3 things coming to Newmarket's Dec. 11 council meeting: pickleball facility, patio program, 10-storey rental building

Council is also expected to approve a 3.99-per-cent tax increase

yorkregion.com
Dec. 8, 2023

Newmarket council has a full slate of issues to deal with at its final meeting of 2023 on Dec. 11.

In addition to passing the budget, with an expected 3.99 per cent increase on the town’s portion of the property bill, here are three items you may be interested in knowing about that will be addressed at the meeting:

Pickleball is the fastest growing sport in North America and its popularity is strong in Newmarket. Council will look at a proposal for a new pickleball facility on the mini soccer field in the northern section of George Richardson Park on Bayview Parkway. The facility would include 14 to 20 courts, a clubhouse and likely a bubble to extend the playing season. “Developing a premiere facility of this nature would put Newmarket at the forefront of communities capable of hosting tournaments. This is an excellent opportunity for sport tourism that would bring broader economic benefit to the community,” a staff report said.

If approved, construction could begin next year and the facility could open in the fall of 2025, the report said.

Debra Scott, president of the Newmarket Pickleball Club, told yorkregion.com the organization would be thrilled with the new facility.

However, while the staff report said there is an existing well-established buffer of mature trees and a sizable earthen berm between the site and the closest residents, neighbour Craig Bates told councillors at a Dec. 4 committee meeting he’s worried about the noise and parking impacts on surrounding residents.

Council is expected to update the town’s restaurant patio program. The program allowing eateries to have patios during warm weather months has been in place since 2015. During the pandemic, with provincial guidelines banning or restricting indoor eating at times, the town in 2020 and 2021 increased the number allowed, relaxed its rules and waived fees. Now, it’s looking to bring in an updated program, saying patios have proven to be successful with residents and businesses. Eateries on private property will continue to need permission from their landlords before applying to the town for approval. The touchier issue comes with downtown patios, as the town tries to balance requests from restaurants with the need for parking, as each patio generally takes up two parking spots. Meanwhile, while relaxed pandemic rules allowed patios in certain parking lots and laneways, the town will uphold its decision last year not to permit patios in live traffic lanes. The new policy would allow six downtown patios, with preference given to restaurants that have had them without infractions in the past. Acknowledging the town’s past approval process didn’t approve or deny patios in a timely manner for businesses, the new policy will see the application process open on Jan. 1 and close on Feb. 1 annually. Approvals and denials will be issued by Feb. 20. Approvals will be granted for two years at a time. Patios will be allowed to operate from May 1 to Oct. 31. All businesses having outdoor patios will have to pay an annual outdoor serving area licence fee of $389.10. Small frontage patios won’t face additional fees. Off-street patios on town property will pay 50 cents per square foot monthly and parking space patios will pay 70 cents per square foot a month.

The St. Maurice and St. Verena Coptic Orthodox Church is expected to get approval for a 10-storey mixed-use building with 201 rental units and 954 square metres (10,269 square feet) of ground floor commercial space at 17175 Yonge St. north of Eagle Street. There will be 60 affordable units, including 13 barrier-free units, and 141 market value rent units, 30 of which will be barrier free. The development includes 224 parking spaces, including 10 accessible spaces and three car share spaces. The majority of parking spaces are proposed to be within two levels of underground parking, with some surface parking spaces for medical office use.