Time ticking on Transit-Oriented Communities 'bomb' dropped on Markham

Projects on Yonge subway extension basically ‘condo wasteland’ critics charge

Yorkregion.com
Feb. 2, 2022
Heidi Riedner

Local communities are heading for a train wreck if the province’s plans for Transit-Oriented Communities (TOC) along the Yonge subway extension don't go back to the drawing board.

That’s the opinion of some area residents and public officials after Infrastructure Ontario announced in December its plans for the Bridge and High Tech stations along the Yonge North Subway Extension.

While the province contends the TOCs -- built in partnership with developers who will foot much of the cost of the infrastructure -- will reduce urban sprawl and create complete communities anchored by public transit, area resident Graham Churchill argues they will create a “condo wasteland” instead.

“The municipalities have been completely bypassed and the housing density has been doubled,” said Churchill, who expects the Ford government will issue controversial Ministerial Zoning Orders (MZO) to ensure “zoning certainty” for the developments before it drops the writ on the provincial election and has to freeze any new spending as of March.

“Once that happens, it will be impossible to change,” he said, adding if the projects -- bringing a combined 67 towers and over 80,000 people -- go ahead as planned, they will create an area two times denser than Manhattan.

“While this kind of development might be good for developers, it is not good for people. Residents must have their say and the decision-making must be transparent."

Regional Coun. Don Hamilton, who referred to the province's announcement as "the bomb before Christmas," called the Bridge subway station TOC located just south of Hwy. 7 and east of Yonge Street "mind boggling" and a "recipe for disaster."

Markham Council voted Jan. 25 to reject the project as proposed since it basically blows apart the city’s plans for the Langstaff Gateway area, which have been in the works for the past decade.

The Infrastructure Ontario/Condor Properties Ltd. partnership will bring 34 high-rises, 24 of which will be 50 or more storeys. Five of those will reach up to 80 storeys.

That will bring close to 44,000 people to the area, according to city staff, who say Infrastructure Ontario’s populations figures are underestimated and don’t include the area east of Cedar Avenue currently mapped out under the city’s Langstaff Gateway Secondary Plan.

“They are doubling the density in half the size,” said the city’s development services manager of policy, Darryl Lyons, at a special development services committee meeting Jan. 24.

The plan also reduces the number of jobs from 15,000 to 9,500, has no details regarding affordable housing, and lacks sufficient accommodation for community infrastructure, such as parks, community centres and schools, he added.

It is also “weak” on timelines and how the plan’s phasing will line up with subway extension construction, including taking account any potential delays, said Regional Counc. Jack Heath.

"This can't be just high-rises with no soul," said Mayor Frank Scarpitti.

Thornhill Coun. Keith Irish was also incensed with the province announcing its plans as a “fait acompli,” thereby excluding the role of council and public input.

“We reject being steamrolled,” he said. “Democracy is something I thought I would never have to defend during my time on council ... We’re in a fight against what is being done to us in this community.”

A comprehensive list of recommendations hammered out over two days, along with Markham Council's formal rejection of the current TOC, is being sent to the province in the hopes a number of issues can be addressed, including realistic heights and densities.

Churchill agrees a better plan is needed that integrates the community, the long-term vision of the region, and the overall GTA.

That includes burying the hydro corridor between Bayview Avenue and Yonge Street, providing an integrated rail system linking the centres and an integrated park that runs right across the region, he said.

In a statement, Infrastructure Ontario said it will continue to work with York Region and the communities to refine the proposals for these Transit Oriented Communities.