Business View Civil & Municipal Apr-2023

14 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 4, ISSUE 4 the Greater Toronto Area, Ontario’s primary urban center, he adds that although Southgate does experience the economic and cultural effects of that proximity, the township has remained a rural community, although the last 5 years have shown a shift towards a bit of a commuter trend. Township Planner Clinton Stredwick talks about the residential development happening in Southgate, sharing, “In the last five years, we’ve had quite a significant uptake in development with subdivisions from a few developers. It started out small with a 70-unit subdivision and then a 66-unit subdivision in Dundalk itself, which is our primary service settlement area. Initially, we had those two small developments, and then they sort of exploded and opened up other areas of Dundalk.” Since then, the township has seen continued development, bringing approximately 200 new units per year in 7 different subdivisions. Terri Murphy, Economic Development Officer says this residential growth has spurred interest on the commercial side, with economic development surging in the township’s industrial parks. Southgate’s new Eco-Park has sold out in its first phase and will be ready for occupancy in the spring of 2023. The newly zoned highway commercial lands have attracted a McDonald’s Restaurant that has a site plan submitted and under review. The restaurant is slated to open in 2024. Conversations with a large hotel chain are also underway for the highway commercial properties. This new development will open the opportunity for the Township to host larger scale events such as the Grey County Kite Festival, sports tournaments and dance or other competitions as well as accommodate business conventions and tourism. Greenlid, manufacturers of fully compostable single-use products will have a 430,000 square foot facility at the Eco- Park, and Blue Mountain Covers, a division of Calhoun Super Structure, have recently completed a 20,000 square foot development, with plans to add 20,000 additional square feet.. “The other development that just went through minor variance is called Southgate Renewables. They will be processing organic food scraps into natural gas and feeding it into the Enbridge pipelines. That is a very exciting development,” explains Murphy. Five years in the planning, this project is a huge undertaking,