Bracebridge councillors are fast-tracking a new investment into the town’s planned industrial park by severing a five-acre parcel of land from the proposed industrial subdivision lands owned by Fowler Construction Company Ltd.

Last Wednesday, the town’s committee of adjustment heard from Savas Varadas, a consultant with Wayne Simpson and Associates, that a potential purchaser is anxious to set up shop in Bracebridge. Unfavourable timelines around the subdivision application prompted Fowler to submit the application to create a separate lot.

Tom O’Callaghan of Fowler said the company lost a potential investor to the City of Orillia because of the time lag in approving the 145-acre industrial subdivision across from the Fenner Dunlop plant.

He said another company is also looking north of town for potential land, but approving the severance would allow it to come to Bracebridge.

“It’s here or they go elsewhere,” O’Callaghan told the committee. “They would be bringing a lot of jobs, so I think it’s a good move for the town.”

Paul Jewer, vice president of finance and chief financial officer for Toromont Industries, said on Tuesday that Bracebridge is “an area of interest” for the company, but would not confirm or deny its plans to move to the proposed severed property.

Fowler is in the process of subdividing the lands to create 32 industrial blocks, varying in size from one to 10.5 acres. To assist the development, the town committed to providing up to $2 million to service the lands. Fowler is to repay the loan with interest, either through the sale of lots, or following a sunset time frame of five years.

Delays in creating the industrial subdivision, a public/private partnership started between the town and Fowler almost two years ago, have been caused by a municipally directed environmental impact study underway by Michalski Nielsen Associates Ltd., which is reportedly halfway finished.

The study was called to assess the effects of the project on the easterly portion of the Fowler lands, property that forms part of the South Muskoka Canyon Heritage Area, an area identified by the Ministry of Natural Resources as being geologically significant and containing a number of species at risk.

Bracebridge Mayor Don Coates said “these things take time” and does not believe the long environmental review process is driving away potential business.

“In terms of the subdivision, it hasn’t simply been environmental issues that are holding it up,” Coates said, adding the legalities of a public/private partnership have also contributed. “The Town of Bracebridge is as interested in having that subdivision as Fowler because there will be future employment that will help the future of this town.”

Coates said both parties are frustrated the process has taken “longer than normal,” but the town is doing everything it can to expedite things.

“Both parties are finding the time lag is not to their liking, but environmental matters are just one portion if this and every subdivider has to go through the process,” he said. “. . . We are in Muskoka and in Bracebridge we try to make sure development is environmentally sound.”

When asked whether the town would commit more funds to the project, Coates said council has not been approached to increase its contribution.

Kim Horrigan, the town’s director of development services, said based on Michalski Nielsen’s environmental review, concerns with the five-acre severed lot are “minimal”.

Horrigan said the severed lot will be accessed by an existing entrance off Ecclestone Drive. It will contain a right-of-way to the 140-acre retained parcel, subject to the plan of subdivision application.

She said the District of Muskoka requires a traffic impact study to determine a suitable entrance design including a left turning lane. Varadas said the study is currently underway and should be complete in two or three weeks.

With files from Jacqueline Lawrence