‘Wrong to intensify’ Yonge-Steeles ahead of subway, Markham councillor says

'We have a unique opportunity to develop this area' due to planning for the subway

Yorkregion.com
March 11, 2019
Dina Al-Shibeeb

Councillor Keith Irish says development aimed at “intensifying” the Yonge-Steeles intersection in Thornhill is “wrong” ahead of any solid commitment for a subway extension.

“The development potential of the Yonge Street corridor will explode once the Yonge Street subway extension is approved, funded and construction scheduled,” Irish, councillor for Markham’s Ward 1, said.

“I think it is wrong to intensify the Yonge/Steeles intersection and Yonge Street itself north of Steeles until we have this commitment.”

He is proposing “a moratorium on further development until the Yonge Street subway extension is approved, funded and construction scheduled.”

“Our current infrastructure simply cannot accommodate it.  Ask anyone who lives here.”

The Yonge corridor has already been identified as a regional rapid transit corridor and, in 2005, the province passed the Places to Grow Act, which calls for higher density development to protect the Greenbelt from construction.

While Irish said he “appreciates how developers are anxious to build,” he argued “it’s wrong to ignore the legitimate concerns of residents who live here now.”

Irish brought the issue of traffic congestion, especially the “gridlock on arterial roads” that “has made commuting a nightmare” to the fore in a column he wrote, arguing that until there is a Yonge subway extension: “We find ourselves like porcupines: we cannot get very close without hurting one another.”

Asked if his sentiment is shared by other municipal councillors both in Vaughan and Markham, Irish said: “Yes.”

“Together with my Vaughan and Richmond Hill counterparts, we make up the Yonge North Group, the purpose of which is to advocate for the approval, funding and construction of the Yonge Street subway extension. We all have the same concerns.”

From his side, Alan Shefman, Vaughan's Councillor for Ward 5, argued “we have a unique opportunity to develop this area” since a subway is being planned. 

“As you can see, significant development already exists with the World on Yonge on the Markham side,” he said.

But he said his “approach to future development” ought to be “holistic” at all “four corners.”

There is a need to make sure “that there is a common and shared vision,” Shefman said, adding the gateway into both Markham and Vaughan must be “distinctive, eye-catching and inviting to both residents and businesses.”

“I am coming at this issue based on our secondary plan for the area,” Shefman continued. “The plan covers the area from Hilda and Steeles to Yonge and then north to the 407.”

“In short, we have approved high-density (development) along both Steeles and Yonge, with the peak at the Steeles and Yonge intersection. While I have some serious concerns about the density of the current project, I do support a landmark building.”

The 65-storey landmark building is an architecturally interesting one, Shefman said, citing how the owner, who proposed the edifice, described it.

“While it is quite tall, it is the style of a building that would become a landmark,” the councillor said.

Meanwhile, Irish lamented that: “We are already living with the consequences of the World On Yonge project and will soon feel the effects of the Vanguard development at Grandview Avenue along the Markham side of Yonge Street.”

So far, Markham planning staff is currently in pre-consultation discussions about a proposed new development on the north side of Steeles, one block east of Yonge.

“We know, too, about the zoning amendment application in Vaughan to permit three high-rise towers at the northwest corner of Yonge and Steeles,” Irish wrote in his column.