Official Plan Update

The Official Plan survey is now closed. Thank you to everyone who took the time to participate and share their vision for Collingwood! Survey results will be available soon and shared on this page. If you missed the survey, there will be further engagement opportunities including comment on the soon to be released discussion papers. Please keep an eye on this page for updates on how you can be involved. Comments can be submitted at any time to officialplanupdate@collingwood.ca

The deadline to take the Official Plan Update survey has been extended one week until Thursday July 2nd. Please take a moment to share your priorities and ideas before the survey closes!

We want to hear what you want included in the new Official Plan! Please take a quick survey.

Work on the Official Plan Update has continued since our community consultation workshop on March 4, 2020 and this update provides information on:

• The project status
• Release of the “WHAT WE HEARD” report that summarizes results of public consultation to date.
• Release of a SURVEY that seeks to confirm and prioritize the issues identified so far.
• Next steps, including the release of DISCUSSION PAPERS for public comment which forms the 3^rd phase of the project and targeted time frames for additional steps.

COVID-19 related content has been included in the project to identify any related impacts on the Official Plan Update.

The project is on track:

We heard what you said at the March 4^th community workshop and summarized it in the “WHAT WE HEARD” report which can be found here.

Based on what we heard from you, we have also created a SURVEY to make sure we got it right and to provide a way for all those not able to attend in March, the chance to identify their key issues and opportunities as well. Please take a few minutes to fill out the survey!

DISCUSSION PAPERS, which form the 3^rd phase of the project, are targeted for release for public comment in mid-July. These papers cover eight topics:

• Municipal Infrastructure
• Community Design
• Downtown and Waterfront
• Greenlands (Natural Areas & Parks)
• Growth Management
• Housing
• Sustainable Development
• Transportation

If your organization/group would like to receive a presentation on the Official Plan Update, staff would be happy to set one up with you. Please let us know – we can meet virtually with your group. Contact:

Justin Teakle, Community Planner via email at: officialplanupdate@collingwood.ca

Thank you for your continued interest in the Official Plan Update.

The What We Heard Report, summarizing input received from Council and attendees of the March 4th Community Workshop sessions, is now posted for review under "Engagement Presentations and Reports" at the right of this page.

A survey is coming soon to validate the comments summarized in the report. Staff have asked the consulting team to include a survey question regarding issues as a result of COVID-19. The survey will be followed by the release of the discussion papers in June.

Thank you to everyone who took the time to attend the March 4th Community Workshop and for providing your comments on the issues worksheets.

Approximately 150 people attended the three sessions to talk about community issues and aspirations. Planning Services thanks everyone for their thoughts and participation.

Results of what we heard in the workshop sessions are currently being compiled and will be released here shortly.

If you missed the Community Workshop or have more you would like to share, a survey is being created to gather further feedback and will be posted on this page soon.

The workshop presentation can be found in the Document Library located on the upper right-hand side of this page.

You are invited to attend the first Community Workshop on the Town of Collingwood's Official Plan Update.

Wednesday, March 4, 2020
Collingwood Public Library, Rooms B & C
55 Ste. Marie Street, Collingwood

Three Workshop sessions are planned. Please register for the session that best suits your schedule:

• 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM
• 3:30 PM – 5:30 PM
• 6:30 PM – 8:30 PM

The workshop will begin with a brief presentation, followed by table group discussions on various topics.

Register at: eventbrite.com/e/collingwood-official-plan-update-workshop-1-tickets-93308962619

What do you think Collingwood should look like in 20 years?
Please join us to discuss your thoughts, including:

• Where and how should the Town grow (areas for housing, jobs, natural areas, and places to shop, gather, and play)?
• What does a healthy community look like?
• How should we travel around the Town?
• What should our existing and new neighbourhoods look like?
• Where will jobs locate and what should our commercial areas look like?
• How are buildings set out and designed?
• How will new development address climate change?
• How should we protect the natural environment?

Help the Town understand what matters to you - the key issues and opportunities for change in Collingwood.
The Town of Collingwood is updating its Official Plan. The Official Plan is the overall policy framework for how land is used in Collingwood and sets out the vision for our community over the next 20 years. The Plan is the guide for managing where, when and how the Town should grow. The Official Plan Update is being completed over the course of the next 14 months and will include many opportunities to be involved throughout.

For more information please check the project web page engage.collingwood.ca/official-plan
Or contact: officialplanupdate@collingwood.ca 705-445-1290

In a special Council Workshop held on Tuesday, January 7, Councillors were asked for their thoughts and ideas as the Official Plan Update project gets underway. Staff and project consultants, recently retained by the Town, walked members of Council through the work program. The project will unfold through 2020 including several phases:

• Developing our community land use and development vision,
• issues identification, and
• directions for planning policy

before a draft plan Official Plan is completed and a final plan is submitted for Council approval.

During an interactive discussion session members of Council shared their ideas and expectations about the Official Plan. “Collingwood has experienced rapid change in recent years and an updated Official Plan will help ensure that we are equipped with a land use vision and plan to guide us as we move forward,” said Mayor Saunderson who added, “I was impressed with the comments provided around the table and I’m looking forward to hearing what people in the community think.”

Council approved a terms of reference for the project last year and has since retained The Planning Partnership, a consulting firm with extensive experience in municipal planning, to help lead the project. The work program sets out many opportunities for public involvement.

The Official Plan guides land use planning in the community and addresses a wide range of issues such as where and how growth occurs, what neighbourhoods and buildings look like, where and how we work, shop and play and how we get around Town.

A number of factors are driving the need to update the plan:

• The Town has unique characteristics and needs to update its land use plan and vision for the future to help guide development.
• The Town has approved many new plans in a wide range of areas and related content from those plans needs to be contained in the Official Plan to help shape how the community grows;
• There were many changes to the Province of Ontario land use planning framework over the last year including to the Planning Act and a number of related pieces of legislation, the Provincial Policy Statement and the Growth Plan 2019. In Ontario, municipalities are required to conform to the land use planning framework set by the Province.

For more information and to monitor project activities please visit the project webpage at: https://engage.collingwood.ca/official-plan