A proposed $1.54 billion expansion of Black Bear Ridge Golf Course into a four-season leisure resort replete with more than 3,000 permanent housing units was endorsed Tuesday in principle by city council in a special meeting.
Council unanimously agreed to lend critical backing to developers Black Bear Ridge GP Inc. who will now file with the Ontario government an application seeking a Minister’s Zoning Order to streamline what is believed to be the largest capital investment project in the region on record.
The build-out of the formidable concept, if approved, is expected to take 20 years or more to complete on 368 hectares of Black Bear Ridge lands at 501 Harmony Road, Corbyville, given the project’s scope and scale.
Ontario’s MZO political process, at issue before council Tuesday, received Royal Ascent in April of last year allowing the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing to back critical community projects at his or her discretion to fast-track developments deemed critical.
“The Minister’s zoning order authority is a critical tool that can be used to support and expedite the delivery of government priorities, including transit-oriented communities, affordable housing, long-term care homes and strategic economic recovery projects by removing potential barriers and delays,” according to the Ontario government. “These changes ensure that the Minister, acting at their discretion, has the authority to provide their complete support for these critical projects.”
The Minister’s decision on how a land parcel is used under an MZO cannot be appealed.
With an MZO in hand, Black Bear Ridge GP Inc. will seek to club together different zoning designations into a unifying single zoning designation across a series of non-environmental land parcels it owns in and around the golf course comprising a total of 911 acres.
Securing an MZO can also go a long way to leveraging the provincial government’s support if needed to secure major financing to cover front-end costs of, for example, extending municipal water and sewer infrastructure that will be needed to service the rural lands of Black Bear Ridge Golf Course.
Council’s support of the Black Bear Ridge Golf Resort concept proposal is a key first step to moving the project forward that will be followed by public consultation meetings.
Belleville city officials were presented formal Black Bear Ridge Golf Resort concept documents Feb. 28 that outline the proposed mixed-used resort, hotel, retail outlets, a spa and wellness centre and residential community featuring single homes, villas, duplexes, triplexes and four-storey apartment buildings the firm said will offer a more affordable range of options for adults and seniors.
The sprawling housing community within the resort will be known as Black Bear Ridge Village and will be anchored at its centre with the award-winning 27-hole golf course first opened in 2005 by the late developer Brian Magee.
Alex Sharpe, president and managing director of Black Bear Ridge GP Inc., said his team is following through on Magee’s vision to create a world-class calibre destination that will be a “great regional asset.”
“It’s important to note that the application picks up on decades of work that was done by the previous ownership [of] Brian Magee. Obviously, his time in Belleville goes back many many years,” Sharpe told council in a deputation Tuesday.
“This property is an assembly of a number of different properties he put together over the course of many decades,” he said, adding “this proposal has been shaped largely in keeping with a lot of his early vision for the site including road networks and infrastructure that was put in place prior to our time.”
“As we talked about early on, Mr. Mayor, Belleville is historically right now known as the place north of Prince Edward County and we really want to change that, we want to put Belleville on the map for the great place that it is,” he said.
Mike Pettigrew, planning consultant with Biglieri Group retained by the developers, gave an overview of the concept to council and confirmed the $1.54 billion one-time cost to construct the development across the 911-acre assembly of connected land parcels would take place over two decades
Pettigrew assured council that roughly 30 per cent of the properties deemed environmentally sensitive would be protected from development as would a further 30 per cent of open spaces encompassing the golf course.
A recreational area of 15.2 hectares would run along the northern edge of the properties along the Moira River, he said, offering activities for residents and visitors.
Construction of new housing units, a hotel, a motel, spa, and an event space for concerts and shows would take place only on lands not deemed environmental, Pettigrew said.
“The idea behind this Ministerial Zoning Order is to consolidate the zoning and the uses on areas that are non-environmental. The MZO itself does not actually cover or contain the environmental zoning for the parcels that are in the zoning bylaw,” he told council.
Part of the reason for seeking council support for the MZO, he said, was to act within a window that is still open given that the city’s new Official Plan sent to the Ontario government has not yet been approved by the province giving time for eleventh-hour amendments to the document with city approval.
“The Official Plan, your new Official Plan, is still not approved yet at the Ministry so there was an opportunity here to be able to ensure that your Official Plan also meets this request for a zoning bylaw,” Pettigrew said.
Asking for an MZO now enables changes to Belleville’s Official Plan before provincial approval to create what is called a “Fully Serviced Resort Area,” Pettigrew said.
Mayor Mitch Panciuk said he was pleased with confirmation that environmentally sensitive lands would be protected within the new development.
