More Condos Planned In Collingwood
A significant, proposed new development in Collingwood has made it through the first round of approvals.
Collingwood council recently approved an official plan amendment for the Black Ash Lifestyle Village, a large project located on the former Cranberry driving range in the west end of town. The Black Ash project includes a plan for two 7 storey condo buildings, a 120 suite retirement home, an 80 bed nursing home, townhouses, semi detached and single family homes as well as commercial space.
Although concerns over building heights raised some public objections, council felt the plan met with the Provincial guidelines for intensification. The question however now is what the County will have to say. There is still significant disagreement between the Province and the County on what a population allocation should be for Collingwood. Planning staff at Simcoe County have said they don’t approve of the project because there is already enough planned development to support growth allocations from the province.
According to the Town of Collingwood’s July 2010 development map, there are over 4200 residential units n various stages of application with multi-units representing almost 70% of those. Clearly the continued intensification of condo building in the west end will continue for a long time to come. It’s not a surprise given that the demand for condominiums as a form of home ownership continues to outstrip all other housing styles.
Maybe we can rename the town to Condowood.
Update October 2012: A revised version of this new development has been approved and is now called Balmoral Village. Among other planned changes, building heights have been reduced to four stories.
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Although Collingwood is already getting to be a busy place (just try to drive the strip between the Shipyards the the Holiday Inn Express during a busy weekend), but having this facility for seniors and attached to a nursing home is very much needed. My mother lives in the Sunrise Village, and my father until his recent death was living in the Sunset Manor. What a Godsend this was that we didn’t have to worry about my mother driving during the evenings when she was needed, or during the winter weather. Having an direct access through the hallway connecting the two buildings was brilliant!
I’m so happy to see that this demographic is being considered. Collingwood has to stay real, and not turn into a place just for second home investments and vacation ownership.
I would fully support this type of building and hope that it passes. Although I know that people don’t necessarily like to see buildings, having more floors uses space better than tearing down forests and using up the valuable land just in of condo sprawl. Having a 6-rise condo building would certainly be reasonable and it would accommodate more seniors in this very much needed real estate niche.
I will be following the progression of this closely. Thank you for your article and future updates.
Sincerely,
B. Giffen
Schomberg, Ontario
Thank YOU for your insightful comments Brenda. You make such an excellent point about your own parents situation and, my condolences on your father’s passing. The aging demographic certainly is a reality and will continue to be so. It is good to see all the new seniors development we have had come aboard in recent years that is geared towards appropriate housing. I especially love the idea of aging in place too.
It will be interesting to see how the County decides to rule on this one.
This development is far too dense for this area and the hi-rise condo’s are big concern to those that live/vacation in the area.
The development actually comes in below the Town’s maximum for medium density development however, this is largely achieved through the proposed towers. I too have concerns about those and feel they don’t fit in with the Town’s aesthetic. On the other hand, the Province has mandated that Towns must intenisfy development to preserve rural lands and that is good policy in it’s intent. I wish there were readily understandable and user-friendly opportunities for all of us to give input to the planning department on where such higher densities might be suitable.
For the Black Ash Village development, it will be interesting to learn what the County position is on this. Thank-you for your comment.