COVID-19 has not slowed city-building in Vaughan

Municipalinfonet.com
Sept. 24, 2020

The City of Vaughan recognizes the importance of protecting the health and safety of all residents, while ensuring the city continues to move forward. City-building throughout the global pandemic has not slowed down --in fact, the continuation of key infrastructure development projects is a vital part of Vaughan’s COVID-19 reality. These developments will one day be the spaces where the community will gather, live, work and play long after the virus has passed.

PLANNING, BUILDING AND GROWTH
The City’s Building Standards department continues to provide essential city-building services such as building code enforcement, processing of building permits, conducting inspections and issuing occupancy permits. In total, 1,835 permits valued at more than $591 million were issued from Jan. 1 to Aug. 31, 2020. Inspections have also not been interrupted by COVID-19. Since the state of emergency was declared on March 17, the team has performed 22,452 inspections, which well exceeds the number of inspections for 2019, 2018 and 2017 during that same period of time.

The City’s Development Planning team has innovated its processes to ensure planning approvals and shovel-ready projects can move forward throughout the pandemic, including new digital development applications, electronic-participation Pre-Application Consultation and virtual Heritage Vaughan and Design Review Panel meetings. From January to July 2020, a total of 27,227 application units were submitted. Of that number, 6,522 account for units applied for in the Vaughan Metropolitan Centre (VMC). As of August 2020, 139 new development applications were submitted for locations across the city. Several projects are currently underway that will guide development for intensification areas, such as the Vaughan Mills Centre and the Yonge-Steeles Corridor, with a focus on safety, active transportation and sustainability. Work also continues on the Maple and Kleinburg Nashville Heritage Conservation District Plan reviews, as well as a heritage inventory update.

To help maintain Vaughan’s resilient economy and streamline city-building processes, the City’s Development Engineering department implemented a new online portal tool that accepts, reviews and approves development applications electronically. The portal allows users to apply and pay for grading and pool permits, including posting securities online. This is a further enhancement to the Building Standards department’s initial launch of the online permit portal for both building industry professionals and citizens in which permits can be applied and paid for virtually, all in one place.

PARKS AND OPEN SPACES
Since the City declared a state of emergency on March 17, the Parks Planning and Parks Delivery departments have continued to advance, expand and improve local parks and open-space trail planning, design and construction initiatives throughout the community. These projects reflect Vaughan’s tradition of creating welcoming outdoor areas that safely bring the community together, are inclusive, encourage recreational activity and provide greenspace for generations to come. They also further align with Vaughan’s commitment to fostering active, safe and diverse communities that are environmentally sustainable and inclusive, as outlined in the 2018-2022 Term of Council Service Excellence Strategic Plan.

VAUGHAN METROPOLITAN CENTRE
Vaughan’s emerging downtown core continues to attract significant investment opportunities --in fact, a recent submission was received for development of two additional residential towers in the VMC. To date, close to 36,400 residents in almost 18,384 residential units are moving into the VMC. In total, staff are working on 38 development files --including six that are in the pre-application consultation phase and represent an additional 13,524 units -- achieving 266 per cent of the residential units and 253 per cent of the population targets identified for the 2031 planning horizon.

Work is also being completed to advance engineering projects in the area, including the construction of a new trunk sanitary sewer along Interchange Way and Exchange Avenue corridors. The upgrades are required to address wastewater capacity constraints in order to continue to support development and growth in the VMC. Construction is anticipated to take place until the end of October 2020. In addition to an update to the VMC Secondary Plan Review, the City has initiated a Transportation Master Plan, a Parks and Wayfinding Master Plan and completed two road environmental assessment studies to build on and advance existing VMC cycling and pedestrian plans and policies. The studies will help improve connectivity between major areas, including transit stations, schools, commercial areas and residential areas, in addition to other community features such as connections to pathways and open spaces.