Proposal for 14-storey towers near Richmond Hill's Ganesha Hindu Temple still on table despite pushback

'I’m not against development. But it has to make sense'

Yorkregion.com
June 29, 2020
Sheila Wang

A year after the Hindu community came out against a highrise development proposal near the Ganesha HIndu Temple in Richmond Hill, they were hit with an equivocal new plan --in which two 14-storey towers stayed.

A number of concerned residents were left somewhat puzzled after tuning into a public meeting that was intended to update participants on the proposed development at Bayview Avenue and Elgin Mills.

“We really don’t know what’s going to happen here,” said Arul Mylvaganam, a member of the trustee board of the Hindu Temple Society of Canada, after watching the electronic meeting on June 17.

Mansouri Living, a Richmond Hill real estate company, aspired to modify its plan for the vacant 4.12-hectare land --but not exactly in the direction that the Hindu community would like to see it go in.

“We’re not happy with it. The 14-storey towers are still coming,” Mylvaganam said.

He was among many Hindu people who were against the two 14-storey mixed-use apartment buildings proposed for the northeast corner of the busy intersection, along with 97 townhouses, last year.

It is very important for Hindu devotees to able to see the top of the temple from a distance so that they can pray, Mylvaganam said.

Last summer, Mansouri Living requested an increase in the allowed maximum building height, from 10 storeys to 14 storeys, to facilitate the two towers.

The apartment buildings are expected to be as tall as 153 feet --far exceeding the Ganesha Hindu Temple, which is about 72 feet tall at its highest point.

Council agreed to take the Hindu community’s concerns into account in the reviewing process of the application last year.

“Nothing! Nothing! Nothing!” said Kidambi Raj, a past member of the board, who hasn’t heard from the city about the development since then.

It was at the June 27 meeting that Raj learned that the development plan for the lands has changed twice over the past year.

The developer previously expressed its intention to add a 9-storey building to the mix, which would bring the total number of dwelling units from 473 to 520.

At the public meeting, Maryam Mansouri Hurst, representing Mansouri Living, said the 9-storey building will be replaced with townhouses and a park in order to create “a better site plan” and “simplifying our construction process.”

The new plan is expected to reduce the number of dwelling units from the 2019 proposal by 23, according to a staff report.

However, the city has yet to receive the revised application.

“This is no joking matter,” Mylvaganam said, adding that the highrise development would have a profound impact on the Hindu community across the GTA, who regard the temple as a sacred monument.

With the construction process spanning over one and a half decades, the Ganesha Hindu Temple was fully completed in the summer of 2001.

Every year, the temple attracts thousands of Hindu devotees from near and far to celebrate the annual Three Chariot Festival.

In addition to the height, Mylvaganam said, he was also concerned about safety, traffic congestion and parking issues that may arise along with the increase of density.

In a letter to council, he wrote that the highrise development would disturb the peace maintained around the temple, and that future generations may not be able to practice their religion in the same manner as current worshippers do.

“I’m not against development. But it has to make sense,” Mylvaganam said.

Raj said the silver lining was that a traffic light may finally become a reality, as council members reiterated their commitment to installing one at the meeting.

The Hindu community has been calling on the city to install a traffic light in front of the temple on Bayview for years, due to concerns about making sudden right turns in the middle of the busy street into the temple’s parking lot.

While the public session was for receiving comments only, several councillors voiced their support for the coming application at the meeting.

“I think everything is good except for the height,” Coun. Castro Liu said at the meeting. “Over the years I’ve been trying to negotiate. Hopefully we can get them all in townhouses, but it’s not gonna happen.”