Owen Sound City Council Highlights: January 27, 2025
Council hosts public meeting on proposed hotel site rezoning; see other decisions made and bylaws approved

Owen Sound City Council met January 27 over a packed agenda, including two public meetings.
The first of those regarded the proposed Hampton Inn Hotel development at 1750 16th Avenue East. Owner Ibrahim Dossani is seeking permission to construct a 120-room, six-storey hotel on the northern portion of the property.
You’ll find details on that below, followed by a list of decisions made and actions taken by Council this evening.
Public Meeting on 1750 16th Avenue East Zoning
City staff gave a presentation on the hotel development being proposed for 1750 16th Avenue East. Planning consultant Ron Davidson, who represents the owners and filed the zoning application, said he thinks it’s a good-sized hotel for the City that will attract tourists and create jobs.
The applicants are asking for an increase in building height to allow for a six-storey build, and that the property be rezoned from industrial to commercial. In future, an existing structure on the property will be severed.
Council heard that Grey County Planning and Ecology staff take no issue with the application, and the Grey Sauble Conservation Authority recommends it be approved.
The Historic Saugeen Métis submitted that they saw “some great environmental considerations” and asked that the developer and officials consider implementing Low Impact Design (LID) solutions for stormwater management, adding more green space, and leaving a greater number of existing trees in place.
In the public comment portion of the meeting, one Owen Sound resident suggested Council and developers look into LEED certification and also requested that they consider how land outside the hotel will be used.
With that, the first Public Meeting was closed. The bylaw is expected to come back to Council for approval on February 24, 2025.
The second public meeting was for the Owen Sound 2025 Budget public consultation and we will report on that separately.
Council Decisions of January 27, 2025
In the regular portion of their meeting, Owen Sound Council:
approved continuing the process for Zoning By-law Amendment No. 54 to allow additional commercial development at 1750 16th Avenue East, as outlined in the staff report.
accepted the Community Open House 2024 Post-Event Information report, which noted that 45 members of the public attended, and approved a second Open House for 2025, to be held during Local Government Week (October 19-25).
decided against implementing an interim control by-law on drive-thrus, instead directing staff to address the issue as part of ongoing updates to the Official Plan, Zoning By-law, and Urban Design Guidelines.
received a staff proposal for a part-time Tom Thomson Art Gallery contract hire “focused on supporting the work of the Director and Chief Curator, and the volunteer Fundraising Team to meet the revenue targets in sponsorship, donations, and fundraising. This amounts to approximately $205,000 (not including grants) in the 2025 budget.”
approved reallocating $1.4 million in previously designated sewer relining funds (2025–2028) to replace the deteriorated 16th Avenue East sanitary sewer between 17th and 20th Streets, with an estimated project cost of $1.3 million.
approved a non-standard procurement of $2.34 million with CIMCO Refrigeration for the Bayshore Arena floor and boards replacement project, reallocating funds within the 2025-2029 Multi-Year Capital Plan and deferring $570,000 in other capital projects to address a $635,870 budget shortfall.
approved the appointments of Jennifer Smith and Olivia Legate to the River District Board of Management, for terms to November 14, 2026.
approved the non-standard procurement for the Water Distribution Storage Building Construction from Britespan Building Systems of Ontario Inc. for $184,149.98, including the non-refundable allocation of HST, and directed staff to issue a Purchase Order to supply, deliver, and construct a new water distribution storage building
Council also received correspondence from the Owen Sound Police Services Board informing the City they had been able to cut 0.47% from their budget increase for 2025. Council had requested this of the OSPSB following the December 9, 2024, city budget meetings. As a result, the proposed operating budget for police services is $9,007,472, a 5% year-over-year increase.
Final business license approvals were granted for Owen Sound Gardens Retirement Residence, a retirement community located at 1545 14th Street East, and Queen of Hearts Academy Inc., a children's play centre located at 3225 East Bayshore Road.
Other Business
Councilor Jon Farmer highlighted information in the correspondence package from the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) on their “Vote on Quality of Life” campaign. The City Manager said staff will be promoting this campaign through City channels.
Mary Anne Alton, publicist for local author Gwen Lamont, gave a brief talk on an upcoming book launch event and invited City Council to attend on Thursday, January 30, at the Harmony Centre.
Mayor Ian Boddy read an announcement the City published earlier in the day aloud and reiterated his support for the TC Energy Pumped Storage project. Owen Sound passed a motion in April 2023 to demonstrate conditional support for the Ontario Pumped Storage Project, with the conditions requiring the completion of all assessments, consultations, and approval by the Saugeen Ojibway Nation. At this time, it is unclear if those conditions have been fully met, though a new provincial investment supports ongoing pre-development work required to address these requirements.
Councilor Jon Farmer gave notice he will bring a motion to the next meeting asking for a staff report for the Corporate Services committee that outlines tools the City can use to ensure they receive high-quality reports from external consultants.
After their closed session portion of the agenda, Council approved the following bylaws:
By-law No. 2025-008: "A By-law to confirm the proceedings of the Regular Meeting of the Council of The Corporation of the City of Owen Sound held on the 27th day of January, 2025"
By-law No. 2025-009: "A By-law to appoint or amend terms of office for members and establish Boards and Committees"
By-law No. 2025-010: "A By-law to authorize the Mayor and Clerk to execute Land Use Agreements with East Side Snowmobile Club and Stoney Keppel Riders respecting snowmobile trails"
By-law No. 2025-011: "A By-law to amend Delegation of Powers and Duties By-law No. 2014-109 to update the delegation of powers and duties respecting Land Use Agreements for snowmobile clubs"
By-law No. 2025-012: "A By-law to Adopt Policy AF005 City Grants to Community Groups"
The meeting agenda and video are available on the City’s website.