Newmarket clock tower redevelopment opponents submit petition with 1,200 names

YorkRegion.com
June 6, 2016
Chris Simon

Margaret Davis has always let her opinion be known on the Main Street clock tower development.

Now, the Newmarket resident knows she has the backing of more than 1,200 people. At Tuesday night’s council meeting, Davis will hand a petition over to the town, which calls on the municipality to stick to its own three-storey building height limit in the downtown heritage district, a stance that would effectively kill the clock tower proposal as it is currently proposed.

“I wish formally to present a petition against the proposed clock tower, signed by 1,213 people, the vast majority from Newmarket,” Davis said, in a deputation request to council, of her ‘Stop the Swap’ petition that was published on change.org for about two months.

Davis wants the petition and comments expressed by the signees to be referred to town planning staff, who are currently preparing a report to council on the proposed development.

“I also hope councillors will give the comments weight,” she said.

The developer, Forrest Group, recently submitted an amended application for the site, which calls for the construction of a 165-unit, seven-storey apartment complex near the Main and Park Avenue intersection. If the proposal were constructed as presented, it would include five ground-floor retail commercial units fronting Main.

The proposal is one of the town’s most controversial redevelopment projects. The Main Street District Business Improvement Area’s board of management passed a resolution opposing the redevelopment plans late last year.

Newmarket’s heritage advisory committee also asked council to deny the application, but there is a new group calling for its approval. That group created its own change.org petition around the same time Davis’ started. Called ‘Reasons To Support Clock Tower Redevelopment’, the petition is still active and has been signed by 220 people so far.