Age-friendly committee wants Markham to be haven for seniors
19 recommendations made by group to make life better for city's older citizens

YorkRegion.com
March 5, 2019
Tim Kelly

A new hospice for Markham, the completion of the city’s sidewalk-building program, improved seniors’ windrow clearing -- these are just several of the 19 recommendations made by a committee that wants Markham to become a haven for seniors.

The recommendations, which will be presented to Markham council’s development services committee then come to the public for discussion, were presented Tuesday, Feb. 26, at the Unionville Senior Citizens Centre.

The recommendations also include innovative ideas like building seniors’ affordable housing on city-owned parking lots in exchange for constructing underground parking to offset land costs, as well as a call to permit secondary suites allowing seniors to both live in them and rent them out to earn much-needed income. The recommendations were developed over the past year by a committee headed by co-chairs Markham Coun. Jack Heath and Andy Langer, along with committee members Diane Gabay, Gail Leet and Christl Reeh.

Other ideas include a boost to nursing and personal support services to improve in-home health care, the requirement to provide home elevators and chair lifts for new homes built in Markham, and a pilot project to retrofit home elevators and chair lifts in existing homes.

Heath said the 19 recommendations provide a comprehensive package that if implemented will dramatically improve the lives of seniors in Markham.

“We can keep seniors living in their homes longer; we can provide the services they need," he said. "People can stay at home longer, where they want to be, they can get their health care assistance at home, they can stay at home. It doesn’t cost the city anything so people can stay at home as they age."

Heath brought out a map of Markham and pointed out nine locations he believed were ideal spots for affordable housing for seniors. These locations were near transit, medical and dental offices, as well as near grocery stores, pharmacies and other retail shops.

Senior Lorne Smith said he believed it was “incredibly backward that we have not moved ahead with a hospice in Markham.”

For committee member Leet, the establishment of a hospice was the top recommendation on the list.

“If I was to say what was the most important recommendation, the easiest to fulfil of the 19, it was to build a hospice. None of us know what the Ford government is coming up with today, but we all know what future holds for us and our family,” Leet said.

Langer suggested the building of a hospice was a prime goal for the committee and he hoped for Markham as a whole.

“A residential hospice is very important in Markham. Over and above the cost of land -- $10 million is a reasonable estimate -- we’ve been advised that you should fundraise for both the capital cost and the first two years of operating costs,” Langer said.

“There should be a vibrant community in Markham that’s in support for a capital campaign, and we think we should move ahead quickly. Ideally … the city should be the first mover in terms of a location. Maybe the budget will come to $25 million, half of which would be the land costs,” Langer added.

Another prime recommendation to help reduce the price of land -- estimated to be as high as $6 million per acre in Markham at market value prices -- is to seek surplus school board property for affordable housing purposes at the original land purchase price plus carrying costs, as opposed to market value. This would mean the land price would be vastly less expensive than it currently would be.

Heath’s argument for getting land at 30- or 40-year-old prices to build affordable housing for seniors was that it was a matter of priorities for the provincial government.

“Selling the land for affordable housing at the cost that they (the school board) paid for it 30 years ago plus carrying costs … would allow us to get on with building some affordable housing since the current cost of land is the biggest impediment to building it,” he said.

Aside from Heath, Markham councillors deputy mayor Don Hamilton and Reid McAlpine ( Ward 3), Karen Rea (Ward 4) and Ward 5’s Andrew Keyes attended at the news conference regarding the recommendations.

“I’m very impressed; he’s (Heath), got my support,” said Keyes, adding that he campaigned on seniors issues in the recent municipal election, after the news conference.

Rea said she thinks the recommendations are “a good start” and said “I’ve been advocating for four years that we need more diversity in housing. We’re all aging and it’s a discussion we need to have.”

19 recommendations made by Markham age-friendly committee

1. Always home: It is recommended that all future single, semi and townhome developments approved in Markham contain a minimum portion of “Always” homes, those which allow owners the option of aging longer in their home.
2. Always guidelines: It is recommended that the city develop standards for Always homes and units for implementation as soon as possible in all developments.
3. Home elevators and chair lifts for new homes.
4. Home elevators and chair lifts for existing homes in a pilot project in different types of homes.
5. Nursing and personal support services: It is recommended that York Region and the Province dramatically ramp up at-home care for both nursing and personal support services.
6. Hospice: Support the establishment of two to four residential hospices over the next 12 years with a target of 30 or more independent hospice beds.
7. Supply of land: Since the cost and availability of land are the largest impediments to significantly increasing the supply of affordable housing for seniors, the city obtain land, presently being used for surface parking at no cost for the purpose of building affordable townhouses, condo apartments and purpose-built rentals. In order to replace the lost parking, the new housing development would provide the former owner an equal number of underground and/or structured parking spaces within the new development at no cost.
8. Preferable locations: In order to reduce the requirement for an automobile the city concentrate on finding locations for recommendation No. 7 near: good transit, important services such as medical and dental, and amenities such as grocery stores, pharmacies and other retail shops.
9. Markham Parking Authority: It is recommended the City created a Markham Parking Authority.
10. Surplus school property: It is recommended the province, in order to reduce the price of land and increase its availability for affordable housing for seniors and others, introduce a requirement that the sale of surplus school board property to municipal governments or agencies, if for affordable housing purposes, be at the value of the original land purchase as opposed to current market value.
11. Inclusionary zoning: The city implement an inclusionary zoning policy for Markham so all future apartment developments contain a reasonable percentage of affordable housing.
12. Secondary suites: The city permit secondary suites by right across the city; legalize all secondary suites in the municipality which meet the parking requirements; develop a program to encourage the provision of more secondary suites in the future.
13. Coach houses: The city encourages the building, with the current urban boundary and in the future urban area, of a significantly increased number of smaller homes such as coach houses, which are defined as homes above garages not attached to the main house.
14. Live/work opportunities: Future developments in the city include increased allotments for live/work opportunities for neighbourhood services and small businesses in residential areas.
15. Seniors snow clearing service: If the city does not provide a city-wide windrow clearance service in the near future, Markham improve the current service for seniors by making it quicker.
16. Sidewalk completion: In order to provide a safe environment for seniors and others wishing to walk for exercise and/or walk to services, the city target the finish date of its sidewalk complete program for arterial and collector roads as 2026 or earlier.
17. Implementation: City staff suggest an appropriate organization or organizations to oversee the projects envisioned above.
18. Future urban area: Markham’s FUA being developed in the Woodbine, Warden and Kennedy areas north of Major Mackenzie be designed with the above recommendations in mind.
19. Process: These 19 recommendations be presented to development services committee (DSC) and then sent to staff for public and stakeholder input, with a draft report coming back to DSC by June 2019. Also, that staff in Markham and York Region give consideration to developing further incentive programs if required to accomplish the above.