PARRY SOUND/SEGUIN - Parry Sound’s land base could get larger with a gift from Seguin Township.
In the name of progress, Seguin is offering Parry Sound 132 acres adjacent to the town’s south end boundary, between Oastler Park Drive, Richmond Lake and Parry Sound Road. In return, the town will service the land and, in the future, reopen 650 metres of Parry Sound Road to Oastler Park Drive.
The proposed hand-off was initiated by Seguin last year.
“This is simply, I think, a good news day,” said Seguin Mayor David Conn at a joint press conference hosted with Parry Sound on Wednesday.
“It’s an opportunity for two municipalities to get together and talk about the future development of our area in a way that’s best for the entire community. We had a piece of land and we had some people wanting to develop it, but we had it zoned residential. We recognized that it did have commercial potential, but to really exploit that potential it had to be serviced and the only way it could be serviced is by the Town of Parry Sound. And yes, we could have worked with the Town of Parry Sound, something of a licensing agreement, but we do have the philosophy in Seguin that whatever municipality services the land should control it.”
Seguin has been dealing with an application to develop an 80-acre parcel of land within the affected area since 2004.
The proposal includes light industrial, commercial and possibly some residential development. That application, if landowners agree to switch municipalities, will proceed through the town on the basis the property will be fully serviced, said Iain Laing, Parry Sound director of community development.
The deal hinges on agreement from two-thirds of the affected landowners. There are 15 parcels of land and 12 eligible votes to be cast. Some of the properties have multiple owners and some own more than one property. Landowners can voice issues with the proposal and cast their vote between Jan. 23 and Feb. 22.
“I think what we are doing with this is recognizing a democratic process, and that is to make sure the residents have a voice in this,” said Parry Sound Mayor Jamie McGarvey. “Certainly from our perspective, with regard to the town, this provides a positive future growth area for the town and for the area because, if there’s jobs created in that particular area, those jobs will be filled from people that live in the whole West Parry Sound area. And, I think that is extremely important to job creation/economic development.”
If the land is annexed to Parry Sound, the current application before Seguin goes with it. To that end, Parry Sound agreed to pay Seguin $90,000 in five instalments for already incurred planning, legal and other expenses related to the properties it’s taking over.
George Stivrins is a part owner of the proposed 80-acre development. After seven years in the application stage, including an appeal to the Ontario Municipal Board over its zoning and numerous studies, the project is almost ready to move from paper to the ground.
He said he and his partners support the annexation and plan to cast their single vote for it.
“I think it’s a positive development,” he said. “Obviously the Town of Parry Sound is an urban municipality and our vision is there’s going to be commercial development happening there and it’s much easier to do it with Parry Sound with provision of water, sewer and municipal services.”
The 132 hectares of land is designated as a development hub by the Regional Economic Development Advisory Committee and requires urban sewer and water service under Seguin’s Official Plan.
If the property remains in Seguin the owners would need a joint agreement with both town and township to bring services from Parry Sound over the border.
“In this situation here we think this would be a little bonus to help try to make things happen because now you’re only dealing with one municipal entity instead of agreements,” said Stivrins.
A public meeting is scheduled for Feb. 15, at 7 p.m., at the Foley Agricultural Hall.
If the majority of landowners agree to the transfer, the land becomes part of Parry Sound Jan. 1, 2013.
The last time property was transferred within the town’s borders was 1980, from McDougall Township.