Developers fret over major project delays in York Region

YorkRegion.com
Feb. 26, 2015
Lisa Queen

After news of potential delays of major water and sewer projects sent shockwaves through the development industry and local councils, regional officials agreed to meet with stakeholders to try to calm their fears.

They met late last week with those concerned about a proposal that could delay the $500-million Upper York Sewage Solutions, needed to accommodate growth in East Gwillimbury, Newmarket and Aurora to 2031.

And they are meeting this week with those upset with potential delays of water and wastewater projects in Vaughan.

At a budget meeting last month, regional treasurer Bill Hughes blamed the potential deferrals on lower than anticipated collection of development charges, coupled with a recent downgrading of the region’s credit rating by one notch to AA+ from AAA by credit rating agency Standard and Poor’s.

Although Hughes stressed the timing of the projects can be brought forward again if growth in the region happens faster than anticipated and development charge collections improve, news of the potential deferrals upset developers and some councillors.

Calling the UYSS and the Vaughan projects critical, Michael Pozzebon, chairperson of the York chapter of the Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD) called on the region to put off making a decision to delay the projects until industry representatives can meet with regional and local staff to determine if mutually acceptable solutions can be worked out.

Many development projects are planned in alignment with current timeframes and this delay would significantly challenge business plans and the delivery of new homes for future residents of York Region, he said. These projects are critical to meeting the region’s growth targets as delineated in the provincial Growth Plan.

Meanwhile, East Gwillimbury council is calling the region’s proposed deferral of the UYSS “highly problematic.”

Approved residential subdivisions would not be completed, the decommissioning of the Holland Landing sewage lagoons would be delayed, servicing for the town’s Hwy. 404 employment lands would be pushed back and the town would face great uncertainty as it works to properly manage municipal operations and manage growth in a sustainable and reasonable manner, the town said.

East Gwillimbury needs the UYSS to move forward on time to accommodate an aggressive housing market, Mayor Virginia Hackson said.

“Part of the attraction is East Gwillimbury is finally open for business. We have nine sales offices out there and people sleeping overnight to come to East Gwillimbury,” she said.

“Our plans are all in place, we’ve worked for several years, this isn’t anything that just happened overnight. With the Places to Grow legislation, we knew that we are going to be a community of 100,000 people by 2051.”

Even though the projects may be deferred, pre-construction work is still progressing on schedule, environmental services commissioner Erin Mahoney said.

Meanwhile, the region has seven full years of sewage capacity available to support growth, Mahoney said.

But Vaughan Regional Councillor Michael Di Biase fears there isn’t enough sewage capacity available in his city to accommodate the businesses looking to move to Vaughan.

“In Vaughan, from a commercial/industrial perspective, we’re exploding… There are major investors who want to move in, to build, to expand, to create jobs” he said.

“At face value, this (delaying projects) is very frustrating, very discouraging.”

However, the projects are not substantially delayed given the land purchasing, design work and environmental assessments that must be completed before construction, CAO Bruce Macgregor said.

Council will also have opportunities in the future to bring forward the dates of construction, he said.

The region could have done a better job getting its message out to the development industry, but also had its hands tied, Macgregor said.

“While I respect the fact there are some misunderstandings in the development community and we unquestionably could have done a better job at communication, the challenge here is whether we ought to have communicated before we presented (council) with the budget,” he said.

Regional chairperson Wayne Emmerson hopes staff can work out a solution, but if talks stall, he’s willing to host another meeting so the issue can be handled politically. “I think what’s happening out there is (developers) are assuming it’s written in stone, that we’re not proceeding and that’s not true,” he said.

“If things change and move on and there are different ways of thinking outside the box to accommodate some of these pipes in Upper York, we’re all open, we’re open to suggestions from them. I even recommended if you have a cheque marked non-refundable, hand me a cheque (and the projects will be funded)."