Focus Advisory Service however, Bill 196 received its first reading on June 4, 2009, and had not yet been given royal assent. All Landowners of employment lands wishing to convert them to non-employment uses will be impacted until the municipal comprehensive review is completed.
Commercial Focus Advisory Services has had a great deal of experience in dealing with employment lands conversion and have a strong working relationship with the City of Barrie. For more information on the City of Barrie's decision regarding the conversion of employment lands or on the services offered by Commercial Focus Advisory Service, please contact Stephen Fagyas, M.A., M.C.I.P., 416 907 8109 or Stephen@Commercialfocusadvisoryservices.ca