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DEPUTATIONS CONCERNING MOTIONS 22-P-006 AND 22-P-007, PROPOSED CITY OF BARRIE OFFICIAL PLAN AND MUNICIPAL COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW
Councillor, S. Morales declared real and direct pecuniary interest on the foregoing matter as he and members of his family could be financially impacted in the future. He did not participate or vote on the foregoing matter. He left the virtual Council meeting.
The following Deputations were provided concerning motions 22-P-006 and 22-P-007:
1. Jennifer van Gennip, advised that she was speaking on behalf of the SCATEH Barrie Chapter. Ms. Van Gennip thanked City staff for encouraging SCATEH's engagement throughout the process of developing the proposed Official Plan. She thanked Council for its interest in affordable housing and expressed support for the proposed changes to the affordable housing target and the proposed Official Plan as amended.
Ms. van Gennip provided an overview of the Housing Assessment Resource Tool (HART) developed by the University of British Columbia which aims to establish standardized methods to measure housing needs and enables affordable housing targets to be established based on household income. She stated that this tool is currently being piloted in several Ontario municipalities. Ms. van Gennip commented that she feels that this is a much more useful way than what is currently being used to set affordable housing targets.
Ms. van Gennip stated that good planning includes housing options for the full spectrum of people who call the City of Barrie home and that the proposed Official Plan provides City staff with more robust tools to address housing needs. She indicated that she felt the proposed Official Plan will result in more reliable access to infrastructure with public washrooms and areas that can be used as warming and cooling centres for vulnerable and marginalized populations.
2. Cathy Colebatch commented on Council's discussions that have taken place concerning the proposed Official P...
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