The Township of Ramara is creating a community improvement plan to help stimulate growth in the Brechin area.
Mayor Basil Clarke says the plan will handle Brechin-area growth in a “sustainable fashion.”
“You are going to want to make sure you have ample parking down the road,” he said. “You are going to want to make sure you have got the parklands and service roads.”
As people from the Greater Toronto Area continue to migrate north, Clarke expects Ramara’s population to grow in the near future.
“We are looking at rezoning the property between Lagoon City and the town of Brechin,” he said. “We know the pressure is on, especially with the shortage of housing ... We are going to get more and more interest in this area. We just want to be prepared for it.”
The community improvement plan is something the township has been working on since before 2019.
“COVID set everything behind,” Clarke said. “In some ways, we are lucky that these delays have given us a little more time to get our plan in place.”
Once the plan is officially in place, the township hopes to offer grants to downtown businesses to help beautify them.
The township is seeking feedback from community members on how to improve the Brechin area. Residents can have their say here.
“It’s their town,” Clarke said. “Whenever we do something like this, we want to listen to the residents themselves to see what their vision is as well.”
Walied Zekry, the township’s director of building and planning and chief building official, says the community improvement plan will be a multi-staged vision to modernize Brechin and attract investment growth.
“A lot of people drive through the area,” he said. “Economically, we are trying to capture some of that. It’s a combination of attracting new people and attracting the ones passing through.”
While Zekry says Brechin has development land available, there are no developments scheduled right now.
“We have got capacity, we’ve got servicing, we’ve got the roads, and we have got the lands,” he said. “Everything is there. We are just waiting for the right proposal.”
He says there is “some money in the budget” for the community improvement plan, but the township must put policies in place to spend it.
“Brechin is definitely a place that will be growing,” he said. “It’s going to be a controlled and sustainable growth that will benefit the Ramara community as a whole.”
Sama Safa, co-owner of Brechin Pharmacy, took over ownership of the 44-year-old business a few months ago.
“We are glad we are serving Brechin,” she said. “There are no other pharmacies around or close by.”
If Brechin is going to grow, Safa says, it will need more health-care services.
“They need more doctors and walk-in clinics,” she said. “We are trying to get more here because there is a high need for patients here.”
For health-care services, most Brechin residents are forced to drive to Orillia, Safa says.
“Even for chiropractors and things like that, people must travel,” she said.
Krista Yakeley, who has lived in Brechin for 18 years, says there isn’t enough to offer in Brechin to create tourism.
“We need more attractions like restaurants and things for kids to do,” she said. “There is nothing for kids to do here other than one park down on the public beach.”
Yakeley is the mother of a 17-year-old and says it’s frustrating to see Brechin’s baseball diamond and volleyball courts empty.
“There are no programs for the kids here,” she said. “Everything is run out of the Ramara Centre or somewhere else.”
Marie Lantz, who has lived in the Brechin area for about 20 years, would like to see the township become “a little more lenient” with builders who seek permits for housing developments.
“It can take years,” she said. “I think they need to speed those things up for people.”
She says Brechin could also use a dollar store or variety store.
“In Beaverton now they’ve got a dollar store,” she said. “It’s really helped a lot of people.”
With Shur-Gain Brechin Feed & Farm Supplies now permanently closed, Lantz says, it would also be nice to see a new store built where farmers can get feed for their animals.
Sean Dutton, owner of Foodland Brechin, hopes the township can keep the small-town vibe through its growth.
“Obviously, expansion is great,” he said. “I love seeing thriving local and family-owned businesses. If we could add some little shops here and there with a nice main street, that’s kind of the goal for what I think Brechin could be.”
Dutton, who has owned the grocery store for three years, says Brechin could use a bank. The only bank in Brechin closed in 2019.
“Previously, before I was here, there was a bank,” he said. “A lot of local people depended on that bank before it was removed. I think it’s definitely something that people are looking to have back if the town is going to grow.”
Dutton says adding another restaurant would also help the area.
“The highway is constantly jammed on weekends,” he said. “If there was an extra reason for people to stop in, I think that would be a good thing.”
