Aurora council gets look at concept design for Mavrinac Park

Yorkregion.com
April 21, 2016
By Teresa Latchford

Nahla Khouri gives the Mavrinac Park design concept a thumbs up.

The Aurora resident has addressed council on more than one occasion with regard to the future of the Mavrinac property, also known as Block 208, which was purchased by the town for $2.47 million after a legal battle with developer Minto Communities Inc.

But after Khouri and her neighbours feared for so long that the property would fall victim to yet another housing development, councillors gave town staff the go ahead to explore potential design options for the park on March 8.

Less than two months later, the concept design was presented to council at this week’s general committee meeting.

“It’s obvious a lot of thought has gone into it and we are all quite please with it, especially with the speed at which it was prepared and delivered,” Khouri said. “The general consensus is that it’s an excellent, high-quality design and that it checks off a lot of boxes in terms of the elements it provides.”

The proposal includes an entrance off Mavrinac Boulevard, parking for 25 vehicles - including accessible spaces - community gardens, two tennis courts, a tennis shelter, basketball court, pickle ball courts and a play area with elements for young children and toddlers. The design also features a gazebo, a trail system connecting the elements, plantings that will offer shade and a buffer between the park and surrounding residents.

The design was created in house and the estimated cost of creating the park is $1.3 million, which would come from the parks cash-in-lieu of parkland reserve, Parks and Recreation Director Al Downey said. However, the cost could fluctuate depending on what elements the public and council wish to leave out, add or replace.

The park will cost $25,000 annually to operate and maintain.

Councillor John Abel feared setting a hard budget limit would cause good ideas to be dismissed because it doesn’t fall within the budget.

“Experience tells us it is better to set a budget rather than ‘blue sky’ so all of a sudden we don’t end up with a $5 million park,” Downey replied.

Abel moved to set a budget range between $1.2 and $2 million, which council voted against.

Fellow councillor Sandra Humfryes expressed concern that the accessibility advisory committee hasn’t had a chance to provide input and others suggested the environmental and parks and recreation committees should review the concept as well.

“We have this beautiful piece of property and the worst thing we could do is build a park that isn’t accessible to everyone,” she said, requesting that council direct staff to allow the accessibility committee to review and make recommendations on the concept following the public information sessions. “We need to do this right.”

Councillor Michael Thompson questioned how much of an impact having the proposal sent to all three committees would have on the timeline of the project.

“I think the residents have waited a long time for this and I’d like to see us move forward this year,” he said after Downey confirmed reviews could cause significant delays.

Council agreed to have the accessibility and parks and recreation committees review and provide comment following a public comment session and Humfryes advised special meetings could be called for each to move the process along quickly.

One councillor stated he would like to see more options for amenities that could be included in the park, another suggested consideration be given to building a ball park and another expressed interest omitting the community gardens because the nearby residents all have backyards large enough to garden.

If council gives final approval at next week’s meeting, staff will begin planning an open house to obtain input from the public and will report back to council with the information received, suggested revisions, full cost estimate and proposed date of construction.