'We're disappointed': Richmond Hill residents express anger after approval of 25-storey tower

Yorkregion.com
July 17, 2023

Despite years of protests, meetings, deputations and letters from affected residents, on July 12, council approved a 25-storey highrise building at 10684 and 10692 Yonge St. in Richmond Hill (at the southwest corner of Yonge Street and Elgin Mills Road). Members of council said they had no choice, with pressure from the province’s Bill 23 and the likelihood any objections would be overruled at the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT).

The plans include a high density, mixed-use residential/commercial development comprised of 247 residential units and a total lot area of 1.35 acres, with frontage on both Yonge Street and on Creekview/Arten Avenue. The site proposes 263 parking spaces and primary access from Yonge Street with a secondary emergency-only access proposed onto Creekview Avenue/Arten Avenue.

The applicant, Sabella Ridge Estates Inc., first submitted its application in 2020, and after a public meeting, subsequently filed revised applications with the city in 2021, 2022 and in April 2023 to address various planning, design and technical matters.

But residents said they felt they had little time to respond after being made aware of the latest application and felt that the applicant didn’t adequately address their concerns.

“There’s many reasons for this anger, and the root cause is lacking public consultation,” said Robert Livingstone, who is part of the Arten Creekview Residents Group, at the July 12 council meeting. Livingstone said after the initial application, “it kind of just fell off the map and we heard crickets for two years.” Then a month ago, they received notice that the issue was back on the table.

Among the main issues of concern, residents say traffic at the Yonge Street and Elgin Mills Road intersection is already severely congested, and not suitable for high-density development. They also said the minimum protection zone (buffer) of 10 metres from the floodplain needed to be maintained.

Max Haroon, group member and resident, said the city had already approved numerous proposals for excessive development over the years, and there was no need for this one. "A substantial amount of commercial land has already been converted into high-density residential developments, and the approved residential units are sufficient to accommodate the projected population growth over the next 20 years.”

He also said the highrise would increase parking congestion and worsen traffic at the elbow of Creekview and Arten, a “blind corner” and cause of two recent accidents.

“Council should prioritize the protection of our neighbourhood over the interests of developers' wallets,” said Haroon. “We voted for them to represent us, not the developers.”

After numerous tense moments, disruptions and heckling toward council by former councillor Tom Muench (who eventually had to be escorted out) and others at the meeting, the proposal received the green light.

Citing pressures to meet Bill 23 provincial housing targets in the city, Mayor David West said, “The reality is that heights and densities for municipalities like Richmond Hill are, for better or worse, going to have to be different than they were in 2020 and before that.”

Coun. Karen Cilevitz had explained at an earlier meeting that denying the application would give the applicant the right to go to the OLT and would be costly. “We will not be able to defend this because we are going against staff recommendations, and I can guarantee you that the OLT will give this developer exactly what they want.”

West said approving the project would mean the developer would still work with the city to go through the site plan process and some details could be worked out at that time.

Frustrated and deflated at the news, resident Sharon Yuan spoke with YorkRegion.com the following day and said the group is seeking advice from lawyers and will continue to fight.

“We’re disappointed,” said Yuan. “Council promised they would listen to the community, but in the end, they really didn’t listen. What they’ve done is just politics.”