A new private long-term care home planned for Owen Sound's east side has cleared a big step in the municipal regulatory process.
City council signed off on a conditional site plan agreement at its meeting Monday submitted by Southbridge Health Care for a three-storey, 160-bed long term care facility at 1300 16th Avenue East — across the street from Seasons Retirement Community.
The site plan agreement has been a long time coming for the planned long-term care facility. It comes more than three years after Southbridge applied for official plan and zoning by-law amendments to build on the 16th Avenue East property, according to a past Bayshore Broadcasting report.
Southbridge had originally looked to build a long-term care facility at the former courthouse and jail on 3rd Avenue East, but then decided it wasn't suitable and shifted to the 16th Avenue East property.
“Southbridge has been meeting, certainly with me, since 2014 and keeping us up to date on where they are with the provincial government in approvals and all the other things they have to do,” says Owen Sound Mayor Ian Boddy. “This is good. Site plan approved … they're hoping to move forward (this year) in the spring.”
The new Southbridge long term care facility will be 10,270 square metres, Owen Sound's Director of Community Services Pam Coulter told councillors Monday, or about the size of a Walmart.
The property will feature 101 parking spaces and include a gated outdoor resident common space.
Ontario's Minister of Health and Long Term Care Dr. Merrilee Fullerton affirmed a commitment of 91 new beds and 69 redeveloped beds for the Southbridge build in September 2019, when the allocation of hundreds of beds in Grey County was announced by the provincial government.
