Big Bay Point project clears hurdle

By Miriam King, QMI Agency

INNISFIL — The massive Friday Harbour Resort development at Big Bay Point cleared another hurdle during Wednesday’s council meeting.

Servicing and construction of residences at Friday Harbour Resort will begin this season, after council lifted the holding provision from Phase 1 of the development and a portion of the Phase 2 land within the 239-hectare development on Lake Simcoe.

Phase 1 includes the golf course and marina basin and Phase 2, will see the eventual construction of 800 residential resort units.

A staff report noted the marina basin will be completed by early to mid-summer, and flooded shortly afterwards.

The golf course is still under construction, with over one million cubic metres of fill already placed and compacted. Construction of a temporary club house is planned for this summer and the course is expected to be open in fall of 2016. It will be playable in 2017.

The Phase 2 lands, involving the construction of the resort units in the area of the marina, will see building activity at the east end of the marina lands rather than the west end, as originally planned.

Councillors heard from neighbours of Friday Harbour prior to the vote on Wednesday night who are concerned with the development .

Ross Pityk, president of the Innisfil District Association (IDA) ratepayers’ group, questioned the lifting of the holding provisions.

He argued the request of the developer, which includes moving some Phase 3 lands into Phase 2, represents a change from the original 2007 Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) agreement.

He asked why Friday Harbour didn’t have to go back to the OMB for approval.

Pityk also questioned the timing of completion of the Phase 1 golf course and whether a new firehall was still in the plans.

He noted that the IDA has “challenged, we’ve debated” the resort development over the years, but ultimately contributed to improvements in the design.

However this time, he said, “we haven’t had time to properly review the documents,” and asked council to defer a decision on lifting the holding designation.

The town’s external legal consultant, Mark Joblin of Loopstra Nixon LLP, told council that there was no need for OMB involvement because “it’s not a substantive change to the resort plan or the zoning” and no changes are proposed to the number of resort units that can be built in each phase.

“The changes relate to only some of the locations of where the Phase 2 lands are,” Joblin said, adding they are changes that will make it easier to bring in servicing, develop and market the marina area.

The fire hall is still planned and the land is to be transferred to the town, he said.

Another resident complained about tree-cutting and the removal of a treed buffer.

Joblin said the trees are currently being cleared from a temporary buffer that was not part of the formal agreement, but had been left in place to protect existing residences from the noise and sights of construction while the marina basin was being excavated.

Now that the marina basin has been completed, the trees need to be removed to complete the earthworks, he said.

“That is not a change to the buffers that were part of the approvals at the OMB. That was an additional buffer,” he said.

Coun. Donna Orsatti asked if there was a time frame to replace the trees.
Director of engineering and deputy CAO Andy Campbell said Friday Harbour has provided a different location to the town that will be reforested and there are other tree buffer zones in the approved design that will be planted.

Council also heard from Dan Davidson, the new chairman of the Friday Harbour Architectural Advisory Committee and community liaison.

The former deputy mayor, Innisfil businessman and long-time environmentalist assured council and the IDA that the resort has met every aspect of the approvals process and put up financial guarantees that all requirements will be met. He said those include tree preservation and reforestation, amphibian and reptile protection, butternut tree management and a long list of other environmental requirements.

Council was unanimous in approving the removal of the holding provisions.

Mayor Gord Wauchope was happy that Friday Harbour is moving forward “finally” after 15 years.

He called it “a great attraction for the town of Innisfil, a great draw.”