VOTE
THE VISIONThe VisionThe short versionThe galleryThe reports
THE PLANPrioritiesThe first 90 daysHow we pay for itThe hospitalThe new rec centreQuick Action FundWhat a mayor can doThe big projectsLook things upCommunication
WHY JONWhy JonMeet Jon
GET INVOLVEDGet involvedYour voiceDonate
Keep Collingwood, Collingwood.

READ
THE
PLANS.

Three things in one place: what is being dug up on your street, where the big projects actually stand, and a search of the Town’s own planning papers. Every fact here links back to the page it came from, in the Town’s words, so you can check it yourself.

Read this first. This is my campaign’s tool, not the Town’s, and it is not legal advice. The two “sides” below are meant to be one-sided — that is the point of them. Short summaries can be wrong or out of date. Before you rely on anything here, click through and read the real page it came from.

LOOK IT UP YOURSELF

WHAT THE PAPERS SAY ABOUT “short term rentals”
  • “Wasaga Beach (450) featuring even higher numbers of short-term rental homes.”

    Housing Master Plan, page 22
  • “For clarity, properties mainly used as STAs, where the owner does not reside on-site, will only be permitted to be used for long-term rentals.”

    Rental Licensing, page 6
  • “No Person shall Market or permit the Marketing of a Short-Term Accommodation without a Licence.”

    Rental By-law, page 5

Those sentences are copied word for word out of the documents. Nothing here was written by a computer.

4 DOCUMENTS TO DIVE INTO
Show all 12 matches

Housing Needs Assessment (2023)

PDF page 33

Introduction Key Findings The following section provides an overview of the rental housing market The following are key findings from this section: in Collingwood. This includes commentary on macro-level data from • The Town of Collingwood has very limited purpose-built rental supply, CMHC, as well as a survey of available rental inventory in the primary with only 562 units as of 2022. (purpose-bu…

Read it yourselfOriginal document

Affordable Housing Master Plan (October 2023)

PDF page 22

…g to AirDNA (Figure 10). This market. This is putting significant strain on the rental is a region-wide trend with Blue Mountains (850) and market. Wasaga Beach (450) featuring even higher numbers of short-term rental homes. While it is possible that not all Figure 9 these homes are leased out as short-term rentals year- round, these figures are still notable. Secondary homes and short-term rental…

Read it yourselfOriginal document

Short-term accommodation licensing update (C2024-10)

PDF page 1

…24-11-18 Amendments ☐ Submitted To: Committee of the Whole | Council Submitted By: Sara Almas, Director, Legislative Services/Clerk Prepared By: Amanda Fone, Licensing and Compliance Officer Subject: Short-Term Accommodation Licensing Service Update and Launch of Phase 2 Recommendation THAT Staff Report C2024-10, “Short-Term Accommodation Licensing Service Update and Launch of Phase 2”, be receive…

Read it yourselfOriginal document

Short-term Accommodation Licensing By-law 2024-078

PDF page 5

<Zoning By-Law= means any by-law administered by the Town passed pursuant to Section 34 of the Planning Act or a successor thereof, as may be amended from time to time. 2. Short Title 2.1. This By-law may be referred to as the <Short-Term Accommodation Licensing By-law=. 3. General and Administration 3.1. This By-law shall apply throughout the entire Municipality. 3.2 T…

Read it yourselfOriginal document

BIG QUESTIONS PEOPLE ASK

Three questions
the documents
already answer.

I wrote these three by hand, straight out of the papers — no computer wrote them. The box above searches all 2,158 bits of those papers.

How tall should downtown be?

What the Town’s own papers say

  • Most downtown heritage district lots are zoned C1, which allows up to 12 m, about 3 to 4 storeys Downtown Plan p.26.2 Downtown Plan p.26.
  • The new Official Plan says the general maximum height is 6 storeys or 20 m, with step-backs above the 3rd storey on key streets Official Plan p.89.1.
  • The Downtown Master Plan says there are "conflicting opinions on growth and height", plus too little affordable housing downtown and a weak link between downtown and the waterfront Downtown Plan p.14.
  • Its first action item is a study of where more height could work downtown, with a heritage architect on the team Downtown Plan p.26 Downtown Plan p.26.2.

People who want to build more say

The plan already allows 6 storeys, but the zoning still says 12 m. That gap scares off builders. Fix the zoning so apartments above shops can be built downtown, near jobs and transit.

People who want to go slower say

Downtown is a heritage district, and that is why people come. Height should follow the heritage study, protect views like the one to Town Hall, and use step-backs so the street still feels low Downtown Plan p.26.2 Official Plan p.89.1.

A fair way through

Both sides agree the rules don't match each other right now.

  • Commercial / mixed use: Finish the downtown height study first. Then update zoning so it matches the plan. Keep 3 storeys at the street, with taller parts stepped back.
  • Residential: Allow homes above shops, so there are more downtown homes without tearing down heritage buildings.
  • Industrial: No change needed.
  • Still unknown: The study's timeline and results. (Not in our sources.)

The Build and Protect columns are arguments. The cited sentences above are the part that comes from a document.

ASK A QUESTION

Ask it
like you would
ask a neighbour.

Type a question in your own words. You get three answers: someone arguing to build more, someone arguing to go slower, and then a plain summary of what makes sense — split into homes, shops and jobs. Every fact links back to the page it came from.

One question goes to three readers of the same passages: a case for building, a case for holding back, and a plain-language recommendation. It usually takes under a minute.

WHERE THIS COMES FROM

Where this comes from.

Town of Collingwood, Simcoe County and Province of Ontario public documents. Page numbers are PDF pages, not the number printed on the page. An excerpt is a short capture of a report whose full file could not be downloaded, and the link still goes to the original.

Show all 20 documents
TELL JONDONATE