A new commercial development is in the works at a long vacant property near the intersection of 10th Street East and 9th Avenue East in Owen Sound.
City council resolved in a 7-2 recorded vote at its meeting Monday to grant conditional site plan approval to an application from Blue Print 2 Build for a shopping centre containing three commercial units, including one drive-thru restaurant at the 880 10th Street East property.
The lot is located at the top of the 10th Street East hill, west of Tim Horton’s.
Owen Sound’s director of community services Pam Coulter told councillors the property was formerly utilized for an Esso gas station, but the lands have been vacant since 2005.
Councillors Carol Merton and Scott Greig were the only two who voted against the site plan agreement recommendation.
Merton expressed concerns about “information gaps” and a “bit of a disconnect” with some of the city’s current documents. She sought feedback about the collision rates at that intersection in recent years and also raised issue about emissions from vehicles idling at the proposed drive-thru.
“Just a bit of a disconnect for me about what our current documents are … this one component of the development gives me concern,” Merton says.
Greig says he thought this would be a “terrific location for something like a four- or five-storey multi-residential housing” unit. He expressed concerns about the type of development proposed at the property.
Deputy Mayor Brian O’Leary, quoting the staff report, says the proposal is required to meet all development standards and policies applicable to projects within the city, required to be consistent with the provincial policy statement and in conformity with Owen Sound’s official plan and zoning bylaw.
“That’s good enough for me,” O’Leary says. “I remember when (I was) elected in 2014, developers didn’t want to develop in Owen Sound. Why? Just because of what I just listened too. Council getting in the way of themselves.”
Coun. Richard Thomas says lately around the council table, the thought has been creeping in that “we should be telling developers what to develop in Owen Sound. And I don’t see that as council’s role.”
“We have an official plan. We have a proposal here … from a developer who wants to build something with his or her money. Not my money. Not our money. They’re taking all of the risk. They’re bringing their business to Owen Sound,” Thomas explains. “We just need to step aside, trust in our processes, all of which have been met, and move forward.”
“As soon as we starting meddling in what developers should be building, we are going to stop seeing developers coming to Owen Sound,” Thomas continues. “And too much effort, and too much work have been put in the past 10 years to bring development back to Owen Sound to put the brakes on it now.”
The three-unit commercial development at 10th Street East and 9th Avenue East would also include 26 parking spaces.
