BRACEBRIDGE CONSIDERS MUSKOKA ROYALE COLLEGE PLAN TODAY
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com
BRACEBRIDGE — Climate change and the pandemic recovery clashed this afternoon as the town further considers a plan for a private Ontario and international board school on sensitive land in the middle of town.
It’s a heated, emotional battle that has opposing sides alleging “misinformation,” “deliberate exaggerations,” accusations of “NIMBYism” and counter claims about what it really means for Bracebridge and Muskoka long-term
A planning committee is taking a closer look at the environmental and economic impact the kindergarten to grade 12 classrooms would have on the Heart of Muskoka town.
At stake are almost 450 acres of land including wetland just off Lake Muskoka adjacent to the struggling downtown business core.
The school would only occupy 61 acres — or about 15 per cent of the site.
Today’s meeting is the second public meeting on the plan first came to the town in February 2019.
Property owner George Chen is proposing a 20-year development he says will benefit the community in with an influx of 1,800 students, and more than 120 fulltime teaching and admin jobs, along with infrastructure employment an construction investment. It also includes a summer camp.
He says he would contribute a third of cost, with a third coming from equity partners and a third from bank financing, according to a town report.
Tuition would be $28,000 – $33,000; room and board for local students $23,000 – $25,000; room and board for international students $30,000 – $32,000.
Chen also says he chose Bracebridge because it fits perfectly with the owner’s vision of building a school that offers a curriculum with emphasis on awareness of ecology and nature.
He also said he is committed to hiring local trades where possible when building.
Opponents claim it will harm lands that threaten Muskoka’s true nature and have a petition with some 4,600 signatures opposing the Muskoka Royale College.
A public online planning and development committee meeting at 2 p.m. looked into both sides of the debate and Bracebridge councillors will adjudicate the matter before proceeding to next steps.
The school would require changes to the town’s official plan and zoning amendments and District approval.
The site is bounded by Lake Muskoka, Muskoka River (Beaumont Drive), Muskoka Rd. #118 and Muskoka Beach Road and Stagecoach Road.
It was known as the Henry Farm and is called the Henry marsh.
It would not be situated on Lake Muskoka and the nearest building would be 300 metres back, say Chen’s planning team.
And the town says it will have no waterfront access; though one opponent today noted that it would be just one waterfront purchase away from gaining that access to Lake Muskoka.
It is on the western half of about 900 acres Chen owns, with the eastern half already zoned for future residential building — though there is no movement there yet.
The application says a third of its targeted student body would be international in origin.
Michael Appleby chairs the well-heeled South Bracebridge Environmental Protection Group (SBEPG), which has hired a number of lawyers and planners opposing the plan and started a group called Protect Muskoka.
The fulltime Bracebridge resident lives on Stephens Bay Road that runs between the Muskoka River and Muskoka Beach Road and fronts the property in question.
He’s also a member of the Stephens Bay Association of residents, which has acted to protect their neighbourhood shoreline, environment and community for 57 years.
“So I have some sense of history with this property,” he told MuskokaTODAY.com in an interview last week.
He says the proponent’s own environmental impact study and one SBEPG peer reviewed identified dozens of items that needed to be first addressed.
Appleby admits many of those issues have since been addressed.
However, SBPEG wants a more comprehensive Ontario Welands Environmental Study (OWES).
Which Appleby believes will lead to a rejection of the proposal.
The site has a long development history, including once recent plans for the local Bracebridge Muskoka Lakes Secondary School that ended up being built at the north end of town; as well as a golf club.
It is also not dissimilar to a failed proposal in Gravenhurst at the former Muskoka Regional Centre, also on Lake Muskoka. That site, which is still owned by the the province of Ontario, had a school developer’s plans rejected over its selling price and long-term usage of its 73 acres for additional housing beyond dorms.
From its Bracebridge Wetlands and Protect Muskoka websites they say this plan threatens “443 acres of wetlands — lush forests, vital marshes and majestic rock barrens.”
And it “will destroy what is currently an important interconnected wetland that supports at-risk species, and once it’s gone, it’s gone.”
They claim the wetland is an ecologically significant, interconnected property and that fish spawn and birds and turtles nest there. And “the marshes help protect our community from flooding.
“We should be protecting lands like this, not devastating them.”
One of Chen’s planners today called it a “perfect fit” for the site and one that won’t have a detrimental environmental impact.
They further claim that Muskoka Royale College would be a “sprawling complex home to 2,000 students and staff that includes elementary and secondary schools, office buildings, housing and dormitories, a sports complex, maintenance facilities, parking lots and access roads. Built on a ridge overlooking the lake, the four-storey buildings will reach higher than any other building in Muskoka, erasing the vista from the lake.
Their argument is that “pristine wilderness like this should not be rezoned for a project that will do nothing for Bracebridge, but make millions for a Toronto developer.
“Besides being a threat to the natural environment, this project will increase the population of Bracebridge by 12 per cent and put undue stress on the town’s infrastructure, taxing capacity at our local hospitals, stressing water and wastewater networks, overcrowding beaches and parks and adding more trash to our landfill.
Appleby says members of Protect Muskoka will be attending the planning and development to “formally request the town vote against this destruction of our natural lands.”
The town has received more than 600 comments on the proposal since early 2019.
Among them are concerns by the Muskoka Lakes Association and Friends of Muskoka.
Local concerns include the impact on Kirby’s Beach and Strawberry Bay.
Outspoken Bracebridge resident Bruce Kruger wrote the town last year to say: “This ‘NIMBY’ attitude cannot be
sufficient to alter/halt such a major and appropriate development. In view of the above, I strongly urge members of Bracebridge
Town Council to not only take steps to mitigate any residential concerns of the Strawberry Bay region, but also to take all measures that
will permit this educational facility to be built within all aspects of planning and development regulations of our municipality.”
A town staff report by senior planner Jeremy Rand in advance of today’s meeting recommends deferral of both the zoning and official plan amendments to study comments from the Oct. 27 meeting.
The meeting broke for a dinner break just before 6 p.m. and resumed at 6:20 p.m. to hear the final public presenter and to consider the matter.
After the break, the committee went with the staff recommendation to defer the applications pending a review of the many comments received in the Oct. 27 virtual meeting.
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October 27, 2020 @ 3:58 pm
It seems that this development would provide many benefits not just for Bracebridge but for Gravenhurst and other communities in Muskoka. Jobs in both the construction and operation phases
More business and jobs for retail and restaurant opportiunities. This is something we need for our youth and communities right now.
October 28, 2020 @ 3:10 pm
A lot of incorrect conclusions and information in this article!
It’s appalling how everyone thinks it will be a huge benefit to town but that’s far from the case. Wake up people.
The proposal documents sent forth by the developer explicitly states that local businesses “will have the opportunity to bid”, no explicit promise to hire locally.
Not to mention this proposal is doomed to fail when the largest, most established boarding schools in the county have maybe 300 international boarding students. No where close to 1,800.
We already have one of the top international schools in Bracebridge which has a mere ~11 students. That right there proves there is no need for another boarding school, especially on a wetland.
Mr.Chen has zero experience in the industry, aside from the fact his kids attended private school (note there is another George Chen who has a lot of experience, which a few referred to in the zoom meeting, but IT IS NOT the same person).
The destruction of these natural lands will be for nothing and leave behind the remains of a huge eyesore, plus loss of a significant carbon sink in the area.
The developer knowingly bought land that was not designated for this type of development.
Many private schools also avoid paying taxes and mean an increase in property taxes.
There are a plenty of other reasons why this is a HORRIBLE idea for Bracebridge, but the examples above will suffice for now.