Council Preview
By John Swartz
Orillia council has any early start (12:30 p.m.) for its Monday June 15 meeting schedule in order to have a public meeting for the new Official Plan. Official plans have to be updated every ten years and staff have been working on a new version of what Orillia will look like for the last three years.
There have been public presentations and the ability for residents to comment. This is the second draft and there is a final report to come, so nothing is written in stone.
In the report staff say the ministry said the final version may be rejected if there is no updated flood plain mapping done, and conveniently that is on the agenda of the regular meeting. The final draft will not be issued until fall.
All the work the City has done was in the context of a new provincial Planning Act, so while some things had to change to meet provincial regulation, some of those thing had to change further because of the newer act.
Staff notes one of the changes is the province made it so developers do not have to do site plans if fewer than ten housing units are being built, so it will suck to be a neighbour of a new development because no one at the City will be looking out for you.
The province also insists municipalities have housing density targets and in Orillia’s case it will be 47 units per hectare. That means more townhouse and apartment developments in strategic growth areas of the City.
There are many changes in the new plan, but a few people may find significant are, permitting building up to 12 stories in the downtown core and 3 stories with up to 4 housing units in neighbourhoods, and 4 stories on properties fronting on major streets.
The draft official plan get b viewed here.
Regular Meeting
There are two deputations being made. One is from Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital about the new building. Lawrence Pietras, board chair and Tom Roberts, interim president and CEO will be on hand. There is no text documentation in the agenda, but several powerpoint pages.
Much has been made of a site being chosen on Lakehead University land (which the City donated to the university for education purposes) and many, including SUNonline/Orillia have raised objections to building on the edge of town instead of in the central core. Decision making has been done out of sight with no opportunity for the community to comment and the parameters of new development have been presented, so far, as fait accompli.
As to the parameters, there was no public discussion regarding what happens to the property the hospital is on, and the effect of taking hundreds of staff out of the downtown core. If studies were done to justify the move, none have been shown in public.
To that end Mayor Don McIsaac wrote to the hospital board in advance of the deputation asking some questions, which he hoped to have answers to by time of deputation. While the mayor may have made some missteps recently, on this issue he is entirely correct. Below is the list of information asked for.
Roberts responded material has been submitted, the powerpoint, which did not address any of the questions.
What many people in favour of and excited about getting a new hospital being overlooked are the cost to the community and the municipality to contend with the hole left behind in the middle of town, and the associated cost necessary for Orillia to support new development in a corner of town which will fall on the tax levy immediately and for decades to come. These things in our opinion have not been sufficiently addressed, or at all.
One of the things continuously brought up is there is no plot of land available of the size needed. There was, but parameters changed when SUNonline/Orillia pointed out there was one property in the central core that fit the bill of the hospital’s original stated land requirement. Recently the question has been asked, why isn’t the design for a structure taller than 4 stories, which would have opened up many other sites for consideration.
Orillia is a small town compared to Toronto where something like this would fly more easily. We evolved around our downtown, every system we have relates to the center of gravity. Building such a large facility on the edge of town will shift the center of gravity and we will pay for supporting it, and we will pay to solve all the issues created by the hole left behind.
The second deputation is by Rebecca Lee, Meghan Gyorffy, and Christine VanderByl, of the North Simcoe Breastfeeding Coalition. They will speak the importance of accessible, evidence-informed breastfeeding information and prenatal supports within the community.
The City has had policy since 2016 supporting breastfeeding in public places.
Barrie Road Development
Council is being asked for direction to a request by Moe Zadeh for relief of development charges, fees and property taxes for a fourth building, Villasola Residential, planned to accompany three already constructed along Barrie Road near City Hall. The mayor responded with information about various relief programs, and that waiving property taxes is not an available option. Zadeh wrote again highlighting his investment in Orillia to date and making the same request; that is the subject of the item before council.
Catching The Bus
Staff have a report with a design for a new transit terminal on Colborne Street on the site of the former OPP building. Previously council scaled the project back, which had included a parking garage and some office/residential space on floors above the terminal. The new goal is one story and 55 parking spaces and 7 bus bays (one for intercity bussing). The latter might be short sighted since the new official plan envisions a population of 49,000 and surely new routes will be in order.
The are two designs council can choose from, and a third option to make picking a design an election issue by vote.
Garbage Out
Staff have a report outlining the 2026 waste minimization plan. In the report staff show what must be one of the most successful program the City has ever implemented. Since the introduction and requirement people use clear garbage bags, the amount of garbage going into the landfill has dropped 40%.
The plan has 21 recommendations, many of which are increasing percentages of materials diverted from the landfill mostly by educating and encouraging people to modify their garbage behaviors.
Development Charges
Development Charges are applied to new developments in order for municipalities to have money for services needed to accommodate them (i.e. more police, fire, roads, pipes, etc).
Staff have a statement about activity in 2025 and the condition of the reserve. The province changed requirements substantially in 2022 and staff say the City lost $1.1 million in charges because of reduced rates and more types of development being exempted from the charges. That means when service upgrades made to accommodate new development are necessary, you pay more and developers pay less. The City collected $2.4 million in 2025, which is $1 million lower than the 5 year average. On the other hand, only 400K was taken out of the account compared to several millions in previous years. This leaves a negative balance of $25.4 million, which is $2 million lower than 2024.
The City has a history of borrowing from the development charge reserve, which accounts for the negative balance. This is just for that account, in the next report (report on 2025 budget results) staff say the total value of all reserve accounts (except the reserve of proceeds for the sale of Orillia Power Distribution, $36 million) is $103.2 million.
In a related report Staff ask council to make some choices in order to apply for grants from the province to make up for lost development charge revenue. The grants will be doled out according to how much a municipality cuts development charges and how many housing units are expected to be built. So, there is incentive for council to estimate high. There is also a factor regarding how much of development charges will be subsidized from the general tax levy, of which it is best to estimate low.
Regarding budget results. Most of the report is alerting council to specific aspects of the 2025 budget and not so much on the general outcome (which will come following an audit) but generally the City under spent the operating budget by $631K.
Of note, the ice storm cost $7.2 million. The city claimed $6.9 million of the cost from the province and expects to get $6.1 million.
Motions
There are three enquiry motions. Councillors Jeff Czetwerzuk and Whitney Smith want a report the feasibility of having free parking for vehicles displaying a valid accessible parking permit even when parked in metered parking spaces.
Councillors Whitney Smith wants a report about creating a ‘waterfront gateway feature’ at the Coldwater Road (it’s actually Coldwater Street at that point) entrance to the City’s waterfront parks what are opportunities to incorporate an illuminated landmark style Orillia sign, wayfinding elements, and park identification features for Couchiching Beach Park/Centennial Park/Veterans’ Memorial Park and the broader waterfront area, and to have staff consult with relevant parties about partnerships, including the Orillia District Chamber of Commerce, the Downtown Orillia Business Improvement Area Board, tourism partners, and other agencies or organizations.
Councillor Lauer would like policy 2.5.2.1. the Stop Sign Warrant Investigation Policy be waived and staff be directed to prepare a report about potential mitigation measures, including improvements to sight lines and the feasibility of implementing a permanent all-way stop at the intersection of Canice Street and Jarvis Street.
Council meetings are open to the public or can be watched on the City’s Youtube channel.
(Photos by Swartz – SUNonline/Orillia; Images Supplied)
