Well-used walkway in Unionville faces imminent closure due to development

Yorkregion.com
April 24, 2023

The fate of a long-existing walkway in Unionville is on the line.

On the site of the former Heritage Village seniors residence, construction of a new community of 119 townhouses will soon take place. There is a paved walkway at the northwest corner of the land parcel, which has been used daily by residents for the past 45 years.

But Minto Group intends to close the path during construction as soon as it takes possession of the property from Unionville Home Society (UHS).

“It's shocking news to me,” said Bill Belfry, whose house sits on the trailhead of the pathway. “I use this walkway four to five times a week. I walk to the bank; I walk to Whole Foods.”

Belfry believes the 70-foot-long shortcut walkway provides a vital path for schoolchildren, senior citizens and bikers. At least 40 to 50 people use it every day, and Belfry counts more than 80 people using the walkway on a sunny Sunday.

Residents of the Greentree Road cul-de-sac and a portion of Sciberras Road are thought to be the most heavily impacted by the forthcoming path closure. They will have to go all the way up across the corner.

Minto is scheduled to close on the UHS lands in late April and conduct condition assessments on neighbouring homes prior to demolition in May. Dozens of trees have already been cut down in order to facilitate upcoming construction.

Last September, some residents received a registered letter from Minto’s lawyers asking them to agree to release UHS from the easement. Once the property is sold, this release would transfer to the new owner, Minto, allowing it to close the easement immediately.

But Belfry said he and some of his neighbours did not receive such a letter.

According to Minto’s lawyers, however, the easement was not given by necessity but originally done as a favour to utility companies and the City of Markham.

Michael Toshakovski, Markham’s deputy city solicitor, confirmed that the city owns the pathway between 35 and 42 Greentree Rd., which terminates at the western boundary of the UHS lands and that the city’s easement over the northern portion of the UHS lands is for water/sanitary sewer services only.

“There does not appear to be anything on title on the UHS lands in the nature of an easement for general public passage,” Toshakovski wrote in an email.

In other words, the walkway was made out of kindness.

Residents and a local councillor are now hoping that the new owner will continue the old goodwill.

“There's kind of implicit permission,” said Ward 3 Coun. Reid McAlpine. “They paved it. They lit it. They've basically said without saying it in so many words that you're welcome to use it.”

McAlpine believes that a temporary path during the construction period will allow area residents to use the space for another two to three years until a new route is provided.

McAlpine suggests replacing the existing walkway with a narrower pathway that’s paved to make it accessible.

Anderson Marques, development manager of Minto Communities, confirmed that Minto will own the land as of April 17 and the path will be closed during construction for residents’ safety.

Belfry placed signs along the way to alert path users about its imminent closure, and he started an online petition hoping to change the fate of the walkway.

In general, Minto’s Heritage Village redevelopment hasn’t had much blowback. But undoubtedly, Belfry feels the pains of a rapidly growing town, the differences and difficulties between new and older neighbourhoods, and the change in attitudes of co-operation between neighbours.

“(It is) illustrated by the lengths that the UHS went to, even if it technically allowed us to trespass, and a present day builder who moves forward with their community with little regard to the existing.

“The city is growing quickly and we need places for people to live,” said Belfry. “But there's no more road hockey going to be played on this street.”