Dozens gather at Tiny Twp. town hall to protest new planned development

Tiny Township's residents protested in front of the current town hall on Wednesday, demanding a halt to the construction of a new town administration building.

Karen Zulynik has spearheaded the group calling for an end to the proposed 25.6 million dollar build. The group has called on the mayor to reconsider. Although the project is approved they may head to the province.

“We’ve exhausted a lot of processes here in my next step is going to the provincial government. Queens Park, they are in recess for the summer but we will petition in the fall to ask the council to vote and do a referendum. Because the mayor is saying that the community wants this but if you look around there about 2,000 signs on people's lawns," said Karen Zulynik, a Tiny Township resident.

The planned project would see shovels in the ground on township-owned land on Concession 9 by 2025.

Mayor David Evans defended the project and the price tag saying the space is needed for staff. He says the current space which is 57-years-old isn’t large enough to accommodate its growing community.

“We have been very upfront. We have had multiple opportunities and avenues for people to engage personally virtually and online by phone I’ve met with the groups and the oppositions I met with some of those groups more than three times personally," said Evans.

• Download the CTV News app to get local alerts on your device 
• Get the latest local updates sent to your email inbox

Residents say they haven't felt heard and feel the projected population growth isn’t large enough to require a new building.

The most recent numbers from the County of Simcoe indicate that in 2021, Tiny Township had a population of 12,966, which is projected to increase to 16,010 by 2051.

“Sure there are a lot of people that have cottages here and changing them into homes but the population stays the same when that happens. There are no new subdivisions, that I can see and there are certainly no industries here,” said Paul Bell, a Tiny Township resident.

“If they’re so confident in their case, which they claim they are why are they not willing to test it at the bar of reason in an open debate with those who oppose their view on it,” said Borys Kowalsky, a Tiny Township resident.

Tonight’s public meeting began at 6 p.m. with dozens of residents filling the town hall hoping to ask questions and get answers about this project.