MAP: Track Richmond Hill condo, townhome, warehouse and other development applications

Interactive tool helps you keep tabs on developments in your community

Yorkregion.com
Sept. 23, 2020

Amid an urban transformation in Richmond Hill that seems to have not been thwarted by a global pandemic, it can be a daunting task for residents to keep track of the development projects poised to happen around them during these unprecedented times.

The city currently has more than 600 development applications in progress, according to the development planning page of richmondhill.ca, last updated in August.

Development has been a recurring theme in Richmond Hill over the past few years as the city expects to go higher and denser, which is often blamed on the population targets mandated by Ontario.

Richmond Hill, like other municipalities in the Greater Golden Horseshoe, is required to comply with a provincial-level growth plan, which directs each municipality to grow by a certain number of people by 2041.

The city's population is expected to reach 277,900 by 2041, more than doubling what it was in 2001, according to the city’s economic development strategy, which was updated January 2017.

The prospect of greater density and height are met with pushback from residents who have flagged a series of issues: lack of communication, undesirable planning, disrespect for the environment, inadequate infrastructure, and existing traffic woes.

Numerous development proposals have been appealed to the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal (LPAT), such as the controversial plan at Yonge and Bernard key development area, and even more have received strong backlash from the public, like the 28-storey building proposed at Yonge and Elgin Mills.

The Liberal has published a number of stories involving disputes between the residents and the city over development plans over the past two years, and has reported the newly completed applications as part of its "What's Going On Here" series.

However, the projects that have surfaced were merely a small part of what have been going on across the city.

Along the Yonge Street corridor, in the village core, and even around Lake Wilcox, it seems that a multitude of properties could see shovels in the ground soon for a variety of developments, from condo towers, subdivisions to warehouse buildings.

In the interactive map below, you can see where more than 600 development applications with details are being planned in Richmond Hill and track the current status of each application.

Click on any icon on the map to find out details on an application. Click on the slider icon in the upper left corner to pull up all applications of different types. The purple icons represent the official plan and zoning bylaw applications. The yellow icons represent site plan applications. The blue icons represent subdivision and condominium applications.

It's important to note the sheer number of the proposals in one area doesn't always translate to higher density since not all development applications are created equal.

Some applications can be as small as an in-ground swimming pool, while some can be as massive as a highrise condo.

As Richmond Hill’s settlement area is nearly built out, most of the future development is expected to occur through intensification, which means development of a property, site or area at a higher density than currently exists, according to the official plan -- which is currently undergoing a review.

As the map indicates, there are generally three different types of development applications -- site plan applications, subdivision and condominium applications, and official plan and zoning bylaw applications -- in Richmond Hill.

A data analysis shows that Oak Ridges currently has the most development plans in progress among all six wards -- 99 site plan applications, 44 official plan and zoning bylaw applications and 44 subdivision and condominium applications -- but a bulk of the proposals are for low-density buildings such as single dwelling units and townhouses.

There are a total of 28 planning districts in Richmond Hill and the district between Bathurst and Yonge Street, south of Bloomington West and north of King Road -- in Ward 1 -- has received the most subdivision and condominium applications (24) and official plan and zoning bylaw applications (21).

The planning district between Elgin Mills Road West and Major MacKenzie Drive West, west of Yonge Street -- largely in Ward 4 -- sees the most site plan applications (42). A large majority of the proposals in the area are low-density development.

Higher and denser developments tend to be concentrated along Yonge Street within the Richmond Hill Centre (RHC), a designated intensification area located around the intersection of Yonge Street and Highway 7, which was also identified as an Urban Growth Centre by the province in the Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe, 2017.

The centre is expected to accommodate a large portion of the new residents expected to move to the city over the next 10 to 20 years, according to Richmond Hill.

It is also where the city's tallest skyscraper, a 54-storey residential tower, has been proposed.

While RHC is the city's "primary" intensification area, as the official plan states, there are two key development areas -- Yonge and Carrville/16th and Yonge and Bernard -- are envisioned as mixed-use centres along a regional corridor with less intensification than Richmond Hill Centre.

TYPES OF DEVELOPMENT APPLICATIONS

The same property proposed for development may require the submission of more than one type of application.

"There is no specific order for filling applications. Application requirements are outlined in the presubmission letter issued to the applicant and it is up to the applicant as to whether they file all of them at the same time or in stages," said city spokesperson Libbi Hood.

If a person wants to develop a property differently than Richmond Hill's official plan or a related secondary plan, an official plan amendment application must be submitted, according to the city.

A draft plan of subdivision is used to divide property into two or more parcels.

A draft plan of condominium is used to divide property to allow an individual to own part of a building (or unit) and a share of the property's common areas. This plan can apply to new and existing residential, commercial and industrial buildings.

Richmond Hill must approve any proposed development on lands subject to site plan control, which requires certain development proposals to be approved through the city's site plan or site plan amendment application process.

Site plan control protects property rights and values. It also protects environmental and heritage features of a site and its surrounding areas.

DATA COLLECTION

The data used in the map was collected from the documents posted by the city on the development planning page under "current development applications," updated on Aug. 11, 2020.

For updated status and other information, planning and regulatory services department can be reached at 905-771-8910.