Uxbridge mayor no fan of Stouffville's growth

Emmerson disapponted by comments

Stouffville Sun-Tribune
May 7, 2014
By Sandra Bolan

Uxbridge Township’s mayor doesn’t want the corridor between that municipality and Whitchurch-Stouffville to be a line of houses with no distinction between the two towns.

Uxbridge Mayor Gerri Lynn O’Connor made the comment during a discussion recently regarding the municipality’s sewage system being at capacity, therefore, halting residential growth.

The solution, according to Durham Region Chairperson Roger Anderson, is to build a pipe from the south.

“I will fight a big pipe coming to Uxbridge,” Ms O’Connor said. “That means continuous development from Stouffville to Uxbridge and that, I don’t believe, is what our community wants. Maybe somewhere down the road we’re going to have to see that but when you’re travelling down the Ninth Line, as an example now for anybody that goes to Markham or Stouffville, you cannot tell me where Stouffville ends and where Markham starts. I don’t think that is what north Durham is all about.”

Ms O’Connor announced last week she is seeking re-election.

Her comment disappointed Mayor Wayne Emmerson.

“I don’t see that now and I don’t see that in the future,” he told The Sun-Tribune this week.

Mr. Emmerson said Whitchurch-Stouffville’s southern border really should be 19th Avenue so the municipality can have another east-west road, but the dividing line is just north of there. Currently development ends north of 16th Avenue.

One solution to Uxbridge’s growth problem, Mr. Emmerson said, is to build private communities such as the Ballantrae Golf and Country Club.

“The numbers have to be there to do that, it’s not cheap,” he said.