Talbot Street may be home to more homes and commercial entities if council approves an official plan and zoning amendment for a stretch of the road.
The current township official plan identifies Talbot Street, between First Avenue and Seventh Avenue, as village commercial, with the outer edges being designated village residential. The issue is up for public discussion at 6:30 p.m., Wednesday, Aug. 26.
In a proposal submitted to council, Ron Kunce of Helicon Properties Ltd., outlines a modified use for these commercial properties.
"Our goal is to provide structures that can be utilized as residential in the short term, and are easily converted to commercial when the need arises, while still meeting your goal of pedestrian accessibility," says the letter.
The proposal is to put up five townhouses, with a shared driveway, onto Fifth Street.
The reason for this suggestion, says Kunce in the letter, is that a four-plex building, which is one of the permitted uses, does not provide space for future commercial use. As well, he writes, a multitude of entrances onto Talbot Street would lead to chaos in the long term.
A staff report says that the village commercial designation for that stretch in the official plan allows for a broad range of commercial uses with accessory residential uses, but it does not permit residential as a stand-alone use.
Staff are proposing a new subsection be added to the permitted uses section of the village commercial designation to allow for residential uses.
So far, the staff report says, only one property owner in the area has sent in a comment. That owner is in support of the proposed review, but is requesting that the residential setbacks be further reduced.
A second public meeting being held the same evening will look at some housekeeping changes to the township's zoning bylaw.
The regular council meeting will commence at the end of the two public sessions.
Council will look at a letter from Community Reach of Simcoe North requesting a contribution of $15,000 towards a second accessible van the non-profit hopes to buy.
The organization has already received the same amount from Tiny Township and has reached out to the Town of Penetanguishene as well. In addition, they will be submitting a grant application to the Ontario Trillium Foundation to make up for the rest of the cost.
Tay council members will also look at a staff recommendation in support of the Minister's Zoning Orders request made by Dr. Howard Bloom and Dr. Rob Cooper for their live-in facility for adults with complex intellectual needs.
The meeting will be streamed live and can be viewed online.
