The town of Innisfil has requested a Ministerial Zoning Order to speed up the planning process for the First Phase of the Orbit development which could add 7,000 housing units and 20,000 people. If the MZO gets approved, it would speed up plans for this development that is being built around a new GO Station. (Rendering above courtesy of the Town of Innisfil)
According to an article in Barrie Construction News, the project would include 200 housing units per hectare close to a new GO Transit station. If this MZO request is rejected by the province, the developers would have to request an Official Plan amendment and zoning-bylaw changes.
The developer, the Cortel Group, is anxious to get this approval so that they will be assured that the higher densities in this project will be allowed. The Cortel Group has agreed to upfront the cost of a proposed GO train station that will be built at the centre of the Orbit development.
"The massive Orbit development is the way of development for the future. We are light years ahead of what Bradford is doing and what Barrie is doing. They may not see this as necessary in Innisfil, but I think it sets a trend for other municipalities to show that we are thinking light years ahead in terms of the importance of sustainability, the importance of climate change because this development addresses all of those."
Councillor | Alex Waters
The town's first priority is building the new $20 million GO Station. Officials say the final design for the train station should be ready by next year, with ground breaking taking place by 2021. They are hoping to have it fully operational by 2022.
Toronto Storeys reported that this master plan will establish a new city of up to 150,000 residents that will feature the following:
- Innovation
- Connectivity
- Underground services
- Limited to zero urban sprawl
The Orbit places transportation at the heart of its development plan and the Innisfil's city council has granted unanimous approval. It all falls within 800 metres of the GO station.
The new architects, Partisans, have received a great deal of praise. The residents have had a lot of input into these plans also. Innisfil is located on the western shore of Lake Simcoe in Simcoe County, immediately south of Barrie and 80 kilometres north of Toronto.
The entire development will be built in phases and could take up to 25 years to complete.
According to Urban Toronto, the master plan targets the tech industry as the main driver of the workforce, and also touches upon implementing a smart city, making reference to "a fast, secure fibre-optic network woven throughout the community's sidewalks, streets, buildings and more. It will be designed to support innovation from local community members and entrepreneurs, while being governed by the appropriate privacy protection policies". It will be similar to Sidewalk Labs' controversial Quayside project in Toronto.
The curving buildings at the transit node are envisioned as mixed use, containing office and retail uses on the lower levels with residential above. The buildings will set the tone for the developments to follow and will make a bold statement in the middle of sprawling southern Ontario farmland.
