GORE BAY—The Town of Gore Bay is looking at expanding housing opportunities to bring more families to town and will consider any type of housing development idea, its focus having changed slightly to a ‘traditional neighbourhood design.’
“The planning and development taskforce will develop the blueprint for the future of Gore Bay to Meldrum Bay,” said Harry Schlange, town manager/clerk at a council meeting last week discussing the most recent meeting of the planning and development taskforce with industry experts to discuss concerns, improvements and observations of the development and planning industry.
“I said we need more housing, but the experts changed my mind about the area of town that we should be focusing on—four blocks of the downtown area neighbourhood plan,” said Mr. Schlange. “Next thing are lots with no buildings that are not charged full tax. Thirdly, we shouldn’t just allow people to build anything. Come forward to council with your plans.”
“There were a lot of good ideas and thoughts brought up at the meeting,” said Mayor Ron Lane. “We thought of subdivisions on the west bluff, but as the developers said, what about the lots downtown? There is lots of potential and there is already infrastructure in place.”
“If someone has a large lot and wants a granny flat, we need to say that we will at least consider it,” stated Councillor Dan Osborne.
“That’s a good point,” said Mayor Lane. “We should let the Manitoulin Planning Board know if someone shows any interest in development they should talk to council.”
“Most of us didn’t think about that, downtown back lots,” said Councillor Osborne.
At a meeting of the taskforce with industry experts on October 9, the latter noted that housing demand in Gore Bay is likely greater than anticipated with all of the activity of the town (such as the professionals, doctors, long-term care) and that should be a priority. The industry experts complimented the town on its amenities and service and the work that the town has done so far. They also noted the town should consider ‘traditional neighbourhood design’ (TND), which focuses on walkability, condensed spaces (as opposed to empty spaces between buildings), building a sense of belonging, diversity of people and diversity of building forms. This would benefit the town. The industry experts noted the walkability of the town is a great feature and should be maintained and capitalized on.
It was suggested that the focus area should be the downtown area, including: Water Street (from Purvis Drive (i.e. the Harbour Centre to Main Street), Meredith Street from Dawson Street to Main Street) Phipps Street (from Dawon Street to Main Street), Eleanor Street (from Water Street to Phipps Street) and including the Manitoulin Lodge property.
It was suggested in the study the medical centre should also remain in the downtown area and that the deer are delightful to visitors and should be seen as a positive to the town.
The experts also noted that the feedback from residents is that they would like to live in the downtown area (especially seniors), but homes and apartments are not currently available.
It was noted Manitoulin Lodge is a great development opportunity for the town and could play a significant role in building the community.
A new idea was discussed for the downtown area, which suggested that the town should support the implementation of additional dwelling units (ADUs) (or ‘granny flats’ as they are more commonly known) in this area, by determining the parking requirements associated with these units.
A lot of businesses and residents have expressed the need for additional housing based on preliminary feedback received for the 2024 ‘Destination Gore Bay’ marketing plans initiative currently being worked on by the town. The need for alternative housing types, attainable housing and more rental units were mentioned throughout the feedback period said town staff responsible for that initiative.
“It was a great meeting,” said Mayor Lane. “It will help us drill down to the part of town that we need to focus on for future development. Housing development is key to not only keeping our current population but also attracting new residents and businesses to Gore Bay.”
