Vaughan councillors urge residents to reach out to Ontario as their power on development wanes

‘We aren’t the source of the challenge,’ says mayor Maurizio Bevilacqua

Yorkregion.com
Nov. 15, 2021
Dina Al-Shibeeb

Vaughan Coun. Tony Carella knows that part of his job description is to be in proximity of the “punching gloves” when dealing with development woes mainly dictated by the growing clout of the province, he said during a Nov. 9 council meeting.

With Carella urging residents to focus on the province, Mayor Maurizio Bevilacqua too called on ratepayer associations to “evolve” just as the Planning Act has changed in the past two decades.

“We aren’t the source of the challenge,” said Bevilacqua, who described municipal councils as the “children of the province,” highlighting how the province is having a “greater control over our planning.”

“We have excellent residents associations, but I do think we are the only target. Their focus needs to be broader.”

These statements were made following a “passionate” deputation -- as described by Coun. Sandra Racco -- by Elvira Caria, chair of the Vellore Woods Ratepayers Association, who lambasted council over a “glutinous” developer bid. Caria is furious after a developer opted to take the Ontario Land Tribunal route, considered to be pro-development, and a risky and an expensive path for the city to challenge.

Backing Caria is Coun. Rosanna DeFrancesca who told the city to “arm” the councillors to “win the war.”

“There’s gotta be ways in the Planning Act that we can defend our community. I am just asking staff to look deeper, dig deeper to find those ways to defend our community’s position and council’s position. That way, we are doing our job collectively.”

During the meeting, Vaughan councillors also expressed frustration after York Region council approved the Ontario growth plan for 2051 amid a wide public uproar in late October.

The councillors feel they are between a rock and a hard place amid a push by Ontario intensify and residents who are fed up with traffic and further intensification to their already established neighbourhoods.

“Believe it or not, we are under a lot of pressure,” said Regional Coun. Gino Rosati in light of the Oct. 21 York Region meeting.

For some councillors, opening the whitebelt, considered to be prime agricultural land, would ease pressure and allow for more homes to be built.

“You can’t say let's keep it within the urban boundary but on the other foot, ‘Oh, I don't want a 12-storey building’,” Regional Coun. Linda Jackson said. “You can't have it both ways. It's either one way or the other way.”

Recalling the York Region meeting when deputations from more than 90 residents and activists called to stop the growth into the whitebelt, Jackson, said, “We were ripped apart as if we were some kind of animals because we supported the expansion of the urban boundary.”

Jackson went on further saying that the whitebelt was “laid out with the Greenbelt plan to expand our urban boundary” amid the affordable housing crisis.

However, not all councillors are in unison.

A day prior to the meeting, Coun. Marilyn Iafrate tweeted that a staff report she requested in May showed how the total population potential with employment conversion lands is 276,050, which could allow the whitebelt to stay unscathed amid the climate change crisis. The data Iafrate retrieved from staff also showed that so far, lands subject to employment concessions endorsed by York Region in 2020 include 19 sites, totalling 365 hectares.

“So some of my colleagues are saying, well, if we open up the whitebelt, then it'll take off the pressure on me,” Iafrate told the Vaughan Citizen. “They're wrong. Whoever bought land, infill, it doesn't matter, if we accommodate a quarter million or half a million people, they will still come in asking to build more than they're allowed on their land.”