Vaughan councillors ‘surprised’ by developer’s 16-storey bid near quiet neighbourhood

The developer says councillors got information ‘wrong,’ project is in line with the provincial mandate

Yorkregion.com
June 7, 2019
Dina Al-Shibeeb

Residents at Hawman Avenue were baffled when a real estate company purchased four homes in a bid to build a 16-storey building with 178 units and 217 parking spaces in an established neighbourhood on a dead-end street.

For them, the roads near Hwy. 7 are already choked with congestion and construction. Most importantly the area, which they consider as established, does not need any add-ons.

The exact location for the land proposed to be developed is on the south side of Hwy. 7, east of Kipling Avenue. It consists of the four properties municipally known as 5217 and 5225 Regional Road 7, and 26 and 32 Hawman Avenue.

To further explain the structure, the 16-storey residential apartment building is made of a six-storey podium and 10-storey tower, reads an excerpt from the City of Vaughan’s website.

However, “it steps down at (the) back at four (storeys) at Hawaman,” Jack Morelli, president of First Avenue Properties, which is behind the proposal, told York Region media in defence of the structure. Also, to justify its high density project, First Avenue is proposing to cut through the avenue with two driveways to connect to Hwy. 7.

But at a public hearing on June 4, these residents felt some victory in the air when Coun. Marilyn Iafrate dubbed the proposal as “preposterous” and said that it will set the precedent for other developers to pitch in some of their so-called bold ideas.

“I told the developer that I cannot support what he had before us,” she told York Region Media.

“They have bought up four large lots just behind the commercial gas station which fronts Kipling. These lots which they want to combine and build a 16 storey building is NOT on a regional road but is in the interior of the subdivision,” she explained in an email.

For any big tall residential building to be erected it must fall on a regional road. This also explains why the company has also applied in April last year for a zoning amendment to get its project done.

“These lots do not have [regional] Kipling Ave addresses. Rather, they are side street addresses,” Iafrate added.

“This is high density development infiltration of the worst kind into a stable older, established residential neighbourhood -- a community which has existed for over half a century.”

On May 2, the City of Vaughan’s website said the “owner” in reference to the developer hosted a community meeting “to inform area residents of the proposal and to discuss any issues and concerns they may have regarding the proposed development.”

In an email to York Region Media, Coun. Sandra Yeung Racco is “surprised as to why this application was in front of us as the application is so out of place.”

“I questioned the applicant in why he had made no changes, considering the fact that he had held a community meeting previously and had heard the same comments from the public at the community meeting, which he heard again last evening,” she said.

While councillors have “no ability to reject the proposal at a public hearing, we did suggest strongly that the applicant should go back to the drawing board and come back with something that is more appropriate and complimentary to the surrounding area.”

Developer: Councillor got 'wrong' info

However, Morelli said the councillors got their information “wrong” and that the proposal is in line with the provincial mandate.

“A lot of the rhetoric is politically motivated,” he said, adding that he is only building a four-storey building at Hawman Avenue while the proposed 16-storey building is at Hwy. 7, making his proposal safe and sound.

While Morelli says residents are “concerned,” he will continue meeting with them as well as having the Vaughan planning department part of the process to inform both sides of “what we can and can’t do.”

“We are currently refining our application, we want to hear from the residents,” he reiterated.

The head expressed his wishes to conclude the proposal amicably. “We don’t want to go to (The Local Planning Appeal Tribunal) LPAT.”

LPAT was formerly known as the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB), which was highly criticized and seen as a bedfellow to the developers. But in 2017, the OMB was abolished and the scaled-down LPAT was in its place.

On June 4, the City of Vaughan rejected the proposed Bill 108, which will bring LPAT back.

At Hawman Avenue, a signed was installed on April 18, saying that “Applications have been submitted to the City of Vaughan to develop this site for a 16 storey residential apartment building.” (Photo by Dina Al-Shibeeb/Torstar)

Resident speaks out

Sylwia Sajdyk has lived with her mother and father at Hawman Avenue since 2001. She dubs her already established neighbourhood “wonderful.”

“So this new 16 storey development that is being proposed for Hawman Avenue and downstream Hwy. 7 is just pretty tall for our neighbourhood,” Sajdyk said. “It is probably the tallest structure anywhere within kilometres.”

In a nutshell, Sajdyk summarizes the neighbourhood’s sentiment when she said, “I think that the entire neighborhood agrees that introducing such density is really inappropriate.”

Sajdyk says it is in accordance with the Official Plan, which dictates “low rise residential” dwellings. But for Morelli the Vaughan Official Plan is rather outdated, explaining why the city receives so many applications to amend zones, which are "common" especially since Ontario wants urban areas far more developed than before as opposed to grabbing farmland areas.

Before the public hearing, Sajdyk told York Region Media, “In the end, we are getting our entire community together. We are canvassing the neighbourhood. And we are using the West Woodbridge Housing Association to help us get into this good fight and preserve the atmosphere in our community.”