Richmond Hill to decide future of Yonge and Bernard community
Area north of downtown to be a key development area

YorkRegion.com
Nov. 24, 2017
Kim Zarzour

The fate of one of Richmond Hill’s top development areas is up for debate at town council Monday night, after residents and developers expressed concerns this week about what the town envisions for the area.

Yonge Street and Canyon Hill Avenue/Bernard Avenue have been deemed a key development area (KDA) under the town’s official plan.

It is expected to become the third-most intensely developed area in the municipality, after Richmond Hill Centre and the Yonge and 16th KDA.

But not everyone agrees with what is planned for the 19.6 hectares.

At the Nov. 20 committee of the whole, councillors heard from local residents concerned about traffic and overdevelopment, while developers voiced concerns about restrictions on what they would like to build.

The area has been on hold and under the microscope for more than a year.

The town held several public input sessions, including a well-attended meeting Nov. 1. Next week, councillors vote  on the final secondary plan report that outlines how height and density are to be distributed, where new public streets, parks, and transit facilities are planned, and the need for transportation.

But residents and developers have concerns about those plans, and turned out in full force at Monday’s meeting to be sure they were heard.

Several property developers called for greater density and height allowances.

The plan currently calls for no more than 10 to 15 storeys. Many of the development proposals aspire to exceed that, said a staff report.

Roy Mason spoke on behalf of Oak Ridge Gardens Retirement Partnership, owners of the residence located at 70 Bernard Ave.

Mason said the existing retirement residence is fully occupied with an extensive waiting list, and the organization wants to build a second building behind the first, with additional retirement living options including a memory-care floor.

But the restrictions on density would create problems for this plan, he said, adding a retirement residence would not create much additional traffic as residents don’t drive to work each morning.

Local residents from Wards 2 and 4 said they understand development is inevitable, but should only take place if improvements to roads and transit keep pace.

John Li, of Brookside Road, said the nearby Yonge and Elgin Mills intersection is one of the worst crash sites in Richmond Hill and is bound to get worse.

“From 2014 to 2015, 84 crashes in that intersection … How many crashes do you need for that to be unacceptable?”

Resident May McConaghy asked to delay approval of the secondary plan.

“It’s a flawed plan … I can’t stress how many lives will be affected if we rush this.”

“The build-out will happen over time, decades perhaps. It won’t be happening all at once,” said Ward 4 Coun. David West.

The plan has some good features, but there needs to be some assurance that infrastructure goes along with the intensification, West said.

West presented a motion calling for the town to advocate that “relevant regional transportation and road improvements … be completed in a timely manner to coincide with the initial build-out in the KDA, including, at a minimum, the Elgin Mills railway grade separation, the widening of Elgin Mills Road between Bathurst and Yonge Streets and intersection improvements at Yonge and Elgin Mills and Yorkland and Elgin Mills”.

Council would also advocate for the widening of 19th Avenue from Yonge Street to Highway 404, and an interchange built at Highway 404.

If those transportation improvements don’t happen in sync, the motion would require a development “pause” for re-evaluation.

Ward 2 Coun. Tom Muench spoke against the motion.

“There (are) divergent points of view … The stakeholders, being property holders, investors, residents, politicians, bureaucrats, consultants, there is no one happy here.”

Muench noted that development has been frozen under an interim control bylaw for one year, costing millions of dollars to property owners, and now further development delay may be possible. “Some people in the room do not think this is the way to go.”

The motion has been referred to the next full council meeting, Nov. 27.

For more information, visit: richmondhill.ca.