Richmond Hill approves 32-storey apartment buildings at Yonge and Carrville

The decision came after Goldenville Development revised its original application

Yorkregion.com
October 9, 2020
Sheila Wang

The tall-building boom in Richmond Hill continues.

City council gave the nod to a highrise development that would see lands southwest of the intersection of Carrville Road and Yonge Street turned into two 32-storey and one 16-storey apartment buildings.

The decision came at the Sept. 23 electronic council meeting after the landowner, Goldenville Development Inc., revised its original application, which was lower in density and height in 2017.

The new proposal for the mixed-use residential/commercial development is expected to provide 827 residential units and 961 parking spaces, with a density of 5.66 FSI.

Council OKed “in principle” Goldenville’s application to amend the official plan and zoning bylaw to allow the construction of the development, hinging on the approval of an eight-metre-wide east/west easement and several other technical requirements.

Covering a total lot area of about 1.2 hectares (2.93 acres), the lands are located in the vicinity of Hillcrest Mall and skirting low-density residential neighbourhoods to the south and west, according to a staff report.

The Local Planning Appeal Tribunal (LPAT) issued an interim order in favour of Goldenville in April 2019 after the landowner appealed the original application -- two 24-storey and one 15-storey apartment buildings -- to the tribunal following Richmond Hill's "neglect" to make a decision.

The landowner revised the application twice afterward.

Staff deemed the new proposal “appropriate” despite the fact that it would far exceed the density and height limit set in the area and was met with opposition from the community.

Resident Anthony Cremonese wrote in an email to council that the current road structure could not handle the additional volume that would be brought in with the high-density development.

The proposal was considered in line with the intent of the city’s urban structure and intensification policies, the staff report says.

The proposed towers are located within the city’s Yonge Street and Carrville Key Development Area (KDA), which has a maximum density of 3.0 FSI and a maximum height of 20 storeys, according to a 2017 report.

The same report noted that the existing KDA directions “conform to and exceed” the proposed 2016 Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe target of 160 residents and jobs combined per hectare for major transit station areas.

The development is one of several highrise buildings being planned in the same key development area.

A mixed-use development of 38- and 43-storey towers, as well as four condominium buildings of up to 24 storeys, have been proposed just across Yonge Street.