‘Rowdy’ meeting with Vaughan’s Sports Village developer leads to questions

City is expected to produce a report in April to make a decision

Yorkregion.com
February 20, 2019
Dina Al-Shibeeb

Vaughan residents have more questions after a public meeting Feb. 17 with a developer behind the proposal to expand Sports Village and the "unprecedented" sale of a parkland area in vicinity of their homes.

“We had just over 400 irate residents from our community,” Laura Rinaldo, president of the 40-member South Maple Ratepayers Association (SMRPA) wrote. “What a show!”

These residents fear future noise and traffic congestion, as well as losing the publicly owned green park near their homes as Mentana, the developer that operates Sports Village arena on 2600 Rutherford Rd., wants to buy the 33 acres of parkland to expand.

One of the main features of the expansion includes a master plan for Berkeley Community Hub, which will have Berkeley Academy for athletes and an entertainment centre with an amphitheatre.

During the meeting, Mentana owner Tony Furiato showed the perks and the benefits of the expansion, which will offer internships, physical therapy, clinics, multipurpose areas and even booths for podcasts.

Some of these perks will even be subsidized by both Mentana and the city, he said.

The city is currently collecting information and getting residents’ input to produce a key report in April.  “It will include information about the extensive and ongoing engagement process regarding the Sports Village proposal,” the city said.

However, the meeting is leading to more questions ahead of the budget’s meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 20. Rinaldo and other association members are now questioning the city’s subsidy to Sports Village.

“Myself, and others, will be questioning the (City of Vaughan) on the $1.4 million of the city's yearly budget which is set aside to subsidize payments to the Sports Village,” she wrote in an email to SMRPA members. “I'm sure this meeting will be very interesting.”

In an email to York Region Media, SMRPA director Tony Longo also highlighted how the city sets aside four per cent of the $31.3 million of the community services budget for "Sports Village ice time."

The SMRPA questions comes after the association filed a freedom of information request in August for details on the city’s 40-year lease agreement with Mentana.

The SMRPA filed the request after describing the city’s response to its concerns last year as lukewarm. But the association praised councillors Marilyn Iafrate and Linda Jackson for showing interest.

During the Feb. 17 meeting only these two councillors -- Iafrate and Jackson -- attended. At the meeting, the residents were asked to fill in forms to give the city an idea about how they feel.

Emilia Rozenblit, the association’s treasurer who described the meeting as “rowdy,” considered the city's efforts a way to make the project workable in the neighbourhood.

“That was my interpretation, as well as a lot of people,” she said.

Alongside the association, senior residents at Villa Giardino are also against the project. They submitted a petition of more than 150 signatures to the mayor and all the councillors.

In a letter to Iafrate, the seniors said the three condominiums in the complex are the “nearest residences, right opposite the Sports Village,” yet they “were never consulted or fully informed by the City of Vaughan” since the developer’s proposal in 2015.

According to Furiato, the Berkeley Community Hub has the support of “Vaughan Food Bank, the City of Vaughan Hockey Association, the Vaughan Girls Hockey Association, the City of Vaughan Baseball and Softball Association, the Condominium Corporations of Villa Giardino and the Concord West Ratepayers, among others.”

For Furiato these groups “represent tens of thousands of community members across Vaughan.”

“They recognize that our proposal will save the park in perpetuity and will enable the creation of dozens of programs and resources that will support the food insecure community, seniors, students and residents living in Vaughan,” he told York Region Media.

Furiato said he attended the meeting “in good faith” and understood "that it was a chance to hear all perspectives.”

“We respect those that attended and will continue to listen and refine our vision so that we can make the best possible hub for our community,” he said.