Respectful crowd hears supporters, opponents of Thornhill condo project
'It's democracy at work,' says Muslim group president

February 5, 2013
Thornhill Liberal
By Tim Kelly

They filled Vaughan City Hall council chambers, the multi-purpose room and the overflow room all to debate a condo tower and townhouse development proposal at Bathurst Street and Rutherford Road last night.

Residents of the Thornhill Woods community were out in force and spoke in numbers about their opposition to the two 17-storey towers and 61-three-storey townhouse units brought forward by the Islamic Shia Ithna-Asheri Jamaat of Toronto, at 9000 Bathurst St.

The four-hour-long meeting went along at a fast clip, chaired by Thornhill Ward 5 Councillor Alan Shefman, who made it clear at the outset that he would wouldn't tolerate “views that are unacceptable to the dignity of our proceedings, you’ll be cut off and asked to leave the chamber. It’s your responsibility to keep this discussion focused on the issues and respectful at all times.”

With only a few exceptions, the dozens of deputants — the vast majority of whom spoke against the application — followed the rules to the letter and the crowd was extremely well-behaved and respectful given the emotions and underlying concerns of the mainly Jewish residents living near the Muslim developers and their plans to build the development adjacent to the Jaffari Community Centre.

Rom Koubi, a resident of Ner Israel Drive who rallied support in opposition to the housing proposal, told the councillors and the massive crowd, “the applicant request does not make sense in Thornhill Woods. Everyone is welcome regardless of race, religion and from any other resident in this neighbourhood. We are here fighting for a right to be free to choose what will be the future for our community. Your voters are sincerely concerned about this so-called application. Why should there be an additional community in our neighbourhood? How can the applicant claim a cultural centre when it is excluding the majority of the residents of our neighbourhood?”

He later said in an interview that the “plan from top to bottom is completely inconsistent with official plan amendment and zoning bylaws and I believe this specific application should not be approved, but if they (ISIJ) approach with something decent, and they meet our needs, it should be considered.”

Elena Serebryany, who also lives on Ner Israel Drive and has been a resident there for six years, said she first heard about the plan for the units two weeks ago and said she “didn’t understand the plan.

“I’m concerned about having a segregated community. As Canadians, we all want to have an inclusive community, that’s my major concern.”

She said homes around the Jaffari Cultural Centre, which currently sits on the property, are subject to parking issues and worries those will only increase if the development is approved as presented.

For Ahmed Sagarwala, 33, who lives in Vaughan near Keele and Major Mackenzie, the development would represent exactly what he’s looking for.

He spends a lot of time at the Jaffari Centre, both as a volunteer and employee and said he would love to move in there in future.

“It seems natural to move closer to where you live. Some people say ‘I work in Mississauga, I live in Vaughan,’ I find that ridiculous,” he added.

“It only adds to congestion, some of the points raised by the people contradict themselves. I think people should be moving closer to where they spend the majority of their time.”

Mr. Sagarwala said he is a strong advocate for other faiths using the Muslim Centre and facilities as well as living at the proposed development but said, “there are some issues when it comes to alcohol, pets, conduct of people, as Muslims we’re not supposed to reveal ourselves as a male or a female. If we have a swimming pool, for example, we would have to have separate sessions for males and females, a lot of people would appreciate that.”

For Shabbir Jeraj, president of the ISIJ, the organization proposing the development, the meeting “went very well, this is citizens exercising their rights. It’s democracy at work. I was really excited. We did expect huge crowds from both sides and that was also gratifying. It’s a process and it will go forward.”

He said opponents of the proposal will have time to digest what is being put forward and consider it.

“Our first take is most of them have heard about it for the first time. This project has been evolving as far as we are concerned. We have taken into consideration several things to make the property more acceptable to the neighbours.”

Ward 4 Councillor Sandra Yeung Racco, who represents the North Thornhill/Concord area that encompasses the neighbourhood affected, said she’s hopeful a compromise can be reached by both sides. She moved that a task force be struck between the residents, developer and staff to come up with a deal that suits all parties and report back to council. That motion was approved unanimously by committee members.

Ms Racco, in the teeth of a byelection in which she is running as the Liberal candidate for Thornhill riding which also includes the affected area, said she was pleased at the tone of the debate.

“It was extremely well done. I think it was good, we were able to hear people who are opposed and people who actually supported it. People may not agree on each side, it’s about hearing everybody’s comments.”

She said she’s convinced a trade-off position can be reached.

“I’m a positive person. When you bring people together, when they sit down calmly and work the differences out they can come to some type of commonality. It’s at least something that’s going to be acceptable to everybody and to our staff. I hate to have it go to the Ontario Municipal Board. You lose everything, you lose control, that’s not the way you want to do it. If we bring the community together, with our applicant, with our staff, let’s try to work this out.”