Richmond Hill flip-flops on disputed development plan at closed meeting

There is no maximum height limit in the new plan

Yorkregion.com
May 20, 2020
Sheila Wang

Richmond Hill’s decision-makers have changed their minds, again, about the controversial development plan for the Yonge Street and Bernard Avenue community.

Council met virtually in a closed session on the night of Thursday, May 14 to rescind a previous decision on the secondary plan for the Yonge and Bernard key development area (KDA) and adopt the original staff report.

It happened only a day after councillors rejected the report first and then approved an amended version put forward by Coun. Tom Muench, which intended to remove planned local streets and further increase density.

The Liberal learned on May 15 that Mayor Dave Barrow called the special meeting a few hours in advance, which proceeded electronically and was closed to the public.

During the session, council discussed two motions -- both proposed by Regional Coun. Carmine Perrelli and seconded by Coun. Greg Beros, according to documents obtained by the Yonge Bernard Residents Association, which was formed to fight overdevelopment in the community last year.

A meeting extract shows that eight council members voted for reconsidering Muench’s motion, which was adopted at the May 13 meeting, thwarting the lone "nay" vote cast by Muench.

Council then adopted the original staff report that proposed to increase density, reduce parkland and lower parking standards, as well as removing the cap on building heights in the development area.

The representatives initially turned it down at the May 13 meeting in open session, after a number of residents joined them on Zoom to speak strongly against the report.

At the May 14 meeting, the mayor, along with Perrelli, Beros and Regional Coun. Joe DiPaola, voted for the motion as they did last time -- only this time, they had enough votes to adopt it.

Coun. Castro Liu, who voted against it a day earlier, gave it a thumbs up, the voting records show.

However, the city filed a correction the next day, stating there were no recorded votes and that the extract provided the night before was "neither accurate nor official."

"I have been consistent in every vote regarding the Yonge and Bernard KDA issue, and I have never wavered from my goal to attain the very best outcome for the residents of Richmond Hill," Liu wrote to the Liberal in an email on May 15.

John Li, the organizer of the Yonge Bernard Residents Association, who has called out the planning staff for “planning mistakes” numerous times, said he would rather council move forward with Muench’s amendment.

“It’d have been easier to fight it at the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal (LPAT) because it is worse than the staff plan and doesn’t make any sense,” Li said.

The secondary plan for the Yonge and Bernard KDA is scheduled for a hearing at the LPAT on July 2, when the city is expected to defend against appeals made by several developers who sought to exceed the 15-storey height limit set by the 2017 version of the plan.

There is no maximum height limit in the new plan.