Aurora residents at planning meeting push back on current proposal for former Canadian Tire site

More retail options, sufficient parking, green space among issues raised

Yorkregion.com
Feb. 24, 2023
Melissa Wallace

Developers weren’t feeling the love for their proposed design for 14700-14760 Yonge St, presented at the town’s public planning meeting on Feb. 14.

The applicant, SmartCentres REIT (Aurora 14700 Yonge) Limited Partnership X and Calloway Real Estate Investment Trust Inc., shared their conceptual site plan. It includes three 7-storey buildings along Yonge Street and two 6-storey buildings internal to the site (876 apartment units). There will also be three sets of 8 unit, 3-storey townhouses along the western property line (24 units total). The plan totals 900 units and over 2,400 m (25,800 feet) of retail space.

The site plan application has only been submitted for Phase 1 so far, and will begin with the vacant Canadian Tire site just north of Henderson Drive.

The applicant had hosted a community information meeting on Jan. 26 and heard comments about traffic and parking, a desire for adequate commercial space to replace what is existing, a need for affordable units and rental tenure opportunities, the promotion of sustainable building design, desire for more on-site amenity space such as a playground, and assurances of proper construction management.

“One thing we heard very strongly from the community is to try to incorporate as much retail as possible,” said Paula Bustard, executive VP of development, SmartCentres REIT. She said they would be proposing to increase the retail space to at least 30,000 square feet of retail in the redevelopment.

“We started out as a retail developer, it’s in our DNA and it’s what we do, so I can assure you that we always plan our retail to be responsive to the market needs and to be responsive to a diversified mix of retail uses.”

The proposal conforms directly to the Town’s official plan for “Aurora Promenade” (approved in 2010).

Residents who gave deputations reiterated the need for retail and expressed concerns about density, traffic, lack of parking, a need for more green space and additional amenities.

“Our concern is mainly about density,” said Chris Ballard, a resident speaking on behalf of the Regency Acres Ratepayers Association. “There are too many people being put in too small a piece of property.”

Ballard said the local and broader community is largely unaware of the development and what it represents. “We’d like to see more commercial so we can have a sustainable community and the Town can benefit from increased tax revenue.”

Michael Khalil, a resident who works at Sparkle Pharmacy across the street from the site, said that he specifically chose to live in Aurora because it was different than Toronto and Richmond Hill.

“If the plan is to make the Yonge Street corridor as congested as Richmond Hill, I’m not going to enjoy living here, and that includes as a business owner and a homeowner,” said Khalil. “Changing the whole corridor of Yonge Street to be what the province of Ontario wants it to look like isn’t necessarily what’s best for our town.”

The meeting concluded with a council vote of 5-2 in favour of sending the application back to another planning meeting, with Mayor Tom Mrakas and Councillor Harold Kim voting against.

“While there is still work to be done on this application, I believe that we should have continued forward through the process; proceeding to a General Committee while continuing to work with the applicant to resolve any issues that our residents and Council have,” said Mrakas. “In my opinion, sending this application back to yet another public planning meeting, opens our Town up to the likely possibility of the Applicant taking us to the Board and having an unelected, unaccountable person decide the fate of our community.”