Richmond Hill considers intensification at Newkirk Business Park, GO Station

'If we don’t examine those areas, we have to wait 10 years'

Yoprkregion.com
December 5, 2019
Sheila Wang

Some of Richmond Hill’s employment areas may open up for residential development in the future.

City staff are expected to investigate and report on the possibility of converting three employment lands into mixed-used areas by the end of next January.

The areas under consideration are lands in Newkirk Business Park south of Elgin Mills Road, the Newkirk GO Station lands from Major Mackenzie Drive northward to Centre Street East, and Yonge Street north from the former Quebecor site at 10481 Yonge St. N. to 10537 Yonge.

Council unanimously approved the motion on Nov. 20 introduced by Coun. Tom Muench as a time-sensitive matter.

“These three make sense,” Muench told the Liberal in an interview on Nov. 27. “They are on transit corridors and urban centres.”

The councillor emphasized the urgency of increasing housing affordability and intensification along major transit routes in Richmond Hill.

Regional Coun. Joe DiPaola, who seconded the motion, noted that nothing was “set in stone” in terms of employment land conversions and it would give council an opportunity to take a closer look at the employment lands.

“If we don’t examine those areas, we have to wait 10 years,” he said.

York Region is undertaking the municipal comprehensive review process. Once it is done, member municipalities will not be able to convert employment lands to mixed use for 10 years. They need to notify the region of plans to convert lands before the review is complete.

Meanwhile, private property owners were required to submit their conversion letters to the region by Nov. 29.

In support of the motion after it was fine-tuned by staff at the council meeting, Coun. David West said while he had an alternative vision for the Newkirk Business Park, he would appreciate a thorough report from staff to explore more opportunities for the future.

The Newkirk park is one of the four current business parks in Richmond Hill which housed a total of 366 businesses, according to the city’s business park profiles in 2018.

The 127-hectare (313-acre) business park provided 4,723 full-time jobs, 663 seasonal jobs, and 865 part-time jobs.

Staff are examining opportunities to turn more than two thirds of the park--located south of Elgin Mills Road--from commercial use only to mixed-use.

West also raised his concerns to staff over potential intensification at Newkirk GO Station which is situated on the Oak Ridges Moraine.

At the meeting, Muench revised his motion to also ask staff to investigate lands near the Gormley GO Station as an “expansion” to the settlement area.

“Having housing situated at the two GO stations will only perpetuate a suburban, bedroom community model instead of a place in which to work, live and recreate,” wrote Gloria Marsh, executive director of York Region Environmental Alliance.

She pointed out in the letter to council against the motion that Richmond Hill had less vacant employment land than smaller municipalities such as Aurora and East Gwillimbury.

In 2017, Richmond Hill had 130 hectare (321 acres) of vacant employment lands while Markham had 506 hectares (1.256 acres) and Vaughan had more than 1,000 hectares (2,471 acres), according to York Region’s inventory data.

“We haven’t approved one highrise in 2019. Not one,” Muench said in the interview. “I’m told we’re going to get 70,000 more people in Richmond Hill in the next 20 year. So you’d better accommodate 70,000 people, new people. Where are they going to live?”