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From 'travesty' to possibilities: Newmarket residents initially opposed to development now see opportunities

Yorkregion.com
Dec. 13, 2021

At a virtual council meeting last January, residents lambasted a developer’s bid to build the next phase of housing on the sprawling Shining Hill lands north of St. John’s Sideroad between Yonge and Bathurst streets.

They used terms like “travesty” and “slap in the face.”

Residents pointed out that in 2003, council banned development on the lands, which are on the environmentally sensitive Oak Ridges Moraine, while at the same time being designated as a settlement area.

Now, the tide could be turning in favour of carefully planned development on the 200-acre property, which Mayor John Taylor says is the largest area left in Newmarket up for development, with the potential of containing in excess of 1,000 homes.

The Shining Hill development straddles Newmarket and Aurora on either side of St. John’s Sideroad west of Yonge, with about a third of it in Aurora and two-thirds in Newmarket.

The developer has submitted a concept master plan for the next Newmarket phase but nothing has been approved and housing types and number of units have yet to be determined, town planning director Jason Unger said.

The majority of the lands are already designated for urban uses at both the provincial and regional levels. But the town, region and the Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority would still have to identify which lands are suitable for development, he said.

Newmarket residents Dave Kempton, Peggy Stevens and Walter Bauer took part in a town meeting on the development bid Nov. 15.

The town is now consulting with the developer and the issue will come back to council in January.

Kempton, Stevens and Bauer -- members of the Drawdown Newmarket-Aurora community group fighting climate change -- would rather not see the environmentally sensitive lands developed.

But given changes in provincial land-use policies since 2003, Canadian immigration numbers resulting in more newcomers settling here, the need for both affordable housing and mixed housing options and an opportunity to develop Shining Hill with community interests in mind, they are open to developing the lands if a number of concerns are addressed.

“We were initially opposed to the Shining Hill amendment but we have come to see it as potentially an opportunity to be not sprawl but a place where ‘community’ is more than just a word on a promotional billboard,” Kempton told council.

Drawback says the development must follow low-impact development practices, protect water sources and wildlife, include natural and naturalized areas, have transit-accessible street layouts, focus on affordable housing and mixed housing types, embed shopping and workplaces within the community and protect a parcel of land as an environmental protection area in perpetuity.

“The opposition to the proposal in January was a simple ‘no’ to any development. Our November deputation was a win-win proposal that offered solutions that both sides may find agreeable,” Bauer said.

“The current proposal is based on protecting 90 acres protected in perpetuity, minimal tree cutting, conservation mandates and a planned wildlife corridor.”

With a pro-development government at Queen’s Park, Kempton and Stevens say they’ve abandoned their previous stand of opposing the development in favour of future growth being accommodated through intensification in already built-up areas in favour of a more pragmatic desire to create a “less environmentally damaging development” in Shining Hill.

The mayor supports the development.

He points out the provincial Greenbelt act has erased the need for a 2003 council decision to stop development on the Shining Hill lands due to fears neighbouring municipalities would approve significant development on green space at Newmarket’s doorstep.

Given the Greater Toronto Area’s extremely rapid growth, Taylor is “passionate” that development go in urban centres with existing infrastructure and amenities, such as in Newmarket rather than eating up rural communities.

He believes Shining Hill can provide a complete community with recreation space, trails and bike lanes that sets a new standard for low-impact and environmentally conscious development with a wide variety of housing options, including affordable housing.

Meanwhile, 85 acres of “beautiful, pristine” forest will be brought into public ownership in perpetuity, Taylor said.