Revised Newmarket Clock Tower development revealed at OMB pre-hearing

YorkRegion.com
May 3, 2017
Teresa Latchford

An amended site plan for the proposed Newmarket Clock Tower development surfaced at an Ontario Municipal Board pre-hearing.

Residents, organizations and lawyers representing the Town of Newmarket and Main Street Clock Inc. settled into Newmarket’s council chambers waiting for the first OMB pre-hearing to begin. Main Street Clock Inc. is appealing the town’s decision not to make allowances under the Heritage Act and zoning bylaw required for the proposed 165-unit, seven-storey rental apartment complex with underground parking and five ground-floor retail commercial units at 180 to 194 Main St. to move forward.

Following the determination of 20 participants, some siding with the town and some with the developer, two additional parties and one pending party that will participate in an official hearing, Ira Kagan, legal counsel for Main Street Clock Inc., introduced the revised development proposal.

“The original development plan included a land swap between the town and owner of the property,” he said, holding up a printed package containing the new information. “The revision is an option B, not a replacement for option A.”

In 2013, the town was willing to swap a piece of municipally owned property for a slightly larger piece of property owned by The Forrest Group if, and only if, the proposed development was approved by council, which it wasn’t.

Since the original proposal included the land swap, the development design had to be revised to fit it onto the property the developer legally owns. The revisions include an increase in size and decreases in the average unit size and parking spaces, according to Kagan.

Leo Longo, legal counsel representing the town, confirmed that he had received option B two day prior to the hearing but expressed concern over not having had the time to present it to his client for review.

“Many of the fundamentals haven’t changed in option B and council has already said it is unacceptable,” Longo said. “The municipality does not support what is before the board and doesn’t want town land used.”

Newmarket resident Gordon Prentice, who also asked for party status for the hearing on behalf of the Architectural Conservancy of Ontario, is concerned with the lack of a planning justification report that would provide information and logistics not included in the diagrams of the revised development.

“We have just been given these plans today but on first glance it doesn’t seem like something we should be happy about,” he said. “How can it be fully considered without the report that explains everything.”

He is concerned about the density of the development, proposed floor space index (FSI) of 4.19, four times what the town currently allows in the area, construction over a portion of Market Square, which garbage trucks must drive over to get to the garbage enclosure and five levels of underground parking which the public was previously told couldn’t be done because there was too much moisture in the soil.

A second pre-hearing conference has been set for Aug. 11 at 10 a.m. to be held at Newmarket’s municipal offices on Mulock Drive.