Midhurst-Hillsdale-Centre Vespra Development

I mention these three settlement areas in the heading of this article as they appear to be indicators of the new type of development growth our small communities are facing in Springwater. They are also signs of unwanted change.

Hillsdale received approval of a development of about 500 homes two years ago after local residents dropped their OMB appeal because of fears of a lawsuit from the developer.

Centre Vespra are nearing the end of the planning and approval period which will see another 500 homes added to their small quaint rural area. There is a large residential group assembled trying to restrict the size of the development.

As far as Midhurst everyone knows that if the secondary plan is approved after the OMB hearing sometime this year, up to 10,000 homes or around 30,000 residents could be added over the next ten or more years. A very large resident group is coming together to fight this plan.

These new subdivision plans represent the largest developments that Springwater has ever seen. In all cases, a majority of residents in these areas reject the plans. That is a new phenomenom. However not one person I spoken to objects to development in principle. They simply believe, as a rural area, Springwater needs carefully designed and complementary developments that will not destroy the reason people moved here. The three developments certainly do not meet that criteria.

Why is this happening?

In many small municipalities such as Springwater, local councils have been hoodwinked by large developers and their planning consultants and lawyers. Instead of local councils planning their community’s future, they are allowing the developers to dictate how and when areas will be developed. There is no question that many of these developers are quite good at designing communities with attractive housing, green spaces and general land use. Unfortunately most of the community designs are great for urban centres like Barrie, but not conducive to rural living. The missing link is that the local council is the party responsible to say when and how many houses will be built in an area, not the developers. Councils like Springwater should be enhancing their official plans and dictating to developers what the municipality wants and how they would like it phased in over specific periods of time. This is totally within their jurisdiction and would allow both the community and developers to reach amicable resolutions. This next comment may surprise you. Even though I have been accused of being anti developer, I don’t find the actual problem with the developers. Some have been heavy handed, but so be it. Generally they are simply maximizing the use of landholdings they have secured as any good capitalist would do. Their shareholders expect nothing less. The real problem in my view is the lack of knowledge and lack of visionary leadership in the local councils. I encourage you to ask any of our Springwater elected officials if they have read the provincial documents that guide development growth including the Provincial Policy Statement, Places to Grow and the more recent Proposed Amendment 1 of the Growth Plan for the Simcoe County area. Ask them if they understand how they apply to Springwater. Also ask them if they have actually read the township’s own Official Plan or the By-laws that control development. Nothing requires them to do so. For the most part, by what I hear and see at the council and planning meetings, they haven’t studied them and simply depend on staff to direct them and recommend resolutions to pass at council and planning meetings. To read all the documents I mentioned would take them no more than a day if they dedicated the time. That is why we elected them.

Springwater Council needs to understand that they are not just a board of directors for the township but in fact are the executive management committee and must get their hands dirty. The mayor is the CEO according to the Municipal Act and has the same authority to provide direction as any corporate leader would provide. Of course the council will take advice from bureaucrats, but the elected officials are supposed to be at the helm, not the bureaucrats. The Springwater Council needs to take charge of where it is going with development in general. It should outline a master development plan and inform those land owners and developers in designated settlement areas of how they want them to proceed. In this way they would have much more control of the developments and the associated capital costs for infrastructure. By allowing smaller and controlled development in chunks the township would be able to adjust development charges to meet the increasing costs of the services and avoid deficits or unfairly passing on some of the costs to the general taxpayer. Even though councils always say that all the infrastructure and associated costs of new development is born by the developers through (DC’s) development charges, that is simply not true as all costs can never be anticipated. As an example, when I was reviewing the Midhurst Secondary Plan costs to date I was dismayed that even before we get into the actual development stage we are already in a $104,000 deficit position for the secondary plan itself. Ultimately if the OMB rejects the Midhurst Secondary plan that $104,000 deficit will be made up by the taxpayer either directly or indirectly. The cost for the plan to date is about $175,000 and we have only collected $71,000. That is just for the plan and not any associated services such as roads, sewers or water works. This is an example of the tip of the ice berg and how quickly things can get out of control with poorly controlled development. Talk to your friends in Barrie. Barrie has had huge developments for decades but the development charges never seem to stop the increase in their tax levies. Unbridled development is not the panacea that our mayor, deputy mayor and most of our councillors think it is.

I applaud the resident groups in Hillsdale, Centre Vespra and Midhurst for taking a stand to protect the character of their communities and that of Springwater as a whole. I would like to see some of our key farmers speak out against the loss of some of the most valuable farmland in Springwater as these developments proceed. I can only ask that our elected officials take the time to better understand the irreversible harm that will be done if development is not controlled by the council and planning committee.

This council did not create this crisis, but they must now take charge and start the rebuilding process and put Springwater on a new land development heading. Springwater needs and can sustain about a 2% growth rate or about 200 plus new homes a year. That should be part of new master plan. That controlled growth may help reduce the cost of development land as large speculators may not be as enticed to tie up 1000 acres of land if they know the township is only allowing 200 to 300 homes a year to be built. It would help resurrect the small builder that has been annihilated in the last 20 years as land would be sold in smaller parcels and more attainable by the local builders. These builders typically employ local tradesmen, supplies and services which would add to the Springwater economy. This type of orderly development could help lower our mill rate and truly make Springwater a sustainable community.

I ask you to challenge your Mayor, Deputy Mayor and councilors if you want to retain the rural character of Springwater. Without input from you, this council will follow the easy path that the three councils before them followed. As we are now seeing that path is not sustainable and could be very costly.

The first step in a positive direction would be for this council to make a decision to stand aside and allow the County and Province to resolve the OMB appeal on the Midhurst Secondary Plan. Some would say why won’t the township spend the money and oppose the plan instead. In simple terms Springwater would expose itself to millions in lawsuits as the councils before them lawfully (rightly or wrongly) approved these settlement area plans in Hillsdale, Centre Vespra and Midhurst. However there is no need for the township to spend up to $200,000 in our money to fight for something most people oppose. The OMB fight is between the County and the Province and that is where it should be resolved.

In the case of Springwater Smaller is Better.