Ratepayer group chair not against growth, but criticizes ‘no master design’ for Vaughan

City suffering from 'piecemeal' development, Elvira Caria says

Yorkregion.com
Sept. 14, 2020
Dina Al-Shibeeb

Backed by having the first subway stations outside of Toronto, the area known as Vaughan Metropolitan Centre has long been touted as a much-coveted downtown area ready to be transformed into a full-fledged city.

However, Elvira Caria, chair of the Vellore Woods Ratepayers Association, says the latest bid to transform land designated as commercial into “high-density” outside VMC -- in an area already congested with traffic gridlock -- is one of the latest signs that Vaughan suffers from “piecemeal” development.

“I have a problem with the City of Vaughan dealing with applications as they come in, meaning piecemeal,” Caria said. “They need to look at the bigger picture, and say, ‘if we build here, how is it going to impact here?’”

Caria explained that she isn’t against growth at all.

“We're always treating applications as though they're all infill applications. There's no master design,” she said. “That’s when it becomes problematic.”

Caria represents some 3,000 to 5,000 Vaughan residents. On Oct. 6, she is going to make a deputation projecting her dissatisfaction over SmartCentres’s proposed multi-tower community at a 6.3-acre development site, on the northeast corner of Weston Road and Major Mackenzie Drive West.

The site also encompasses a vacant area within a larger 45-acre property currently featuring a Walmart-anchored shopping centre and a SmartStop Self Storage facility now under construction.

Caria’s objection intensified when she read a story published by Urban Toronto on July 6, detailing how Vaughan’s skyline is set to “receive another major boost” following this proposal.

Caria looped in the Vaughan Citizen about the published story and criticized how it deals with the proposal “as if it’s an already-done deal.”

“This application has not even gone through public hearing yet,” said Caria, who reiterated that she isn’t against growth and new developments.

The Urban Toronto story explained that a site plan application has been submitted for Phase 1 of the proposal. It is situated on the north portion of the property, where the proposed 10- and 12-storey seniors' buildings will rise.

When speaking to SmartCentres’s executive vice-president of development, Paula Bustard, she said, “The public hearing for this site is in the process of being scheduled. It is our understanding it will be held in October, but that is to be confirmed.”

Bustard added, “The information in the UrbanToronto article is 100 per cent accurate. It clearly states we have made an application which is under review by the city.”

In response to Caria wanting a retraction, Bustard said, “I am not sure what would warrant a retraction. I may be confused, but it was an article simply stating what the proposal is.

“In no way does it state the application has been approved.”

From its side, Urban Toronto said, “We wrote what we know right now, which is that it is proposed.”

But for Caria, she expressed her fear that marketing this new vision prior to a public hearing shows the usurping of people’s democratic right to speak about it, especially while people aren’t “able to get together as a community” due to COVID-19.

“The reality is this application has not been approved yet. So, it may not look anything like what they are proposing and what all this marketing, propaganda is right now,” Caria said.

With the City of Vaughan announcing on Sept. 9 that virtual public meetings will resume, starting Sept. 15, Caria reiterated her concern that this could “negate us from being able to come to the table on the same playing field.”

Having similar powers as that of developers isn’t a new concern. In July, some Vaughan citizens protested against another bid to transform a golf course into a high-density residential area, complaining that their voice isn’t heard and doesn't carries the same weight as that of developers.

“All you're doing is adding to the problem,” said Caria, who has “a very big issue” with applications already approved at VMC, the downtown core, “where density belongs.”

Caria said other VMC’s applications are “actually less intense than this particular application,” which is proposed for an intersection that’s already marred with traffic.

“Well that's the million dollar, that's the zillion dollar, question,” she aid, wondering why the proposal has been brought forward. “My entire deputation on Oct. 6 is going to be comparing VMC’s highrises and developments compared to this one.”
“You will be shocked,” she exclaimed. “You will be shocked that there is less density at the VMC than this application is requesting. That’s unacceptable. It's preposterous.

“We’re not opposed to development, we're not even necessarily opposed to it being residential,” she continued. “What we are opposed to is the intensity of it from height to unit count.

“This is an entire community in a little two-hectare square.”

Traffic gridlock is one of the main priorities Vaughan's councillors promised to address when elected.