Plans for walking path altered due to Newmarket residents' opposition

Residents near Rita's Avenue didn't want the path going in behind their backyards

Newmarkettooday.ca
November 18, 2020

Newmarket council decided to scrap plans for a walking path that would have given pedestrians easy access to Yonge Street from Rita's Avenue after the safety and privacy concerns were raised by property owners who didn't want the path near their backyards.

Instead, at a committe of the whole meeting Nov. 16, council approved an alternate route that will give pedestrians access from the residential neighbourhood to Yonge Street. The new route will be a bit longer but will cost less to construct than previous proposals.

Neighbouring homeowners were pleased with the decision, but Councillor Victor Woodhouse voiced concerns that council was setting a bad precedent that oculd hamstring efforts to create more walkable neighbourhoods in the future.

"My huge concern here is that we don't cut off our ability to make further connections (between neighbourhoods) in the future. We valuable these connections and they become such an important feature of our town," said Woodhouse.

"If we don't have that option, it becomes very difficult to continue connecting communities ... We won't get that ability back. It's like a piece of greenspace; once it's gone, it's gone."

The path's initial route would have branched from the sidewalk on Rita's Avenue and run along a strip of property between some townhouses and the Superior Court of Justice parking lot, emerging on nearby Yonge.

This route was originally proposed a few years ago as part of an initiative to create a network of connected sidewalks and paths to make it much easier to walk on foot from Bathurst Street, through the residential neighbourhood behind St. Nicholas Catholic Elementary School, all the way to Yonge.

The proposed path from Rita's Avenue would have been the last leg of that network, but the homeowners have been pushing for years for the town to come up with an alternative.

"As residents, we believe every individual is deserving of safe, walkable routes, but we need to stress (the original route) is not about safe access, it's about easy access," said Melanie Bell, who gave a virtual deposition on behalf of the affected homeowners.

"We genuinely believe that our safety and privacy will be in jeopardy if a new walkway is constructed behind our property lines, as it would be just metres away from our glass doors. The construction will also impact the existing shrubbery that provides a buffer for privacy."

"Needless to say, view of strangers walking within steps of our living rooms or as we enjoy serenity in our backyards is discomforting."

In response to these concerns, town staff came up with an alternative, which was presented at the committee meeting Monday.

Instead of going north behind the townhouses, the new path will head south, cutting across George Luesby Park, down to Clearmeadow Boulevard and out to Yonge.

The new route has the benefit of being significantly cheaper, with the initial route being estimated to cost  $445,000 to $787,000 (depending on the design features) and the new route at $224,000.

It also meets with the approval of the affected homeowners.

"We are grateful to the town staff for recommending (this new option)," said Bell.

Most of the councillors felt it was a good compromise, including Woodhouse, who agreed, as long as staff support it, and it would not hamper future efforts to make neighbourhoods more walkable.

The new path is not set to be constructed anytime soon. It will appear as a capital project in a municipal budget sometime in the next few years.

The decision will receive final approval at a future council meeting.