'There will be some red faces on council': Newmarket neighbours plan to fight proposed townhouses

'Managing growth and its impact on residents is as old as the history of Newmarket'

Yorkregion.com
April 22, 2021

A longtime resident says he and his neighbours will be fighting a proposed development in their neighbourhood at a virtual public meeting on May 10.

The residents are “going to be very, very vocal and there will be some red faces on council when they get finished with them,” Glen Langford said.

The neighbours are opposed to a bid by developer Lulu Holdings Inc. to tear down four “custom-built” homes valued at close to $2 million and 37 mature trees and replace them with 24 townhouses and four semi-detached houses.

The development would be located at 1015, 1025 and 1029 Davis Dr. and 22 Hamilton Dr. close to the major intersection of Davis and Leslie St.

“They look like shipping containers stacked on top of the other … They’re ugly-looking things. They cram all those people in there with two cars per unit so there’s going to be a ton of cars,” said Langford, who plans to ask councillors if they would want to live next door to the development.

“The town has no right to take away our quality of life. That’s what it is, a quality-of-life issue … We bought out here 63 years ago, it was a 100-acre farmer’s field, and we built (what is now) a $2-million home. They want to tear down the home right next door to us.”

While Mayor John Taylor said no decision has been made and councillors look forward to hearing from residents, he said managing growth is an ongoing issue for councillors.

“Managing growth and its impact on residents is as old as the history of Newmarket,” he said.

“This is something council struggles with every year.”

While residents often oppose growth, Taylor pointed out the town has to follow provincially mandated population targets and also wants to provide more affordable housing.

Langford is upset the play area of the proposed development would be right beside his home.

“They stick it right down on my doorstep. And all the kids playing there all hours of the day and night and smoking their reefers and so on, all that smoke,” he said.

“They can kill themselves any way they want. They have a right to kill themselves with marijuana or anything else, but their rights end where my nose begins.”

Langford believes the proposed homes are part of an effort by governments to justify the millions of dollars they have spent on public transit infrastructure on Davis, only to see buses driving along the road with few passengers aboard.

Putting more homes in would potentially increase ridership, although Langford has his doubts because the new homeowners would own one or two cars.

“Let’s face it, this is a dumb, dumb thing; you put the cart before the horse,” he said.

But Taylor argues it made sense to put the infrastructure in first, as residents complain when there aren’t services put in place before new residents arrive.

In general terms, putting intensification development along transit routes makes sense to promote ridership, he said.