GBA 2020 - Fall Update

www.georgianbay.ca GBA UPDATE Fall 2020 Balancing the need to protect the environment with the rights of property owners is an ongoing issue that will continue to be debated in our communities and at local municipal councils for years to come. It is vital to the region’s future that strong planning and development regulations and sound management and administration of the rules be maintained by municipalities. Decisions made by municipal planning councils and committees of adjustment are also critical. Municipalities need to invest the resources needed to deliver sound planning services and effective enforcement of their official plans and rules. GBA member association communities in TGB and the Township of the Archipelago have local community plans with their own official plans and zoning rules; that emphasize low- density development, maintenance of the local landscapes, and environmental protection. Defending these values against owners who are determined to build bigger or develop undersized islands and lots is becoming increasingly costly for municipalities, due to both the cost of dealing with applications and resulting appeals, and the costs of enforcing official plans and by-laws. Weighing in on these issues is also an increasing burden on local member associations who rely on volunteers to do this work. In the development world, money talks! This is the challenge that we are all facing and must come together to respond to. These issues are the focus of GBA’s Coastal Protection Committee. Over the last few years, GBA has increasingly been weighing in on precedent-setting planning issues, in particular in TGB, whose proximity to the rapidly expanding GTA and Simcoe County has led to ever- increasing development pressures. Pressure to intensify building and relax planning regulations also exists elsewhere on the eastern coast but it is currently most intense in the south. Besides residential and cottage development, marinas in southern Georgian Bay are expanding in number and size. Many marinas in the Midland/Honey Harbour area serve large cruisers and yachts that cruise and sail the waters of the eastern coast, often all the way to the northern coast at Killarney and further. Maple Leaf Marinas, a corporate group, is buying up many marinas at the south end of the Bay and expanding them. They just acquired South Bay Cove Yacht Haven and Paragon Marina at Honey Harbour, adding to marinas at Midland, Penetanguishene and elsewhere. Also, Bay Port Village, a new housing development, is underway next to the Midland marina, and Brandy’s Cove Yachting Centre at Honey Harbour has applied to expand. Expect more cruiser traffic in future, and more issues in managing mooring sites and intrusions on private property along the coast. Development creep pressures will inevitably intensify as the GTA and Ontario’s population expands. According to Ontario’s population projections for 2018-2046, many census areas in cottage country and around the Bay will see populations increasing by 15-30%. These areas include Bruce, Grey, Muskoka, Haliburton, Kawartha Lakes and Frontenac. Simcoe’s population is predicted to increase by over 30%. Member associations that are facing major challenges with precedent-setting building and development applications in their communities are welcome to contact GBA for advice and support. The Collingwood region is one of Canada’s fastest-growing areas. The value of construction permits in the town alone spiked 300% in 2019 to over $250 million.