Upper York Sewage Solution delay not a concern: Newmarket officials

Yorkregion.com
Feb. 12, 2015
BY Chris Simon

Newmarket planners appear less concerned about the future of sewage allocation capacity than their peers to the north.

East Gwillimbury’s council chambers were jammed with developers, builders and residents searching for answers Tuesday morning, in response to York Region’s recent indication it may defer the completion of the Upper York Sewage Solutions project to 2024.

Residents should not be deceived by news of a potential servicing plan deferral, an East Gwillimbury staff report indicated, adding significant development will still take place over the next nine years.

The report outlined how nearly 7,000 units of allocation will be divided up between Queensville, Holland Landing and Sharon.

Meanwhile, Newmarket planning and building services director Rick Nethery says there’s sufficient allocation capacity available to satisfy his town’s needs for the next five years, based on the current growth rate.

Newmarket staff will be routinely reporting in April or May to council on its annual allocation assessment and be making recommendations as to what developments should be eligible for servicing allocation, he said. “That exercise will also serve to confirm whether the region’s assumption of a five-year growth supply for Newmarket is accurate.”

Aspects of the UYSS project will still proceed. The detailed design development and environmental assessment approvals are progressing, for example, Nethery said.

Incentive programs may also be introduced to make the system more efficient and increase the amount of capacity available to new developments, he said.

“We have always had a good working relationship with the region and our neighbours so, at this stage, we are cautiously optimistic that working together we can find ways to ensure a sustainable amount of servicing capacity for our needs.”

Aurora also seems largely unconcerned by the potential UYSS deferral. According to Aurora spokesperson Mike Kemp, the development land in the St. John’s Sideroad area, known as the 2C lands, is fully allocated. In addition to that, the town has approximately 4,700 person equivalents of servicing capacity.