Barrie Mayor Alex Nuttall, using his strong mayor powers, has directed city staff to prepare a bylaw to rezone 131 Lockhart Rd., from agricultural to general industrial and environmental protection.
A public meeting on the rezoning application has been scheduled for Wednesday, April 30 at 6 p.m., as part of the affordability committee meeting.
“The purpose of the amendment is to support the development of a new industrial manufacturing building,” Nuttall said in his mayoral direction to staff, “supporting new jobs in the city of Barrie and making more land available for employment uses.”
The site is approximately 43 acres and located on the south side of Lockhart Road, west of Rawson Avenue.
The property has frontage of about 94 metres on Lockhart Road.
The land must be rezoned before development is proposed through a subsequent site-plan control application.
Strong mayor powers were expanded to Nuttall and 25 other large and fast-growing municipalities, on July 1, 2023. Mayors are required to exercise these powers in writing and make them available to the public.
Since Aug. 16, 2023, Nuttall has used his powers 43 times, through the Strong Mayors, Building Homes Act, although mostly to approve bylaws.
But earlier this month, Nuttall used his strong mayor powers to authorize acceptance of a contribution from developer Skyline to pay for a 150-foot flag pole and Canadian flag alongside Highway 400 by July 1. He did this in lieu of the city spending as much as $250,000 from its reinvestment reserve.
Flying the Canadian flag at the Barrie-Simcoe Emergency Services Campus on Fairview Road, in time for Canada Day, responds to tariff action from the United States while also showing national pride.
A public meeting is one of the first steps in Barrie’s planning process. It will be held at Barrie City Hall, 70 Collier St., and is open to the public.
The meeting will also be live-streamed on the city’s YouTube channel.
Once held, the rezoning application will go to city staff for a report and recommendation to Barrie councillors.
