‘Heartbreaking’: Resident says Oak Ridges infill development threatens large green space

'Increased density makes sense, but not at the expense of demolishing homes that are perfectly suitable for long-term use'

Yorkregion.com
Dec. 18

What saddens Popi Bowman more than having to move out of her home in Oak Ridges is the fact that the building alongside swaths of green space will soon be replaced by more houses.

Richmond Hill council approved an infill development proposal at the Dec. 9 meeting with “zero discussion” of the concerns resident Bowman has raised repeatedly over the last two years, she said.

The application would see existing houses on 23 lots on the north side of King Road, east of Toscanini Road and south of Puccini Drive demolished to make way for a total of 183 new houses.

“It’s heartbreaking,” said Bowman, who rents one of the properties slated for demolition.

She said these lots contain the last mature forest in the immediate area, which the current development proposal had no plan to preserve.

Located within the Puccini Drive Neighbourhood Infill Study area, the lands are expected to be developed with higher density housing, according to the city’s study, which was first endorsed in 1988 and updated three years ago.

The development -- proposed by landowner King East Developments Inc., (or Compten Management Inc.) -- consists of 44 townhomes, 24 semi-detached houses and 115 single-detached units on the 8.73-hectare lot.

Bowman, who has lived in the neighbourhood for two years, said she’s witnessed townhouse developments devastate green spaces in adjacent communities, and suspected the natural area surrounding her house would suffer the same fate.

It's unknown how many trees would be chopped down for the developments, as the city advised The Liberal to file a Freedom of Information request for the tree inventory in the area.

A city planner estimated there were more than 700 trees in the area in an email to Bowman two years ago, she said.

Bowman said she has fallen into the habit of listening to birds sing while walking through the trees that can be seen from blocks away.

The forest attracts a wide array of species, including Monarch butterflies and owls, and would be an ideal location to become a community garden, she suggested.

“It’s feeling like you’ve checked off the boxes and say, ‘OK we have our green spaces (in the Oak Ridge Conservation Plan area) and let’s ruin everything else’,” she said.

In her latest letter to council, Bowman also raised concerns about tearing down houses that are only 10 to 15 years old to facilitate the intensification.

“Increased density makes sense, but not at the expense of demolishing homes that are perfectly suitable for long-term use,” she wrote.

Despite her multiple letters to council and long conversations with staff on the phone, council went ahead with the proposal without touching on any of Bowman’s concerns, she said.

“There has been a lot of work on the application. The area is coming along quite nicely. I think those that were investing in the Oak Ridges area were coming into a nice spot now,” Oak Ridges Coun. Greg Beros said while introducing the motion to his council colleagues at the meeting.

The woodlot in back of Bowman’s home is part of a large patch of green space on the lands to be developed, one of the maps presented to council shows.

Bowman said neither the staff report nor the councillors touched upon the plans for the natural area.

“I think the fact they didn’t want to talk about it means they’ve been under pressure from this company,” she said.

Council did have a round of discussion achieving net-zero emission target on these developments.

Bowman pointed out that the best possible economical and environmentally-friendly building option is to restore and renovate.

The resident has started a petition on change.org to call on the city to rethink the plan.