In Tuesday night's meeting of BWG council, councillors voted to approve a zoning by-law amendment that will expedite construction of a new elementary school at 742 Simcoe Road.
The 2.2-hectare vacant lot on Simcoe Road was zoned Residential (R1-1 and “R1-1*8.), only allowing for single-family detached homes. The amendment will change the zoning from Residential to Institutional (I) to permit the school.
The Simcoe County District School Board acquired the property in 2015 and received funding from the Ministry of Education in 2020 for a new school that would address growth pressures in Bradford.
The Board has proposed a two-storey school with 26 classrooms, 81 parking spaces, a bus loading zone, recreation space and a sports field, able to accommodate 593 students. The SCDSB hopes to have the school built and open for September 2022.
Earlier this month, in Committee of the Whole, councillors reluctantly voted 5-4 to recommend approving the zoning by-law amendment for the school. At the time, councillors cited concerns with the proposed "active transportation" pedestrian pathway off Kathryn Court, and with traffic on Simcoe Road.
When the recommendation came back to Council on Tuesday night, Ward Councillor Gary Lamb put forward an amendment to prohibit the pedestrian access from Kathryn Court.
"I don't believe a back door is needed here," said Lamb, noting that there are only two homes on Kathryn Court. "We're trying to fit something new that has been there for a long time."
Coun. Peter Dykie Jr. said that the school board "had ample opportunity" to identify land for a school within two new subdivisions in the area, rather than proposing a school fronting on Simcoe, with pedestrian access from a long-established quiet street with no sidewalks.
Coun. Jonathan Scott agreed, pointing out that there are no sidewalks on Kathryn Court or Golfview Boulevard that would support active transportation, and no connectivity to the newly built subdivisions in the area that the school is supposed to serve.
"In as much as I support active transportation, I really don't see this being a place where a pathway to the back would facilitate walking to and from school," Scott said, suggesting it would likely be used for vehicle drop-offs.
Coun. Peter Ferragine said that even with the amendment, he could not support a school in the current location on Simcoe Road.
"I still don't support this area for a school at all," he said, referencing the heavy traffic and agricultural vehicles that travel on Simcoe. "This is not a great spot...I won't support it until I see some concrete evidence this is going to work out."
"They are working to mitigate the traffic issues as best as they can," said Mayor Rob Keffer. Keffer, Deputy Mayor James Leduc, Councillors Lamb and Scott met earlier with Board representatives in an attempt to address some of the concerns of Council.
The Board agreed to expand the parking lot by 15 spaces, add more spaces to the 'kiss-and-ride," and continue talks with neighbouring Green Valley Alliance Church, in an effort to accommodate parking.
Mayor Keffer warmed that, with funding available from the Ministry, the school board is "afraid they will lose the funding for this if they can't move forward."
"II get it. But it doesn't mean you should do something in the wrong spot or do something wrong because you have the available funds," replied Ferragine. Fifteen additional parking spaces "are not going to help Simcoe Road at all," when there are 600 students at the school, he said..
Coun. Raj Sandhu said he understood the reason for Lamb's amendment but questioned whether it would set a precedent, noting that all other schools in BWG include walkways and walking paths..
"Now to please Kathryn (Court), we're saying to do it, but does this have an effect on other schools?" he asked.
Coun. Lamb pointed out that neither St. Angela Merici School nor Chris Hadfield Public School, in Sandhu's own Ward, have back door entries.
"I'm frustrated by this whole situation," said Lamb, noting that most schools are built at the same time as the surrounding subdivision. In this case, Kathryn Court is part of a "20-year-old subdivision that wasn't even part of Bradford West Gwillimbury originally."
"They were sitting there as their own little island and all of a sudden they have to face this," he said.
Sandhu replied that both St. Angela Merici and Chris Hadfield have two road fronts. "This one is stuck in a bad place with one road entrance," on busy Simcoe, he said.
Coun. Mark Contois, who also sits on the traffic committee, suggested there isn't one school in Bradford that doesn't have traffic issues.
"I've got a couple of schools that are absolute nightmares for probably half an hour to 40 minutes of the day, and people parking in intersections," Contois said. "We can't control that type of activity except through enforcement."
He proposed beefing up enforcement, installing lights or crosswalks as ways to help traffic flow in the area, adding, "I don't see this as any worse than any school in our community."
"There's lots that I don't like about this - but I'll tell you what I really don't like. I don't want 600 kids sitting in over-crowded schools, I don't want 600 kids sitting in portables, and I don't want 600 kids being shipped out of our community to other schools," said Deputy Mayor James Leduc, adding that traffic "is not a Bradford problem, this is a County problem."
The Kathryn Court amendment was passed 7-2, with Ferragine and Sandhu voting against. The vote was 8-1 in support of the main motion, as amended - with Coun. Ferragine still opposed.
Coun. Scott thanked SCDSB trustee Jodi Lloyd for her commitment to alleviating parking and traffic issues for the school.
In the earlier meeting, Scott originally voted against recommending approval of the zoning bylaw amendment. Now, he said, "based on what we've been told I am ready to change my vote. I was satisfied that they are going to bring forward a site plan that will address our concerns."
Scott said that while the location "isn't where we'd ideally place a school," the board is working on solutions.
"I will support this 100 percent," said Leduc. "We will deal with the traffic concerns...and do what we need to do to get these kids in a better school."
The original motion had recommended that a Holding (H) symbol be placed on the rezoned property, to be lifted when the Site Plan Agreement was signed with the school board.
That recommendation was dropped, "in response to the board trying to move forward as quickly as they can," explained Chief Administrative Officer Geoff McKnight.
Without the H symbol, the Chief Building Official can issue a conditional Building Permit as soon as the footprint of the new building is approved, allowing ground work to begin while other issues are dealt with through the site plan agreement.
