City of barrie: 1)City of Barrie, Township of Springwater agree on compensation for boundary adjustment; 2)Year-round, overnight on-street parking ban floated in Barrie goes to a consultant

1)City of Barrie, Township of Springwater agree on compensation for boundary adjustment

Courtesy Barrie 360.com

By Julius Hern, February 26, 2026

The City of Barrie and the Township of Springwater have settled the compensation for a boundary adjustment that would give Barrie a mix of added employable and community lands.

In a joint release, the municipalities say the agreement is the result of extensive collaboration and negotiation between the municipalities, with a shared focus on responsible growth, efficient service delivery, and long-term regional planning.

Roughly $22 million in total funds will go to the Township paid through a series of installments until 2030. Another $850,000 will be paid meant for economic development resources and initiatives over the next five years.

City of Barrie – proposed annexed lands, October 2025. Image -supplied ( Purple outline – Springwater. Yellow outline – Oro-Medonte

The compensation accounts for the value of the 1,126 acres, as well as the long-term municipal revenue impacts that will be felt as a result. Of those, 596 hectares are considered developable.

“These lands are critical to supporting job creation and long-term economic growth for our region. Securing them ensures we can attract investment, create employment opportunities, and plan responsibly for the future,” Barrie Mayor Alex Nuttall said in the release. “By working together, we have reached a solution that benefits both of our communities and strengthens our region as a whole.”

“The agreement with the City of Barrie ensures fair compensation for Springwater, supports future economic development, and positions our community for sustainable growth,” Springwater Mayor Jennifer Coughlin added. “It provides certainty for both municipalities and helps Springwater plan responsibly for the services and infrastructure.”

Coughlin used her strong mayor powers in October to approve the boundary adjustment after opposition from her fellow council members and repeated deferrals for legal opinion.

The overall expectation among the Township’s council was that some of its land would go to the City of Barrie, no matter what. It was the method—either annexation or legislative restructuring—that was in question.

Eventually, in November, the provincial government stepped in and introduced a bill to expedite the transfer of lands in Springwater and Oro-Medonte to Barrie.

Among other things, Barrie had offered water and wastewater servicing to 453 acres of Springwater, 500 City of Barrie waterfront parking passes for five years and access to Barrie’s recreational programs and facilities for five years.

Impacted properties were officially made part of the City of Barrie on January 1.

2)Year-round, overnight on-street parking ban floated in Barrie goes to a consultant

Courtesy Barrie360.com

By Ian MacLennan, February 26, 2026

Barrie politicians will receive a report from a consultant about whether to move forward or not with a year-round, overnight, on-street parking ban in the city.

At a parking advisory ad-hoc committee meeting on Wednesday, Deputy-Mayor Robert Thomson couldn’t stress it enough that the motion being voted on was not rubberstamping an overnight parking ban.

“This is to look at it, as other municipalities have this, and to see how it can be implemented, the cost and everything else,” Thomson noted.

The committee motion is to refer the overnight ban to Barrie’s transit and parking strategy department for inclusion in an update to the city’s municipal parking strategy, so the program can be reviewed by a consultant, along with other parking initiatives and permit systems.

A year-round overnight parking ban could include a single-use overnight permit program with online registration, a flat fee, and not be linked to a municipal address.

Mayor Alex Nuttall felt debating the issue before seeing the findings of the consultant was pointless.

“My concern would be we’re debating the outcome before it goes to those who know what is best. Everybody’s thinking about a street, but not necessarily the same street, and every street is different.”

The motion still requires approval by general committee and city council.

The current overnight on-street parking ban is from Dec. 1 until March 31, at 12:01 a.m. to 7 a.m., and 3 a.m. to 6 a.m. downtown.