Once again, Saugeen Shores Mayor Luke Charbonneau, spoke to the Men’s PROBUS club on Tuesday, March 7th (2023).
Each year, he brings the members up to date on projects, achievements and future plans that the Town is exploring. This year, with the number of on-going and future developments, the Mayor’s talk centered on ‘Leveraging Growth’ and the challenges that growth brings to the community.
Among the topics that he covered were: Housing, Optimizing Town-owned lands, Major Investments in Recreation, Town Business Plan, Physician Recruitment, Innovation Park, Saugeen Shores As Clean Energy Hub, Ojibway Land Settlement Agreement.
“Our population has increased by 16 per cent with over 1,200 people and another 5,000 residents expected. According to the 2022 census, there are 17,000 people who make Saugeen Shores home and it is expected to increase by 2041 to 24,000. While this will create 2,200 new jobs, it will also result in a lot of challenges and implications.”
He went on to say however that the municipality is prepared for the growth with infrastructure in place thanks to the work of previous Councils and staff in the 1990s and before. “Frankly, one of the reasons we are experiencing growth is because we are ready for it.”
Last year, there was $129.1million in new construction with 111 new family dwellings, the second highest on record behind 2021 where there were 333 homes at $154million in construction value. There were also 40 multi-family developments and an increase in secondary dwelling to 18. “While the number of additional units is not great, it is growing and we want to add more and more of these units for affordable housing.
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Images by Mayor’s Presentation
The result of the growth in population created an opportunity in commercial investment. “Commercial values in 2022 was $25million, a 236 per cent increase over the previous year to provide the services that the increased population expects and this is a trend we expect to see continue in 2023. There are large commercial investments planned such as the new LCBO at WalMart and Jarlette’s doubling of the size of the Southampton Care Centre. Therefore, there is large-scale institutional investment accelerating in the community and I believe 2023 will be banner year for commercial growth in the community while residential growth will back off due to increasing interest rates and the building that has happened already.”
He went on to say that the town will continue to grow and the question he raised is “what kind of community do we want to live in”. “We are leveraging that growth to make the community even better … there are intentional things that can be done to make life better and that’s the approach the Town wants to take.”
“Leveraging our growth will improve our quality of life,” said the Mayor.
He pointed out that an important document that lays out the Town’s details of leveraging the growth being carried out is the 2022 Annual Report and he encouraged members to read it. “Under the leadership of the CAO, you will see how the communication will be carried out and reported to the community. There is a huge amount of work being carried out every day by our staff.”
According to Charbonneau, an area of crisis being experienced locally and across the county is a shortage of housing that is affordable and attainable. “In Saugeen Shores, 75 per cent of housing is single-family dwellings and the medium price has increased over the last five years by 130 per cent and average rent has gone up by 168 per cent over the last 10 years while wages have not increased to keep up. Therefore, we not only a housing crisis, we have a worsening housing crisis. There is a shortage for seniors, young families and service workers and it’s a problem we need to address.”
Leveraging growth will address the housing crisis he added. “We must get higher density developments that mean more affordable housing. We cannot go on with only single-family homes that serve only a segment of the population. There has to be a broader base of housing that meets the needs of all ages and socioeconomic conditions in life. We can leverage growth with developers to get housing built while retaining the small town feel of our community through the Residential Intensification Guidelines that will illustrate to developers how to build duplexes, four-plexes, etc. that will fit into neighbourhoods and support infill.”
He pointed out that public feedback is critical to ensure that plans work for the entire community.
The Town is the largest landowner in the municipality according to the Mayor and land not being used by the public could be used for housing and the Town’s Surplus Land Policy is currently being worked on by Staff that may free-up lands for affordable housing.
In addition, the Urban Planning System is being redefined to streamline planning to give developers the confidence that when they submit a proposal for affordable housing it will be approved and not deter them from making an investment. “We are looking at turning the planning process on its head. We are reimagining how we go through the processes to actually get affordable attainable housing built.”
Municipal Housing Allowance program has started through the County of Bruce so that renters can receive a subsidy to help support lower-income families.
When it comes to recreation, the Town is moving forward with phase 2 of the Lamont Sports Park Complex, the Aquatic and Wellness Centre due to open in 2025 as part of the Plex, a cricket pitch and a Master Plan for Jubilee and Heliwell Parks.
The Legacy Fund has been added to through modest tax increases over the years that generates income that will be used to fund the new Aquatic Centre that will be operated by the municipality after negotiations with the YMCA were discontinued.
Summerside Park, part of the land claim settlement with SON, will be “… a celebration of reconciliation”.
Physician recruitment and health care in general is a concern and is a “high priority for Saugeen Shores. “We want attract health care workers. We had three new doctors in 2021, one this year and two more in 2024. We are working to attract people throughout the health care centre by making the community an attractive place to live as it is a competitive market.”
Another large document Town staff has been working on is the Business Plan. “This is a huge document that will be ready soon and I urge everyone to read it on the Town’s website when it comes otu.”
Next months’ PROBUS meeting will feature Saugeen Shores CAO, Kara Van Myall.
