Richmond Hill neighbours furious with David Dunlap land developer's "mountain"

YorkRegion.com
Nov. 16, 2016
Kim Zarzour

Angelo Sinagoga looks out from his property on Fern Avenue at what he says is the “ugliest thing you could imagine”.

What used to be a heavily treed portion of the David Dunlap land fronting on Bayview is now a mountain of earth, and Sinagoga and his neighbours are furious.

Residents in the community located at the southeast corner of the DDO lands say they were shocked last August to see the large berm appear where trees once stood.

What they thought would be a buffer of trees between them and the new DDO development is an elevated storm water pond, and they are not happy.

Sinagoga owns three lots backing onto the property approved for single family dwellings to be built, but real estate agent Magdelena Arcos said when she brought clients to look at the lots, they changed their minds.

John Chow said he worries about the damn breaking and flooding nearby homes.

“I bought this for the conservation land and now look at it. This is ridiculous.”

The Town of Richmond Hill has assured them the developer will landscape the berm, but residents say it’s bandaid fix.

Dan Terzievski, director of development engineering and transportation, said the town went through the planning process and public consultation along with a Master Environmental Servicing Plan with the developer DG Group.

The land nearest Bayview and Fern was determined the best site for the storm pond, he said.

“We were driven by a number of constraints. There is a shallow ground water table and potential Oak Ridges moraine aquifer issues.”

The pond had to be relatively shallow to protect the integrity of adjacent wetland, he said.

The developer has agreed to put in “significant enhanced landscaping” and will certify the soil so the plants grow quickly, he said.

Terzievski said residents should not be at risk for flooding.

“It’s designed by professional engineers and will be fully inspected and certified.”

Water will be discharged into the storm system and in catastrophic storms, overflow channels will direct water toward Bayview Avenue.

“We’ve done the best we can in this particular case and at the end of the day, we hope to make everyone happy.”