Official Plan Review - the latest update

The Town’s Official Plan Review (OPR) process is nearing completion and will now go to Grey County for its approval.

The BMRA Planning Subcommittee worked closely with Town staff and Council throughout the multi-year process. In our view, the primary policy decisions included many BMRA member priorities that we actively advocated for:

• TBM building heights maintained at three storeys (five storeys at the Blue Mountain Resort). Building height may increase to a maximum of four storeys in some sections along highway 26 in Thornbury, if a community benefit such as affordable housing is provided.

  
  

• Council agreed with our points and maintained building density limits at current levels in the Residential Recreation Areas.

  
  

• BMRA supported the town’s 30% target for affordable units in new developments.
  

Policies have been updated under “Community Vision and Guiding Principles” and “Goals and Strategic Objectives” in the OP to support key priorities such as:

• sustainable development,

• affordable and attainable housing,

• public transit and active transportation,

• protection of our natural heritage features,

• climate change mitigation and adaptation, and

• economic development, including a strong and diversified agricultural sector.

Followup Actions

There are a number of outstanding follow up actions required to achieve the aims of the OPR.

• Updated Community Design Guidelines – a top priority to help maintain the Town’s current character and provide design criteria to guide new development.
  

  
  

• Community Benefits - develop a well defined set of criteria that can help measure whether proposed offerings are consistent with our needs and appropriate for our community.
  

  
  

• Community Planning Permit System - BMRA has advocated for a very cautious approach to this as the CPPS would bypass zoning bylaws. We will be monitoring this very closely.
  

  
  

• Water Services Allocation Bylaw -  allows for greater influence over proposals made by developers to better meet Town objectives.

• Role of secondary planning areas.
  
  

The BMRA will continue to engage with Town Staff and Council as these and other

initiatives move forward as well as monitor how these OP policies are implemented in

practice.

We look forward to providing further updates and welcome any feedback or volunteers to support this work.

Any Questions?