Arvin Prasad, Commissioner, Development Services, introduced Day 2 of the Markham Road-Mount Joy Secondary Plan Virtual Design Charrette and provided a brief overview of the study process to-date. Commissioner Prasad welcomed all stakeholders in attendance for the meeting.
Darryl Lyons, Manager, Policy, outlined the purpose of the day's session as an opportunity to gather input from the Sub-Committee and stakeholders on the draft vision, guiding principles, and concept plans developed by staff and the study consultants for the Markham Road-Mount Joy Secondary Plan through discussion and a collaborative live drawing exercise. Next steps in the study process were identified.
Shonda Wang, SvN Architects + Planners, consultant to the City of Markham, delivered a presentation on the draft vision, guiding principles, and mobility concept plan developed for the Markham Road-Mount Joy Secondary Plan, and guided attendees through a virtual workshop and live drawing exercise to obtain stakeholder feedback.
The Sub-Committee and stakeholders discussed the following relative to the draft vision, guiding principles, and mobility concept plan developed by the study consultants:
- Prioritizing connectivity and multi-modal movement within and to/from the study area through active transportation infrastructure, local public transit services, and first mile/last mile solutions;
- Aligning the timing and phasing of transit and servicing infrastructure improvements with that of growth and development;
- Identifying strategies to address existing and potential future servicing capacity issues that may impact the timing and feasibility of new developments envisioned in the study area;
- Planning for a full range of uses at transit-supportive densities for lands within proximity of the existing and potential future transit station areas;
- Ensuring appropriate east/west pedestrian connections across the Markham Road corridor through appropriate cross section treatments and building face conditions relative to the right-of-way;
- Exploring opportunities to enhance north/south connections throughout the study area, including parallel active transportation network redundancies;
- Exploring potential solutions for mitigating vehicular traffic within the study area and diverting traffic away from the adjacent heritage community to the south;
- Considering different design treatments, building orientations, and traffic circulation patterns that may be appropriate for different districts within the study area;
- Exploring the feasibility and appropriateness of alternative development standards within the study area, such as reduced on-site parking rates, to achieve the vision and guiding principles regarding mobility;
- Planning for complete streets to ensure appropriate access and integration of developments throughout the study area; and,
- Providing leadership in planning for transit-oriented and transit-supportive communities.
The Markham Sub-Committee consented to postpone further discussion on the draft vision, guiding principles, and concept plans to a future meeting to be scheduled in August.