The Public Meeting this date was to consider an application submitted by Spring Hill Homes Inc. for Official Plan and Zoning By-law Amendments at 7128, 7170 and 7186 Highway 7 East (File PLAN 20 119576).
The Committee Clerk advised that 357 notices were mailed on January 20, 2021, and a Public Meeting sign was posted on January 26, 2021. There were 20 written submissions received expressing concern or in opposition of this proposal.
Staff gave a presentation regarding the proposal, the location, surrounding uses and outstanding issues.
Bob Dragicevic, Senior Consultant, and Shannon Sigouin, Senior Associate of Urban Design, WND Associates, representing the Applicant provided a presentation on the development proposal.
The following deputations were made on the development proposal:
Melissa Ramrup expressed the following concerns regarding the development proposal:
- The impact the development will have on the area;
- The height of the buildings does not fit the character of the area;
- That podium buildings present a number of problems:
- Renters parking on the street that do not want to pay a monthly parking fee;
- One board managing multiple buildings if registered as one corporation;
- Elevators not being fixed when broken;
- More fire trucks required to come when there is a fire alarm.
Councillor Keith Irish advised that parking on City streets at night is provided by exception only in Markham.
Chris Yung expressed the follow concern regarding the development proposal:
- That the intersection at 9th Line and Highway 7 was not included in the traffic study;
- The impact the development will have on Locust Hill and the surrounding heritage resources.
Regional Councillor Jack Heath advised that Locust Hill may be impacted by developments in Durham Region in the future, but that this development is more likely to impact traffic going south and west. A by-pass over Locust Hill will likely be looked at in 5-10 years.
Ken Zhi expressed the following concerns regarding the development proposal:
- The impact the development will have on traffic;
- The increase in traffic volume on Arthur Bonner Avenue due to the development;
- That the traffic surveys were all conducted on the same day.
Councillor Andrew Keyes thanked the residents for their deputations and for providing a citizen perspective on the development proposal.
Members of Council provided the following concerns and suggestions in regards to the development proposal:
- The proposed towers are too high;
- The impact the development will have on traffic congestion;
- That Arthur Bonner is the only access point to the development proposal;
- The ability for the municipality to service such a dense development proposal;
- The lack of community services that will be available to residents of the proposed development;
- The heritage house should be in a more prominent and visible location, with street frontage or on the corner of the development proposal, as the Heritage Markham Committee recommended at its meeting held on November 11, 2020;
- The shadow the development will create;
- The development should include affordable rental units.
Members of Council also inquired if the development will be connected to Markham District Energy.
Shannon Sigouin responded to inquiries from the public and the Committee. The intersection at Highway 7 and 9th Line was studied as part of the Secondary Plan for the area. The plan recommends adjusting the signal timing to address the increase in traffic volume in this area due to development. The traffic count was conducted in September of 2019. The parking surveys were conducted pre-Covid on the same day, which is the typical practice. Parking on streets was looked at in November of 2020, in response to feedback received from residents at the community information meeting, but no parking issues were identified.
Sal Crimi, President, S.C. Land, representing the Applicant responded to inquiries from the Public and the Committee, advising that it is hard to find an ideal location and use for the heritage home. The development could potentially have enough children to fill a daycare, if the heritage house is used as a daycare. Moreover, Markham District Energy has reached out to the Applicant, but the Applicant is not ready to engage in a conversation at this time.