'Extremely concerned': Stouffville residents form ratepayers group to tackle proposed 106-townhouse development

The development proposed for 6461-6487 Main St. calls for 106 stacked townhouses in 6 blocks

Yorkregion.com
Jan. 19, 2022
Simon Martin

When Dave Nicoll found out there was a proposal for 106 stacked townhouses on the two acres of land behind his Thicketwood Boulevard house, he was surprised.

“My reaction was to do some homework and some digging. I want to understand how this development fits with the town plan. How it fits with the heritage movement and the traffic up and down main street.”

And get to down to work Nicoll did. In little more than a month, he has helped form the Stouffville Village Ratepayers (SVR) group.

“We thought the best thing to do was form a ratepayers society,” he said. He said it’s easier to be recognized at council proceedings as a ratepayers group.

The development proposed for 6461-6487 Main St., east of Park Drive, calls for 106 stacked townhouses in six blocks. Nicoll said this a huge number of homes for an area that is .66 hectares, or just less than two acres.

“I’m extremely concerned about the precedent of such density,” Nicoll said.

He said the proposal includes an underground parking garage that will occupy the majority of the building site, and a stacked townhouse design that includes a raised basement level, three above ground floors, plus a roof top utility room and roof top patio.

Nicoll isn’t the only one concerned a about the proposal. Fellow Thicketwood resident Brian Phillips was taken aback that such a project was even being considered for the site. Phillips said the area is wet and can flood. “How can they put that big a development in such a small space?” he said. Phillips said residents have had little notice about the project and are concerned the project is moving ahead too fast.

Ward 6 Coun. Sue Sherban said residents have been reaching out to her with concerns about the proposal ever since signs went up for it last month. A public meeting has yet to be scheduled to discuss the proposal. Until town staff has completed studies on the matter, Sherban said it’s hard to provide concrete answers to what the developer is proposing. That being said, she doesn’t love what is being proposed.

“Do I think this is overkill? One hundred per cent. Do I think it is ugly? One hundred per cent,” she said. “Nobody wants anything towering over their backyards.”

Nicoll said stacked townhouses is a fancy way of saying low-rise apartments.

The recent development application for the redevelopment of four existing residential properties in the community core included the former site of the Lemonville hotel.

In 2018, Stouffville council ignored recommendations by the town’s heritage advisory committee to designate the old Lemonville Hotel at 6481 Main St. and the Flint House 6465 Main St. under the heritage act. The buildings were instead slated for demolition. The decision was frustrating at the time for heritage committee member and local historian Fred Robbins.

“Staff has ignored our work,” he said. “Other communities have saved these rare types of housing.” He labelled the move to demolish the homes as “blatant disregard” for heritage.

Both Nicoll and Phillips said they are aren’t against development on the property but are looking for something with a more reasonable density.

“I’m all for building new housing but not 106 units right out my back door,” Phillips said. “I’m just one little guy in one little house and now they dumped all of this on me.”

A public meeting for the proposal is expected to take place sometime in the next few months.

The SVR will serve and area bounded by Tenth Line to the East With Line to the west Nineteenth Avenue to the South and Millard Avenue to the North.

For more information about the group visit stouffvillevillageratepayers.ca.