The first round of consultations for the Bayfield Secondary Plan are winding down.
Senior Planner, Denise Van Amersfoort says, so far, about 400 people have visited the site and she urges anyone who wants to make a comment to so as soon as possible because the first round will be closing soon.
“The first process is really about the big vision, where does Bayfield want to be, what do people like about it right now, what changes to they think could be made. The next round is going to be far more specific about certain areas, questions about the downtown, about heritage, about how Bayfield grows.”
She says one thing that's emerged as a big issue is sidewalks. “Some community members told us that they're not in favour of sidewalks, where others noted that they don't always feel safe when they're walking with the vehicular traffic. So we want to try to understand that issue better so that we can make a recommendation as a committee.”
Van Amersfoort says her feeling is that some people feel not having sidewalks is somewhat unique and makes the village more rural, while sidewalks tend to make it look more urban.
Van Amersfoort says it's become very clear that the consultation and the secondary plan is very important to the residents of Bayfield. “I think that it's great timing that we're getting this work done and having these community conversations in the absence of a large development coming forward, so it's a really well-timed project, COVID-19 aside.”
Van Amersfoort says all of the Citizen Advisory Committee meetings are streamed live and anyone who wants to observe or be part of the meeting can do that by going to their website.
