Glenway developer proposes 202 homes on police union lands in Newmarket

Traffic in neighbourhood already 'intolerable,' resident complains

Yorkregion.com
March 17, 2020
Lisa Queen

The developer who built hundreds of houses on the former Glenway Golf Course lands is now hoping to construct just over 200 homes on the York Regional Police Association property.

Marianneville Developments Limited wants to build 60 detached homes, 16 freehold townhouses and 126 condo townhouses, for a total of 202 homes, on 17.5 acres of the 34-acre lands at 600 Stonehaven Ave. east of Bayview Avenue, with an expected completion date of 2022.

The rest of the lands cannot be built on because they are subject to flooding and instead will remain green space, either privately owned and maintained by a condo corporation or donated to the town.

The proposed development marks the end of the police union’s long-standing presence in Newmarket.

The existing club house and sports fields, which would be torn down, were built in 2000 and replaced the association’s former “shed,” which sat closer to Bayview Avenue.

The loss of the soccer pitch comes as a blow to the Newmarket Soccer Club, general manager, Matthew Kassabian, said.

“Field time is always at a premium, especially when we’re looking to grow the membership,” he said, adding the field is primarily used for adult recreational games, but also serves for rescheduled youth games.

“Losing it is not ideal and in this circumstance, we have to roll with the punches. It’s out of our hands. It’s unfortunate, that’s for sure.”

The police union is building a new headquarters, expected to open next year, on Eric T. Smith Way close to the York Regional Police headquarters on Don Hillock Drive near Bayview Avenue and Wellington Street in Aurora.

Marianneville has submitted a proposal to develop the property to the town, which has not yet gone to council for approval, but saw the plans unveiled before a packed community meeting hosted by Coun. Grace Simon at the Magna Centre March 4.

Dave Elms, a resident for the last 16 years on Kingsmere Avenue in the Stonehaven subdivision, opposes the proposed homes.

While he acknowledges provincial policy dictates growth is coming to Newmarket and agrees infill development is needed to curb urban sprawl, Elms said the neighbourhood is already dealing with enough traffic concerns without adding another 200-plus homes.

Kingsmere and Stonehaven Avenue have both become major bypasses, including for drivers trying to avoid the intersection of Bayview and Mulock Drive to the north as they make their way to and from Highway 404, he said.

Cars speed along Stonehaven, where Stonehaven Public School is located, and Kingsmere, home to Notre Dame Catholic Elementary School, with no regard to children or other residents, Elms said.

He called the situation “intolerable.”

The developer’s traffic consultant said Stonehaven Avenue can handle the additional traffic, Marianneville’s vice-president of planning and development, Joanne Barnett, said.

“Remember, this is a collector road. It is intended to carry a lot of cars,” she told The Era.

Meanwhile, as residents are concerned the development won’t have enough parking, Barnett said the number of spaces meets or exceeds town requirements.

The property’s green space has been prone to “unnaturally high” flooding during storms because the creek system gets backed up due to an undersized culvert under Bayview, the developer’s planner, Richard Zelinka, said.

He said Marianneville will reconstruct the culvert system to allow water to flow at its natural rate, although one woman at the meeting questioned whether that could cause flooding problems for residents on the west side of Bayview.

When a resident suggested construction of the development would cause headaches for existing residents, Barnett promised to work with them to address their concerns.

“We deal with every complaint -- vibration, noise, I don’t care how trivial it is. We deal with it and we deal with it till you’re satisfied,” the Newmarket resident said.

“We want to be part of your community and we don’t want you to hate us. We make sure we do everything to make sure you’re not upset we’re here.”

Barnett promised the route construction vehicles take to and from the development will be the least intrusive possible to the community.

“Everyone will abide by it because otherwise, I stand there with a shotgun and shoot them. I’m absolutely rabid about this,” she said, adding construction won’t take place in the evenings, on holidays or on Sundays.