In Tuesday night's special public planning meeting, councillors heard from the Simcoe County District School Board (SCDSB) about their plans to build a new public elementary school at 742 Simcoe Rd.
The meeting was required as part of the application review process under the planning act.
Katie Kirton on behalf of the SCDSB has applied for a zoning by-law amendment on the property located on the west side of Simcoe Road south of Line 6 inside Bradford's Urban Area.
The 2.2-hectare vacant lot is currently zoned as Residential (R1-1 and “R1-1*8.), only allowing for the use of single-detached family homes. The zoning by-law amendment proposes to rezone the property from Residential to Institutional (I) to permit the building of a school.
The board acquired the property in 2015 and received funding in 2020 from the Ministry of Education to construct a new school to reduce growth pressures in Bradford.
"It's also expected to reduce some of the student populations in the other schools within the community as well," noted Kirton.
The new two-storey school would include 20 classrooms, six kindergarten rooms, administrative offices, 12 portables, 76 parking spaces, a bus drop-off, and a sports field. It would accommodate 593 students and the SCDSB hopes to have it open for September 2022.
"It is meant to be a walking school which means very few buses," added Kirton, with approximately 70 percent of students walking and 30 percent being driven.
The school will be accessible on the east side of the building off Simcoe Road as well as through pathway for active transportation off Kathryn Court.
The town had no comments or concerns on the proposal. Bradford Fire and Emergency Services noted fire access routes would have to conform to the Ontario Building Code and the Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority said it was satisfied from a watershed management perspective that the application is consistent with natural heritage and hazard policies.
There were concerns raised from one neighbour of the site about the potential impacts to their property, and the school board is in talks with them regarding their queries.
One member of the public spoke at the meeting with his support for the proposal.
"This is a great asset to the community and I'm looking forward to getting it done," he said. "This is a well thought out plan and I'm happy to hear about it."
But there were some serious concerns from council about traffic in the area, with St. Charles elementary school just across the street.
"When Simcoe Road got urbanized, it shrunk the street, the street is much more narrow," noted Coun. Peter Ferragine,
He questioned why the board chose the proposed location for the new school, noting the traffic issues seen in Grand Central with neighbouring elementary schools St. Angela Merici and Chris Hadfield.
"It's a gong show over there with parking, by-law is there all the time," he said.
He acknowledged the project planners conducted a traffic study of the area already but is skeptical of its accuracy.
"The plan looks beautiful," he said but wondered if the roads could somehow be expanded to accommodate the extra traffic.
Coun. Raj Sandhu who sits on the traffic committee with Ferragine shared the same concerns about traffic on Simcoe Road.
In response to the point of 70 percent of students walking to school and 30 percent driving or being bussed, Sandhu said it would be the opposite, based on what he has seen at the two schools (Chris Hadfield and St. Angela Merici) in his ward.
"From the traffic point of view, this is going to be hard for us to handle," said Sandhu. "I am happy that we're getting a school...but that's my concern about the traffic and it's a big concern."
Coun. Peter Dykie agreed with Sandhu and Ferragine.
"I hope the school board spends the time to make sure this is very safe," he said, "extra sidewalks or more parking, whatever you need to do (to make traffic flow better)."
Deputy Mayor James Leduc said the "saving grace" for the project was the two proposed parking lots for the school.
He suggested creating parking arrangements with neighbouring properties The Portuguese Cultural Centre and Green Valley Alliance Church for the morning and afternoon drop off rush.
Mayor Rob Keffer agreed there were innovative ways such as using neighbouring lots to handle the parking issues.
In response to the concerns, Planner for the town Thomas Dysart they will be reviewing the traffic impact statement for more information.
Alexander Fleming with Crozier Consulting Engineers and traffic engineer for the SCDSB, said it will be important to emphasize the use of active transportation, such as walking, biking, and scootering to school.
"We have a new site here and an opportunity to encourage active transportation, it's good for the environment by reducing cars if we can get the children walking," he said.
Fleming has put together a traffic study to help guide the application of the school, which includes a number of measures and recommendations made to encourage active transportation such as in-school competitions, programs, as well as enforcement from parents.
"If we can get that aspect going at the start, I think we will see success at that school," he said.
Council did not make any decisions on Tuesday night and received the report for information only.
"I just want to say how happy I am that another school is coming to our town," said the mayor.
Comments from the meeting were recorded by staff and will be included in another report to council at a later date.
Anyone member of the public looking to provide input on the proposal can send their comments to Thomas Dysart at [email protected].
To view the full report click here.
