‘We’re urban’: Richmond Hill mayor talks about town’s future, spat on council

Mayor Dave Barrow sketches a rough drawing of the future of Richmond Hill in his vision

YorkRegion.com
March 6, 2019
Sheila Wang

Change is the key word in Mayor Dave Barrow’s vision for the future of Richmond Hill.

Less than three months into the new term, Richmond Hill council has made a number of tough decisions that may have painted a different picture of the town’s future from the previous terms.

“We need to change what we do,” Barrow said in a one-on-one interview with The Liberal on Feb. 20, responding to recent decisions made by council. “We need to look at our plan, our town -- our city -- differently that we’re urban and we need to be able to move forward quickly.”

Since Day 1, this council has gone full speed ahead to shake things up, which has left many residents either struggling to catch up or plainly confused.
It didn’t take council long to repeal the secondary plan, which aimed to revive the downtown core, or throw out the hard-fought parkland policy by significantly reducing the amount of cash-in-lieu.

Council has also moved the time for council meetings from Monday evenings to 1 p.m. on Tuesdays on a trial basis, and will discuss how council should start the meetings -- with O Canada, a land acknowledgement, or both -- later this month.

It all boils down to one question: What does the future hold for Richmond Hill?

“We’re urban. We’re urbanized. We’ve got everything that an urban place would have,” Barrow said, spelling out his own vision for the town where he was born and raised, while sketching a rough drawing of Richmond Hill on his notepad.

Tapping his pen on the south end of the sketch, the mayor noted, it is the urban part of Richmond Hill, from Highway 7 to Major Mackenzie Drive, where more highrise condominium buildings are planned with improved public transit, possibly a subway.

The area between Major Mackenzie and Gamble Road is most likely to retain the look of a town, where some smaller townhouses may replace the larger homes.

In the mayor’s vision, Oak Ridges, or the north end of the town in general, will continue to attract people as a unique destination to live with a strong sense of community.

The downtown area, on the other hand, will look differently than it does today.

Council voted to repeal the Downtown Local Centre Secondary Plan, which was approved in February 2017 after lengthy public consultation.

“We seem to have so many plans and so many things. It’s hard to do business with us,” Barrow said.

Repealing the plan does not mean wiping out the restrictions for development in the downtown area, he said, because the same rules have been included in the Official Plan, such as a 45-degree angular viewplane, as well as the density and height requirements.

The goal would be to streamline the work process by consolidating the secondary plan into the official plan, which is subject to a review, he said.

Given the greater residential-to-commercial building ratio in Richmond Hill, the mayor said, the town needs to keep up with other municipalities and try to become more competitive in terms of business attraction and job creation.

It was for the same reason that Barrow decided to vote for the new parkland policy, which puts a cap on the amount of cash that developers are required to pay for each unit they build.

The decision has been met with strong opposition from council members David West and Karen Cilevitz, who were concerned about its impact on the building of future parks in Richmond Hill.

“I just sensed that there is gonna be no harm done to our parks plan or our ability to purchase parks. In the long term, there will be, if we just leave it there, and for the next 20 years. But for the next couple years, we need to get some actions going,” Barrow said.

The new policy allows developers to pay up to $10,000 for each multi-residential unit they build and up to $11,500 for each unit in stacked and townhouse developments from Dec. 1, 2018 to Dec. 31, 2021, as yorkregion.com reported.

There will be open-air space for residents to enjoy, Barrow emphasized, but the parks will be different, especially along Yonge Street in south Richmond Hill.

“Linear parks,” instead of baseball diamonds or soccer fields, will be put in place to cater to the needs of condo dwellers, he said.

Longer than they are wide, linear parks are a kind of green space popular in an urban setting that often serve as a link to roads, trails and transportation. They can be as short as a few blocks or as long as several kilometres.

“That’s the urbanness of it,” Barrow said, noting the town is very likely to have its name changed to the City of Richmond Hill.

Council is expected to vote on March 25 on a motion that proposes changing from a town to a city.

Ward 1 Coun. Greg Beros, who introduced the motion, said it would help Richmond Hill with its competitiveness.

“It’s fine with me,” Barrow said, noting there aren't any immediate advantages associated with the new name, or many additional cost to be incurred.

Most council members seem to be on board with the idea.

However, the nine representatives have had a tough time reaching consensus on many other motions since the start of this term.

Before coming to an understanding, council often has to slog through interruptions during deliberations, occasional spats among some councillors and strong pushback on certain issues.

“It’s a whole different dynamic,” Barrow said. “It is not common to us from the past. It’s becoming more common.”

It is a new council, after all, the fourth-term mayor said, noting the two new regional councillors are both experienced council members who are eager to push for changes.

On top of that, there have been some “personal disputes” that have made it a bit harder to get work done, Barrow acknowledged.

“They’re still struggling in being comfortable with each other.”

It is not hard to see that some council members are at odds with each other more often than the rest, judging from the voting records or their interactions at council meetings.

Sometimes, the mayor has found himself at odds with the majority of council.

On Feb. 11, council voted to put off a motion that proposes to acknowledge Indigenous people and the traditional territories at the beginning of council meetings, as yorkregion.com reported.

“I wasn’t surprised the motion got pushed to 25th. I was surprised why it got pushed there,” said Barrow, who voted against the deferral motion with Coun. David West, and Karen Cilevitz.

But Barrow remained optimistic about the future, noting he had been prepared for a different council.

Asked if council members are getting along now, he said, “We’re getting there. I think we are.”