'Fully unacceptable': Aurora Mayor at odds with Ford over MZO paving way for development

Yorkregion.com
Feb. 10, 2021

Premier Doug Ford says orders only issued with local approval; Mayor Tom Mrakas says that's not the case in Aurora

The provincial government would not have issued a ministerial zoning order (MZO) paving the way for development on land in Aurora’s south end if the town was opposed, Premier Doug Ford said.

Not true, Mayor Tom Mrakas said.

The premier and the mayor are at odds over an MZO issued by Municipal Affairs Minister Steve Clark last fall, which will allow a developer to build a long-term care home and about 75 homes on 30-foot lots on provincial land at the end of Academy Drive, northwest of Yonge Street and Bloomington Sideroad.

MZOs give Clark far-reaching powers to override local planning processes, eliminate public consultation and environmental assessments in order to fast-track development.

While other governments used them sparingly, the Conservatives have issued more than 30 MZOs.

The Aurora MZO set off a social media spat between Mrakas and Clark’s acting director of communications, Adam Wilson.

Wilson said Mrakas knows the town had been engaged in the process for a long time.

Mrakas called the claim “false.”

Coun. Wendy Gaertner called the MZO “a slap in the face” overriding the town’s official plan. And the town’s planning director, David Waters, said “it seemed like the province just kind of rammed it through.”

During an exclusive interview with The Aurora Banner and York Region Media Group during a Jan. 27 visit to Newmarket, Ford said the province never issues an MZO without municipal approval.

When Aurora’s concerns were raised, he said the MZO would only have been issued if the town approved it and promised to discuss the issue with Mrakas.

At a council committee meeting the night of Feb. 2, Mrakas told councillors he talked with Ford the night before.

The province is “fully aware that we find it fully unacceptable” for Queen’s Park to issue an MZO overriding the town’s official plan and imposing its wishes on the community, Mrakas said.

“So, they’re fully aware of that. I’ve talked to the premier many times about it,” he said.

“They strongly know that we disagree with this.”

Ford said he will talk to Clark about the issue and arrange a meeting with himself, Clark and Mrakas.