Parkbridge - Craigleith | Town of The Blue Mountains, ON

Project Information

Application Type(s)

Subdivision

Town file #

P2433

County file #

42T-2016-10

Address

Part of Lot 21, Concession 2

Current Status

Approved with Conditions

Total Residential Units

211

Project location

Craigleith

Public Open House

MacPherson Builders (Blue Mountains) Limited, Parkbridge Lifestyle Communities Inc. and Eden Oak (Trailshead) Inc. invite members of the public, Town of the Blue Mountains staff and members of Town of Blue Mountains Council to join them at a drop-in Open House to learn about the proposed stormwater improvement works adjacent to Highway 26, the Georgian Trail, and Lakeshore Road E in Craigleith.

Craigleith Regional Stormwater Outfall Improvements
Craigleith Community Center (132 Lakeshore Road East, Town of The Blue Mountains)
Tuesday, March 21st, 2023 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Open House Notice

Notice of Blasting

The Town of The Blue Mountains would like to advise that B&J Contracting, on behalf of the project developer, Parkbridge Lifestyle Communities, will be undertaking rock blasting operations for the Parkbridge Craigleith Ridge Development.

The blasting operations will commence January 9, 2023, and will continue intermittently until April 2023, during daylight hours. Two to ten blasts are anticipated per day. Residents may experience a slight vibration when the blast occurs.

Notice of Blasting

Watch a video of on-site blasting below.

Once a blasting area has been prepared for detonation (drilled, loaded, and piled with blasting mats), and made clear of persons/vehicles, three (3) short sirens are sounded. The planned blast immediately follows these sirens. After the blast, an all-clear siren is sounded.

Town Staff captured this video at the Parkbridge Development Site on January 16, 2023, approximately 80 m (260 ft) from the blasting location. It captured the second of the three short sirens, the blast, and the follow-up all-clear siren.

Project Information

The legal description of the property is Part of Lot 21, Concession 2, Including: Part Lot 161, Lot 172, Part Lot 173, and East Part Lot 169 Plan 529, in the former geographic Township of Collingwood, now in the Town of The Blue Mountains. A triangle parcel on the north side of Lakeshore Road East has been added to the project. See the key map on the reverse.

Parkbridge-Craigleith submitted applications for Draft Plan Approval, Zoning By-law Amendment, Part Lot Control By-law and Site Plan Approval in December 2016. The original application was modified through an updated set of applications and supporting documents. The revised application was received in April 2017.

Together the applications propose to create three parcels (blocks) of land. Two parcels comprise the Nipissing Ridge that would provide environmental protection and be used to identify the future location of a public trail along the base of the Ridge. The third parcel proposes to be developed with 211 residential units (up from 208 units) consisting of 45 single detached residential units and 166 townhouse units. The proposed residential units would be offered as life-lease community homes, with each unit on an individual land lease. A unit purchaser would own, while Parkbridge-Craigleith would lease the land the unit sits on to the purchaser. Parkbridge-Craigleith would retain ownership and management responsibility for the entire development site.

Parkbridge-Craigleith received a Zoning By-law Amendment and Conditional Approval for a Draft Plan of Subdivision from the Local Planning Appeals Tribunal (LPAT).

Parkbridge-Craigleith is now in the process of satisfying the Conditions of Draft Approval and has submitted several technical studies, reports, and drawings supporting final approval. Town Staff are reviewing the submission and will be reporting back to Council once the conditions have been completed to the satisfaction of Staff or if issues regarding the conditions arise.

In September 2022, the Town executed a Pre-Servicing Agreement with Parkbridge for the Craigleith Ridge site that will allow for certain works to be completed on the property before the subdivision plan's registration and the building issuance permits. This Agreement regulates the activities on the site, including but not limited to tree clearing, preservation and landscaping, earthworks grading and drainage, siltation and erosion control, and construction access. Rock blasting is anticipated this winter, and details will be provided in an additional Notice. Please see the current Notice of Development Activity available on this page and subscribe to receive future updates.

Frequently Asked Questions

Yes, Parkbridge has sufficiently fulfilled their Draft Plan Condition with respect to the Regional Stormwater Management Report obligation. A Regional Stormwater Management Report has been prepared that satisfied the Town, Grey Sauble Conservation Authority (GSCA), and Ontario Ministry of Transportation (MTO), which was the requirement in Parkbridge’s Draft Plan Conditions. Sign-off from these required parties has been documented in Staff Report PDS.22.109 titled “Regional Stormwater Management Plan Drainage Act Assessment – Other Agency Approvals and Draft By-Law” to Council, and further clarified in follow up correspondence from MTO.
Since the Town has obtained sign-off from the required agencies and has received all other technical information referred to in Draft Plan Condition #12, the condition is deemed cleared. This, along with the clearance of other relevant Draft Plan Conditions, enabled the Town’s preparation and execution of Development Agreements for the Parkbridge Craigleith Ridge site. The executed Agreements approve the site works currently underway on the Parkbridge Craigleith Ridge site, and are as follows:
- Pre-servicing Agreement was executed on October 18, 2022, that provided approval to remove trees and complete pre-grading.
- Amending Pre-Servicing Agreement was executed on December 6, 2022, that approved installations of civil underground services including pipe systems and concrete box culverts.
Please note that additional drawings are under review with Town Staff that will approve the final surface grading, road works, streetlights, and utilities. These additional drawings are currently in their 5^th iteration and only minor details are being confirmed. Proof of design concept was confirmed before any Town approvals were issued.
Ultimately, a Development Agreement must be executed to transition the development from Pre-Servicing to a full Agreement and enable Registration and external infrastructure connections. Until that time, the Parkbridge development will remain unconnected and separate from the Town’s water and wastewater systems.
The bedrock elevation is high in some areas of this site, and its removal is required to install underground infrastructure, such as pipework and utilities. While rock blasting is not a typical construction method in the Town of the Blue Mountains, it was selected at this site over pneumatic hammering which would have caused significant continuous noise and vibration for many additional months.
A specialist blasting engineering firm, Englobe Corp, is using seismic monitoring equipment to monitor the blasting operations in accordance with the Ontario Provincial Standard Specification OPSS.MUNI.120. The contractor is the responsible party, should damages arise from the rock blasting activity. As it is in the best interest of all involved to mitigate and prevent damages, the contractor is taking precautions such as utilizing highly trained and well-experienced blasting experts (engineers and contractor), conducting pre-blast existing condition surveys, obtaining pre-blast geotechnical investigations, conducting test blasts, and using blast mats. For more information, please see the Blasting Procedure Plan by Englobe Corp., dated November 3, 2022.
In accordance with Table 1 of the Ontario Provincial Standard Specification OPSS.MUNI.120 and professional recommendations from Englobe Corp specialist blasting engineering firm, residents 75 m distance or less from anticipated or possible blasting areas were offered a free pre-blasting condition survey by Englobe Corp contractor on behalf of B&J Contracting. These occurred in November of 2022. For more information, please refer to the Blasting Procedure Plan, dated November 3, 2022, by Englobe Corp, and the Pre-Construction Survey Completion Report, dated November 29, 2022, by Englobe Corp.
The findings of the Pre-Construction Survey are held confidential by Englobe Corp. They are released to the appropriate parties if a damage claim arises.
Only residents located 75 m distance or less from the anticipated, or possible blasting areas were offered a free pre-blasting condition survey by Englobe contractor on behalf of B&J Contracting. This is in accordance with Table 1 of the Ontario Provincial Standard Specification OPSS.MUNI.120 and professional recommendations from Englobe Corp specialist blasting engineering firm. If your property is located beyond this 75 m distance, or you declined Englobe’s services, you would not have received a pre-blast conditions survey. However, the contractor would still be the responsible party, should damages arise from the rock blasting activity. For more information, please refer to the Blasting Procedure Plan, dated November 3, 2022, by Englobe Corp, and the Pre-Construction Survey Completion Report, dated November 29, 2023, by Englobe Corp.
The contractor has installed erosion and sedimentation controls, including heavy-duty silt fencing, temporary drainage swales, rock check dams, sedimentation basins, and rough-graded ponds, to capture sediment and slow drainage from the Parkbridge Craigleith Ridge site that ultimately discharges to Georgian Bay. These controls will remain in place throughout the rock blasting operations. The Town does not anticipate this blasting to impact the site runoff to neighboring properties, as these drainage patterns will not be altered.
The rock blasting currently approved is located within the Parkbridge Craigleith Ridge site. If rock removal is required for the external Regional Stormwater Management improvement works, the best method of removal will be determined later during the detailed design and construction contract administration processes.
The Ontario Ministry of Transportation (MTO), Town, and Grey Sauble Conservation Authority (GSCA) have received and reviewed the Regional Stormwater Management Report, which includes the preliminary engineering for the outlet improvements required. This report confirms the key constraints and parameters for the design, the preliminary engineering that proves feasibility, and identifies the resources required. Detailed design engineering drawings are the next step. Now that the Town, GSCA, and MTO have found this report acceptable, the Consulting Engineers (Crozier Engineering) will complete the detailed design drawings and submit them to the same parties for permits/approval.
The MTO was provided with a hydrological analysis that verified that the existing drainage system, in its current state, has the capacity for the Parkbridge Craigleith Ridge interim build-out condition. This interim build-out condition, approved for construction by the Town, includes the underground civil servicing works up to and including the roads, but excludes any home building. The post-development stormwater peak flows of the interim condition can be adequately controlled by the onsite rough-graded stormwater ponds to meet the Ministry of the Environment Conservation and Parks (MECP) requirements, and the downstream capacity constraints.
The building on the Parkbridge site visible from Grey Road 19 is a future Sales Centre. Parkbridge followed the Town's review and approval process for a Sales Centre that resulted in the execution of a Site Plan Control Agreement on November 23, 2022. This Sales Centre is not equipped with water or wastewater servicing. It is not a permanent structure. The entrance road, clubhouse, parking, tennis courts, and green space will ultimately replace it.
The Regional Stormwater Management Plan solution to Flooding on Watercourses 7, 8, and 9 has been verified in the Town-wide Master Drainage Plan (MDP) to resolve long-standing existing conditions issues on these watercourses, and, be independent of the preferred solutions for other watercourses (specifically 6 and 10). Implementation of works on Watercourses 7, 8, and 9 at this time through the Drainage Act will reduce costs to the public by approximately $2 Million.
The Engineering consultant’s Stormwater Management report outlines the proposed design, how the design complies with Town & Provincial requirements, and operational & maintenance requirements. The report is not required to describe alternative designs that may have been considered. Additionally, as the Provincial LID manual has not yet been released, and consideration of LID is not required by the Town’s current Engineering standards; Engineering consultants do not have to address the applicability of LID to the site.
As additional background, one of the most significant hydrologic impacts of land development is seen in small/frequent rainfall events where the hydrologic response transitions from infiltration to runoff. Infiltration LIDs can mitigate land-development-induced changes in runoff response; however, the efficacy of LID is highly dependent upon soil permeability & water table elevation. Shale, clays, tight tills, or a high water table, (as found at Parkbridge) are not conducive to successful LID application.
No, residents will not need to pay for the Regional Stormwater Management improvement works proposed by the developers if they are approved at this time.
The Regional Stormwater Management Plan – Blue Mountain Diversion Drain – Drainage Act Assessment Report, dated June 6, 2022, by WT Infrastructure (Attachment #3 of Staff Report PDS.22.085) calculated potential totals that each landowner within the assessment area would be responsible for paying per the Drainage Act. However, since the developers will be fully covering the costs of the Regional Stormwater Management improvement works, residents, Town, or the MTO will have to pay no costs. This was confirmed in section 1.1 of the report.
A cost-sharing agreement has been prepared between the three developers for this purpose. Additionally, the Town will write this requirement into the future Development Agreement(s). These developers will pay all costs for these works.
However, should the Regional Stormwater Management improvement works proposed by the developers not proceed at this time, these improvements would be left to the Town to complete; funded either by all assessed landowners of the Drainage Act and/or tax dollars.
Yes, per section 2.11 of the Regional Stormwater Management Plan – Blue Mountain Diversion Drain – Drainage Act Assessment Report, dated June 6, 2022, by WT Infrastructure, one existing resident will be compensated because the drainage improvement works will require tree removal and drainage improvements on their property. The compensation value is based on tree removal/replacement value, MPAC assessments, and comparable land value in the area. There is no land being acquired; it is only undergoing drainage improvements.
WT Infrastructure’s Report indicated that “the property [213 Lakeshore Rd E] was already encumbered by the existing Blue Mountain Municipal Drain and as Watercourse 8 is a natural watercourse that the works proposed would not encumber their development opportunity any more than it currently is.” We suspect no change in MPAC, but recommend verifying with MPAC.
Preliminary information on MPAC assessment is provided here.
The HEC-RAS modeling has been undertaken in accordance with Town and Provincial Standards. The probability of a blockage at Watercourse 8 will inherently be reduced by the larger culvert opening associated with the proposed works. The works are being designed to provide conveyance up to and including the Regulatory (Timmins) event flows, such that the frequent flooding that currently occurs will be prevented.
The only 1994 reports referenced in the Regional Stormwater Management Plan – Blue Mountain Diversion Drain – Drainage Act Assessment Report, dated June 6, 2022, by WT Infrastructure are two past municipal drain Engineer Reports, namely:
- Blue Mountain Outlet & Diversion Drain Municipal Drain Report, dated February 15, 1994.
- Ford Outlet Drain Report, dated February 15, 1994.
These are not stormwater management reports for the Eden Oak Trailshead development.
The Parkbridge development is not within the drainage boundaries of Watercourses 6 or 7, which are located further east. It will not impact these Watercourses.
Watercourse 7 currently spills excess stormwater flood flows to Watercourse 6 through the Trailshead Eden Oak Site. Watercourse 6 has problems downstream and does not have enough capacity to outlet flows to Georgian Bay without flooding its surrounding areas. If the Regional Stormwater Management improvement works are installed, the excess stormwater spills of Watercourse 7 can be diverted to Watercourse 8 and safely outlet to Georgian Bay. The excess stormwater of Watercourse 7 will no longer spill to Watercourse 6, mitigating the existing flooding risks on Watercourse 6 downstream of the site(s).

Parkbridge - Craigleith

Current Status

Approved with Conditions

Public Open House

Notice of Blasting

Project Information

Frequently Asked Questions

Related Documents

First Submission

Second Submission