An Open Letter to Mayor Nuttal
The following letter was written by a resident of Oro-Medonte, Parker Drury. I think it highlights the several credible arguments against the proposed boundary adjustment:
To the esteemed Mayor Alex Nuttall and Barrie City Council:
It has recently been brought to my attention that the City of Barrie has proposed to annex lands in Oro-Medonte and Springwater townships with the intention of phasing in a plan of industrial development to augment the City’s industrial-zoned lands with the purpose of economic development and meaningful job creation. Mayor Nuttall, in speaking to Barrie Today suggested that this industrial development could create upwards of 20,000 new jobs to the area over a twenty year span. While I, and many others in the local municipalities adjacent to the City of Barrie are certainly not opposed to growth and the expansion of skilled and meaningful job creation in and around the city, I do have to question not only the logic, but the long-term sustainability of using the proposed lands in Shanty Bay and Springwater.
The proposed industrial land-use location is across the road from the East End residential neighbourhoods of Barrie which also include the city’s major educational institution, Georgian College, several other elementary and high schools; RVH, our regional hospital and adjacent health care facilities, as well as the current location of Hospice Simcoe on Penetanguishene Road. The City of Barrie also has in the area two production supply wells in the vicinity of the Eastview Arena—these wells supply the residences, businesses, and institutions of east end with fresh, clean drinking water. These wells are safeguarded by wellhead protection zones that expand across the municipal border boundary into Oro-Medonte where it is proposed that major manufacturing, trucking and warehousing be located in the coming years. Similarly, to the north, across Highway 400 the city owns several production supply wells off of St. Vincent street for which the wellhead protection zones extend into Springwater township north of Little Lake where, as it is my understanding, again industrial development is proposed to take place.
The issues that the residents and myself take with this proposal are multifaceted:
- The first, while not necessarily seen or thought of is probably the most vital resource that all of us, not just residents of the area, but human beings and life in general requires to sustain our water supply. Even being situated on Lake Simcoe, much of the City of Barrie and nearly all of Oro-Medonte and Springwater rely primarily on our precious groundwater resources for fresh, clean, and safe drinking water as well as water for our agricultural uses such as irrigation and livestock. Groundwater is something that we, as Canadians are extremely fortunate to generally have in abundance throughout most of the country. This, however, does not mean that this natural resource is unlimited or to be taken for granted. Within our locale of Shanty Bay and Crown Hill we unfortunately are already dealing with groundwater contamination stemming from the application of road salt. Salt is used to make our roads and highways safer to travel on in the winter months, but has the adverse affect of damaging soils and groundwater resources, and in the case of Crown Hill (Highway 11 and Penetanguishene Road area) there is the issue of vulnerable aquifers situated to the south of Highway 11 and a significant groundwater recharge area in approximately the same location.
I’ve personally been involved in the planning and replacement of private water wells in the area serving residences and businesses. These replacements are and will continue to be necessary due to the high levels of chloride and sodium present in the upper water table. This water table extends from approximately 6-10m below grade to about 35m. That is a significant aquifer which has been relied upon for potable drinking water for locals as mentioned. Contamination levels have made it so the water is almost completely unsuitable for any domestic or commercial-industrial use, and consumption of that water is completely out of the question. While the extension of municipal services may stymy the immediate pollution problems with private wells, it does not mitigate the overarching issue that once contaminated, the problem does not stop at a municipal boundary line and will in time affect residents within the city and beyond. This issue alone is the canary in the coal mine telling us that we cannot afford to further expand the inevitable pollution and contamination that will come with the increase of industrial land use, forever altering the landscape and usability of the area as well as impacting the lakes and groundwaters for which we all rely on to live.
The questions and issues posed here have mostly pertained to the area to the east of Barrie toward Shanty Bay, but apply to the same if not much more gravity to the proposed area to the north surrounding Little Lake which face many if not more of the same challenges presented in Shanty Bay. Gravity, speaking of, being the number one issue seeing that any waste, pollution, and runoff will find its way toward and into Little Lake by way of our universal constant.
- The second point I’d like to delve into is whether or not any planning reports support this? The idea of placing manufacturing and warehousing facilities across the road from, and sandwiched between the major residential area that is the east end of the City of Barrie, and the Village of Shanty Bay just seems to be poor decision making and a very questionable choice in general from a planning perspective. The County of Simcoe, and the City of Barrie have long been heavily tied to agriculture and the agrarian societies that exist within and around them as we are fortunate enough to have vast areas of fine, arable land and supplies of fresh ground and surface water to provide locals, and Canadians in general with high quality crops. Unfortunately, however, just like the depletion of our natural resources the farm land in our province is dwindling away to make room for development. While growth and development is an inevitable step in the evolution of society, many mistakes in how and where to grow and develop have been made in the past. Unfortunately it seems that the City of Barrie has no intention of learning from these mistakes to provide sustainability or sensibility with its development. Siting the expansion of industrial zoned lands on what is currently about 1,900 acres of unserviced farm, residential, and wetlands located between two significant residential areas just doesn’t make sense.
The area in question is frequently used as recreation and leisure lands for residents of Barrie as well as Oro-Medonte and other local municipalities because of its close proximity to the city, Lake Simcoe and the beauty that extends into Oro-Medonte. To take that accessibility and continuity of usable land for the residents to use and enjoy is an egregious boundary for the city to cross. While I don’t disagree that it is important and necessary to improve Barrie’s employment landscape with opportunities for residents to have accessible, skilled and well-paying jobs located within the city, the area proposed just simply does not make sense for this purpose.
As lamented, the environmental impacts on the area would be significant and irreparable, but even to take a step back and examine landscape and topography of the area that is expected to house massive swaths of manufacturing, distribution, warehousing and truck yards raises even more questions. Generally speaking these edifices of industry require large, open flat areas to be easily constructed and serviced by not only the municipal infrastructure required to operate them, but by the transport trucks that provide the circulation of goods and materials from a main arterial road. To put it frankly, the land in question is mostly hills and valleys, and those valleys are mostly swampy, low laying wetlands and tributaries. This terrain presents no issues for the wildlife and natural flora that live and grow here, and in fact creates naturally protected areas and unique habitats for them to thrive in; but even for the well-equipped farmers who work the hilly and wet lands it can be challenging for their wheeled equipment to traverse. Now imagine the sheer amount of earthworks that would be required to flatten and grade the landscape to facilitate the construction of dozens and dozens of massive, rectangular warehouses and specialized manufacturing facilities.
This is all to say, how does the city plan on servicing this area as well as the proposed Springwater land with all the infrastructure required such as: water, sewer, gas, telecom, and hydro? Hydro and telecom are probably the easiest in terms of physically entering and servicing an area but still require that there is capacity within the local systems to expand outward. The same goes for gas and water and even with the recent water main upgrades in the East End stretching along Blake street I would question the capacity for the city’s infrastructure to service 20,000 additional daily workers plus the manufacturing requirements thereof. The absolute biggest question here is how to get the waste back out of the area to the city’s treatment plant on the downtown Lakeshore corridor. You don’t need to be an expert in planning or infrastructure to know that waste rolls downhill, and while we can overcome some of gravity’s challenges with lift stations, these present their own challenges and issues especially during adverse conditions. Somewhat recently in 2016 the town of Tecumseh located within Windsor-Essex experienced catastrophic flooding resulting in over $100 million in insurance claims due to the failure of lift stations servicing the area during major rainfall.
To absolutely belabour the point, major issues like these make me question even the consideration of utilizing these lands for industrial development. It just does not make sense. A point not at all lost on former Mayor of Barrie, Jim Perri whose expansive tenure as chair of the city’s planning committee lends to great understanding of the processes of development and planning of Barrie’s industrial lands and why certain planning considerations have been taken to expand industry to the south such as the construction of a massive trunk sewer line to service the future needs of the city and its industrial growth.
- In addition to these points there is the question of organization and distribution of land use around a metropolitan area. When most interprovincial trade travels to and from the south toward the GTA, and most of the city’s existing and planned future industrial areas are already on the south end of the city just off of highway 400, what would be the advantage of interspacing two industrial areas with the rest of the city in between? None that I can fathom, especially since industry doesn’t require a view of the local lakes and vistas, nor does it need to be situated right next to quiet residential neighbourhoods both currently existing and in development (I.e. the Midhurst Expansion Plan).
- Quite possibly the simplest to state, but most pertinent question to Mayor Nuttall and members of council is this: What advantages, both long-term and short, does this plan offer not just the City of Barrie, but the County of Simcoe and within it the City of Orillia, the Townships of Oro-Medonte, Springwater, and Innisfil—that the current plan of expansion southward does not? The City of Barrie does not exist in a vacuum—it requires giving support to and from the surrounding municipalities and residents within the county to continue to grow and thrive as the centrepiece of Central Ontario. Projects like these in question need to be clearly understood and shown as advantageous to the greater good of not just the City of Barrie, but to the County of Simcoe, and the Province of Ontario as a whole. Without that understanding and mutual benefit there is no point in needlessly destroying and devaluing a significant portion of our ever-valuable and ever-shrinking natural resources that are found within the rural landscapes of Ontario.
To conclude, residential-recreational and agricultural areas go hand-in-hand. Within the County of Simcoe and the City of Barrie especially these ties to nature are what people, residents and visitors to our beautiful homelands alike have come to expect and a big part of why people love living and visiting here. Barrie and Oro-Medonte were founded on the invaluable lakefront of Kempenfelt Bay and Lake Simcoe, once important for trade and industry, and now a symbol of our connection to nature and the beauty that lies beyond. Residents of the three municipalities in discussion are incredibly fortunate to have ready access to this natural beauty by living near it. I think I can freely speak on behalf of the majority when I say we don’t wish to see our lands thoughtlessly transformed into that which would be uninhabitable and uninviting and seemingly only necessary to fuel the wants of the few rather than serve the needs of the many.
With much respect and regard,
Parker Drury
Signed this 27th day of November, 2023