Environmental Due Diligence, City Owned Waterfront Property

The City of Orillia will conduct a Phase II Environmental Site Assessment (ESA) and develop a Remedial Action Plan (RAP) for a vacant 2.14 hectare downtown waterfront site. A Phase I ESA concluded that there is a high likelihood of on and off-site contamination as a result of the site’s long history as a railyard. The proposed work is part of a larger plan being undertaken by the City of Orillia to revitalize the City’s downtown and waterfront as outlined in the “Downtown Tomorrow Plan”, adopted in 2012. The plan includes recommended initiatives and action items to better connect the City's downtown core and waterfront areas, accommodate anticipated population growth and meet provincial intensification targets in the community over the next 10 to 15 years. The due diligence work will outline cost estimates to complete the necessary remediation and/or risk management measures required to proceed with redevelopment for a variety of land use scenarios (i.e. residential, mixed-residential, commercial, municipal use). Ultimately, the environmental results will help inform the rest of the decision-making process, enabling the foundation of a sound strategy to streamline redevelopment. In addition to the environmental work being undertaken, the City of Orillia established the cross-departmental Waterfront Working Group to evaluate the property from the perspective of land use changes, parking strategies, road realignment and infrastructure and utility considerations. This systemic approach will ensure various departments’ expertise, needs and challenges are communicated early on and could serve as a replicable framework for other communities. Extensive public and stakeholder consultation was conducted as part of the “Downtown Tomorrow Plan”. This initiative is expected to provide a roadmap for future waterfront redevelopment in Orillia and its results could be of value to many other municipalities that are facing similar challenges associated with former railway waterfront lands. (Project description from original funding application)