A “complex” proposal designed to help complete Friday Harbour has left residents with a case of the Mondays.
A statutory public meeting on the proposal recently ran for nearly 2.5 hours and included 90 minutes of comments from more than a dozen residents in attendance and a handful via Zoom.
And for the first time in recent memory, the residents of Friday Harbour have drawn a line in the sand and are mainly in opposition to the plans proposed by the corporation.
“We believe in the growth of Friday Harbour, we believe in the message of Friday Harbour,” said Brad Rowse, a board member representing townhouses on the West Island. “But, we unfortunately believe the developer is missing the chance to further the all-season resort amenities that further that message.”
The public meeting centred around official plan and zoning bylaw amendments pitched by Friday Harbour Resorts Holdings. The proposed changes requested through the two amendments include:
- A change to the maximum permitted height for the hotel (an increase from six storeys to 15 storeys)
- A change to the minimum number of hotel rooms (a decrease from 400 hotel rooms to 200 hotel rooms)
- A change to the maximum number of resort residential units (an increase from 2,600 units to 3,500 units)
- A change to the overall maximum number of hotel and resort residential units combined (an increase from 3,000 to 3,700 units)
- A change to the maximum permitted height of resort residential buildings within the Beach Precinct, ranging from four to eight storeys and 14 storeys
- Creating a new Racquet Academy and Sports Zone
- Creating new resort amenities, including forest amenities, a canopy walk and a spa facility
The proposal reflects changes in market trends in the nearly two decades since Friday Harbour was first approved by the Ontario Municipal Board, council was told.
“This is a time for revision,” said Michael Kirkland, of the Kirkland Partnership, architect for the Beach Precinct. “Come back and look at where we are and what we need to do to complete the project.”
Kirkland spent most of his time speaking to council discussing the changes to the hotel on-site. Approved for four storeys and 400 rooms, the resort is requesting the minimum room requirement be dropped to 200, the height raised to 15 storeys and a conference centre be built adjacent to the hotel.
The 15-storey hotel is designed to be a focal point for the resort, Kirkland said, from which all other buildings would gradually decrease in height, transitioning from high-density resort residential to lower-density dwellings and natural areas.
He told councillors there would be no adverse effect to natural sunlight as a result of the placement of the buildings, leading to one of the many occasions those in attendance had to be lightly reprimanded by Deputy Mayor Kenneth Fowler, sitting in the chair for the meeting, as Mayor Lynn Dollin was delayed in attending.
Kirkland called the height “proper” and something that would “not dominate any part of Innisfil’s skyscape.” He similarly argued the changes proposed for residential resort accommodations — an additional 900 units to be permitted — would help to ensure the success of Friday Harbour and its businesses.
“Density is a good thing because what density means is we have people that can support retail facilities, can support community facilities and they are being absorbed in a way which is constructive and beneficial,” he said.
But density of such a scope runs largely counterintuitive to the neighbouring community at Big Bay Point. About 70 residents of the point, representing 50 properties, retained Lawrence Glazer of LE Glazer Architect to study the proposal and speak on their behalf during the meeting.
The changes — representing an 85 per cent increase over the original 2007 resort plan — didn’t mix with what exists at Big Bay Point or in Friday Harbour, Glazer said.
“We understand that plans evolve, but it’s really a death by 1,000 cuts in terms of intensification of the site,” he said. “The density and the use of high-rise buildings — and a high-rise precinct — is really out of context with the development that has gone on.”
Mark Schollen, Schollen and Company principal, spoke to council as Friday Harbour’s landscape architect, primarily explaining the proposed racquet academy and recreational facilities, envisioned as a gateway entrance to the resort in its northwest section.
The space would take up just under one hectare and consist of a clubhouse, tennis courts, pickleball courts, an outdoor multi-use sports court, open lawn areas, trailhead, benches and outdoor fitness areas. The amendments required here are somewhat minor, “slightly” modifying the area and percentage occupied by the Environmental Protection Area and Resort Recreation designation. It would also need to add pickleball as an acceptable use.
The facility would be constructed in a wooded area, encompassing a two per cent encroachment on the woodlot, Schollen said. The plan, he added, would be to replace every tree removed with two trees in compensation.
“The idea here is really to provide a lot of amenity value,” he said. “It’s also located so that everybody can use it: visitors, residents, people coming from the marina.”
But this isn’t the kind of amenity the residents want.
“(It) will do nothing to enhance our four-season profile,” said Ann Hunt, the elected homeowner representative to the Friday Harbour Resident Association (RA). “It will add tremendous cost to the resort association and force yet another increase in fees to maintain. These additional other so-called amenities are only available at additional cost and not something anyone would consider doing on a regular basis.”
The homeowners, she said, would much rather be at the pool with their friends and fellow Friday Harbour residents, not at a racquetball centre she feels would be largely populated by visitors.
A steady stream of Friday Harbour residents spoke during the public meeting, opposed to the proposal seemingly less for what it offered and more because of what it lacked.
For Anna D’Dalessandro — who supported a 2018 proposal from Friday Harbour to increase its residential footprint — the proposal shows the resort isn’t listening to its residents’ concerns.
“Over the last few years, members of the RA have repeatedly advised the developer group of the significant issues faced by members ... given the lack of RA amenities and the struggles its members face on a daily basis related to accessing these amenities,” she said. “In addition, we have repeatedly requested that future amenities be constructed so as to allow them to be used year-round. These requests and pleas have fallen on deaf ears.”
High Point board member Loreta Presutto said her resident group supports what is being proposed but stressed the need for prudent planning.
“Amenities and infrastructure need to align with the current and future population and build-out of the resort,” she said. “We need to secure and manage revenue-generating assets owned and/or owned and operated by the Resort Association. We need to secure resort lands for future amenity development adjacent to the current facilities. It is imperative that we achieve these measures in order to improve and sustain the success and reputation of Friday Harbour.”
In the eyes of many residents, that reputation is struggling, and the lack of four-season amenities is the reason.
“We cannot continue to pretend that this is a four-season destination,” said Jackie Green, Condo Corp. 431 president, representing Harbour Flats. “We cannot expect our promenade, with fantastic restaurants and bars and shops to thrive in the dead of winter.”
Council has a role to play in making sure that happens, she added.
“Hold the developer to their promise of a Resort Association-owned, self-contained, four-season recreational facility, truly making this an all-season resort,” she said.
The potential economic impact of the new development was shared with council as the proponents concluded their presentation. Friday Harbour Resorts predicts the construction will bring in $88 million in development charges split between the Town of Innisfil, County of Simcoe and local school boards — with Innisfil getting more than three-quarters of that amount.
A total of $1.2 billion in construction activity is expected, accounting for 3,304 person-years of employment.
Once operational, $28.9 million in annual retail spending is estimated, with the new builds creating 725 permanent jobs.
A decision on the proposal will be made at a future town council meeting.