The area city has opposed the expansion of the development request for 17 years

The City of Collingwood will oppose a request to offer an extension to a nearly 20-year-old subdivision project that is still in the design phase.

According to the city, the Bridgewater developers have applied to the Ontario Land Tribunal for another extension of their subdivision plan approval project.

“The plan has lapsed and been renewed seven times in the last 20 years,” Collingwood Mayor Yvonne Hamlin said during a council meeting this week.

Seven times seems to be the limit for the City of Collingwood in this development.

After a closed session, the council returned to an open session where the mayor explained that the city attorney and senior staff had advised the council to oppose the extension request.

Consulate Developments is the developer behind the Bridgewater development on Georgian Bay (formerly The Preserve at Georgian Bay).

The development has been on the city’s books since at least 2007, initially receiving approval for 320 residential units on the 11664 Highway 26 property. Consulate Developments reviewed the proposal in 2018 and requested a zoning bylaw change to instead allow a mix of 655 apartments, single detached homes, semi-detached homes and back-to-back living units. The request to increase the density went to the Funeral Tribunal of Ontario, which granted the increase, with the draft site plan approval set to expire on June 29, 2024.

The property is located at the west end of Collingwood on the north side of Highway 26 across from the Georgian Bay Hotel and off Princeton Shores Blvd. The “development plot” is surrounded by wetlands and wooded areas.

The development has been before the Ontario Funeral Tribunal several times in the past, including in 2023, when the tribunal ruled that Collingwood could not arbitrarily require affordable housing to be included in the development plan.

In fact, the original project approval was granted by the Ontario Municipal Council (which later became the Ontario Funeral Tribunal) in 2007.

There have been several extensions granted by the City and the Ontario Land Tribunal on the draft plan approval, which is set to expire on June 29, 2024. Without another extension, the City’s approval of the draft development plan expires. Any development on the site would have to start over in the application process.