A four-storey development proposal sparks residential notification change discussion in Aurora

YorkRegion.com
Oct. 19, 2016
Teresa Latchford

Nancee Webb was shocked to find out a four-storey addition to an existing retirement home was being considered in her neighbourhood.

What shocked the Aurora resident even more was that she and the residents surrounding the property at the corner of Murray and Seaton drives were not notified that the addition of 78 units and a service lane way was already being reviewed by the town.

“The only reason any of us found out about it is because Councillor Wendy Gaertner knocked on our doors,” she said. “Four storeys would just disrupt the flow of the neighbourhood.”

Webb described it as an established neighbourhood consisting of bungalows built in the 1960s and two-storey homes that arrived later in the 90s. The height of the proposed building would tower over the existing homes.

Residents came together and have blitzed members of council with letters stating their concerns about the proposed addition. Webb also took to the podium at a recent council meeting encouraging the town to reconsider the surrounding resident notification policy.

Under the Provincial Planning Act, the town is only required to notify residents when a zoning or official plan amendment is required to allow the proposal to move forward. In this specific case, the property is currently zoned for institutional use which allows for a height of up to eight storeys, so residents were not notified. However, concerns could be voiced during when the committee of adjustment is reviewing the variance requests.

“I put myself in the shoes of the residents and I would like to know if this was going up in my neighbourhood,” Gaertner said. “In my opinion, the process is backwards and these applications should go to the committee of adjustment before they come to council to be reviewed because a minor variance could potentially have a large impact on the neighbourhood.”

This isn’t the first time Gaertner has felt this way about the notification process for development. She recently brought forward a motion, which will be voted on at the end of the month, to ensure neighbours would be notified of any construction or development in their neighbourhood.

“Residents should be in the information loop,” she said. “It’s respectful and that’s why I am putting this forward.”

As for the four-storey retirement home addition application, council decided to let the committee of adjustment review the variances prior to council making a decision.