In Tuesday night's meeting of Committee of the Whole, BWG Councillors voted in favour of a staff recommendation to support the Simcoe County District School Board (SCDSB)'s zoning by-law amendment application, to allow the construction of a new elementary school at 742 Simcoe Road.
However, councillors also flagged concerns regarding traffic and access to the proposed school.
The 2.2-hectare vacant lot on Simcoe Road is currently zoned Residential (R1-1 and “R1-1*8.), only allowing for single-family detached homes. The zoning by-law amendment proposes rezoning the property from Residential to Institutional (I) to permit construction 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 that would address growth pressures in Bradford.
The new two-storey facility would include 26 classrooms, 81 parking spaces, a bus loading zone, recreation space and a sports field, and accommodate 593 students. The SCDSB hopes to have the school built and open for September 2022.
The school would be accessible from Simcoe Road, to the east, and through a pathway for active transportation off Kathryn Court.
A public meeting held in February heard concerns relating to the walkway on Kathryn Court, as well as site plan issues, drainage, and the impacts of construction. Members of council identified serious concerns over traffic volumes on Simcoe Road (with St. Charles School almost directly across the street), and the impact on neighbouring subdivisions.
SCDSB's response to the concerns was included in the town staff's report back to council, on Tuesday night.
The report included a letter from Crozier & Associates, indicating they did not anticipate an issue with traffic on neighbouring streets as school hours fall outside the typical commuter peak hours. The report also indicated that only 30 percent of students would be bused to the new school; the rest (70 percent) would use active transportation, such as walking, cycling or scootering.
The school board stated that they would employ a variety of tactics to encourage students to walk to school, such as creating the walkway from Kathryn Court, adding bicycle and scooter parking areas, as well offering a number of 'in school' programs to promote active transportation.
The pick-up/drop-off area in the current configuration allows for only 13 parking spaces. Crozier and Associates suggested, "As long as drop off operations are managed effectively by school staff and 'dwell times' are kept to a minimum, the pick-up/drop-off spaces will be used efficiently and reduce the need for vehicles to occupy on-street parking spaces within adjacent subdivisions."
The report also noted that in the first year of occupancy, the school will not operate at full capacity, allowing the school board and the town to explore more options to minimize impacts on the surrounding areas, including parking arrangements with neighbouring properties.
Councillors were not impressed with the response from the Board, or with the proposed solutions.
"A lot of issues and concerns were not addressed," said Coun. Peter Ferragine, who sits on the town's Traffic Committee. He pointed out that, unlike some other busy streets, Simcoe Road sees a lot of heavy truck and agricultural vehicle traffic - which would be blocked if vehicles were parked on the street by parents dropping off their children.
As for the suggestion that 70 percent of students would use "active transportation" to get to school, "It's not going to happen," Ferragine said. "If it's a cold day, if it's a wet day, if it's a snowy day, parents are going to drive their kids to school," based on what occurs at other Bradford elementary schools.
Coun. Raj Sandhu, also a member of the Traffic Committee, agreed.
"It came across to me that we weren't heard when we talked about traffic (in the Feb. 12 meeting)," said Sandhu. He suggested that the school board was pushing the responsibility back onto the town.
"We've seen it before with the other schools where the problem became the town's not theirs (the school board)," said Sandhu. "As soon as the school was built, the kiss-and-ride lanes were closed, people were pushed onto the road and they say, it's your problem - deal with it, and I don't like that approach."
He added, "They are not seeing the reality we see... This is going to be a huge traffic concern."
Sandhu welcomed the new school, but warned, "This is going to cause issues on a main street that we are using for farmers and other traffic and add to the mess there is."
Coun. Jonathan Scott agreed that a new school is needed, but challenged the statement of the SCDSB that if parents use the Kathryn Court entrance as a pick-up/drop-off area, the town and the board will then explore options to reduce the impact on residents, including enforcement, reduced parking availability, and parking arrangements between the board and neighbouring landowners.
"I am all for students being able to walk but I don't think many are going to be walking from Kathryn Court," Scott said, noting that most kids would likely be dropped off by their parents, using vehicles.
"That needs to be looked at proactively," he said. "Here we are creating a back entrance onto a street of a few estate homes, and I am not sure that's advisable."
Coun. Peter Dykie said he has seen the same issue on Regency Street, where parents park and use the walkway to access St. Jean de Brebeuf school.
"I don't agree we have a back alley for pick up and drop off," Dykie said. "I really have concerns for the residents on Kathryn Court and Golfview."
To address the traffic congestion issue, Coun. Mark Contois suggested implementing parking restrictions during certain hours or imposing time limits on standing, on Kathryn Court.
"There is no perfect school out there. Every school has a problem," said Deputy Mayor James Leduc. Leduc suggested that not only would farmers make adjustments to their travel, to avoid heavy traffic hours, but that the school board will be able to work with neighbours like Green Valley Alliance Church and the Portuguese Cultural Centre to use their parking lots - a view challenged by Coun. Ferragine.
"We can't assume they (surrounding property owners) are going to work with us," said Ferragine. "That should all be put in place well before, so you know for sure you don't have those issues... Proactive rather than reactive."
He pointed out that Simcoe Road is already "a congested area" used by "huge trucks, farm trucks."
While he acknowledged that Simcoe Road should have been built wider, suggesting, "I think we dropped the ball when the street was designed," he was also critical of the SCDSB's choice of the property, asking why the school wasn't being built within the subdivision.
"This is a horrible location for this school, and just feels rushed to get it up as soon as possible," Ferragine said.
When planner for the town Thomas Dysart confirmed the most recent traffic study was completed in 2016, the councillor noted, "Simcoe Road has drastically changed in five years. I can't support this zoning change until I feel comfortable with what is happening here."
Mayor Rob Keffer worried about repercussions if council refused to move forward with the zoning by-law amendment, suggesting the board might drop plans for more schools in town.
"If we slow this process down, we won't get the other four schools we need right away. It sends a bad message to the school board," Keffer said.
"It almost sounds like it's almost blackmail," said Ferragine.
Coun. Scott asked Chief Administrative Officer Geoff McKnight if it was possible to approve the zoning bylaw amendment, and iron out the traffic concerns later, during the Site Plan process.
McKnight agreed that traffic impacts, no stopping and no parking zones could all be addressed by the Site Plan - but not any agreements with neighbouring property owners.
"I think it's reasonable to expect some cooperation, but I can't guarantee it," McKnight said, noting that both school board staff and town staff have now "heard council loud and clear" on the traffic issues.
In a 5-4 vote, council voted to support the recommendation. Councillors Peter Ferragine, Jonathan Scott, Gary Lamb and Peter Dykie voted against.
The Zoning Bylaw Amendment application comes back for council approval at the next meeting, on April 20.
