Shefman lobbies for Promenade Mall area development plan
Plan would map out an entire block

YorkRegion.com
Nov. 29, 2016
Simone Joseph  

Vaughan is creating a detailed plan for the Promenade Shopping Centre area which Councillor Alan Shefman hopes will help the city define its vision for the area.

“With a potential redevelopment of Promenade Mall or being sold to a new owner, we need to get ahead of the process as a municipality ... I wanted to be ahead of development by helping define what our vision is,” Shefman said.

He put forward a motion at the Nov. 15 Vaughan council meeting that a secondary plan, meaning a detailed plan for the area, be approved. Council passed this motion.

This detailed plan would map out an entire block, from Bathurst Street to New Westminster Drive and from Centre Street to Clark Avenue.

Two changes in Thornhill made Shefman realize a more detailed plan for development is needed for the Promenade Mall area, he said.

The first change was when Cadillac Fairview announced Promenade Mall was for sale; the second change was when he heard a proposal by the Torgan Group for seven 27-storey townhomes in the nearby Promenade Village Shoppes area.

Shefman said the idea of seven 27-storey townhouses is “outrageous,” explaining it would mean “way too much intensification.”

But Josh Martow, president of the Beverley Glen Ratepayers Association, says he is wary of the secondary plan.

“Each time the City of Vaughan ‘updates’ plans for the Thornhill area, we get stuck with higher density, less public parking, and more traffic,” said Martow. “Councillor Shefman has supported bringing the Highway 7 bus lanes down Bathurst and Centre, calling the area ‘Downtown Thornhill.’ I disagree,” Martow said. “There is nothing downtown about these plans; the high rises are condos, not an economic hub. We see subway development to our west while we're stuck with bus lanes — no wonder so many residents are frustrated.”

Martow’s comments show his lack of knowledge, Shefman said.

“Mr. Martow has no idea of what he is talking about ... Clearly he doesn't understand city planning,” Shefman said.

Shefman and Martow are used to battling issues from opposite viewpoints. They ran against each other for the position of Ward 5 Thornhill councillor in 2014.

Shefman went on to say the secondary plan for Centre Street, which was approved a couple of years ago, designates much of the street for a maximum of about three storeys —“ hardly high density,” Shefman said.

Shefman pointed out that the tallest building in that Centre Street secondary plan is for 12 storeys at the corner of Centre Street and New Westminster. In comparison, the high density buildings to the east are all in the 20-plus storey range — “That is the designated high density area and I am attempting to maintain that,” he said.

Regarding Martow’s public parking reference, Shefman said: “What on earth is he talking about? All of the available parking is private — there is no public parking”.

About the “downtown Thornhill” reference, Shefman said: “I have never called Bathurst and Centre ‘Downtown Thornhill.’ That is a total fabrication — he just made that up. The fact is that the Thornhill Town Centre area is the highest density population area in York Region (and I have no idea where that name comes from),” Shefman said.

About subway development, Shefman pointed out that subways are built where there is substantial density. “As I have said many times in the past, the current plan to build bus-based rapid transit is exactly what this area needs — it provides reasonable, sensible and affordable access to the subway system. In the future, it will be transformed to a second order rapid transit — LRT.”

Shefman went on to point out there is a subway that will open in Vaughan a year from now.

It will not only support the thousands of people going to York University every day, but as the Vaughan Metro Centre continues to develop over the next five to 20 years, it will service the thousands of people who will be working and living there. “

Shefman also pointed out that he and his colleagues have led the battle for a Yonge Street North subway extension for years.

“My dream is to have a subway station just to the west of this area and just to the east of this area linked by rapid transit bus service.”