Details

The unofficial minutes...

We are in the Community Centre at Doug Duncan Drive with pages of questions about the Slessor Square development. It is February 2012.

We are meeting the developers face-to-face under the expert eye of Marion Plaunt, one of Newmarket’s top planners who will be chairing the event.

The Slessor Square file is on her desk.

Sitting opposite me are the Messrs Slessors flanked by a team of advisers. There is the traffic expert and the water expert and the man from Goundswell, the urban planners.

Then there is the developer’s lawyer. Alongside him sits Bob, the project manager, who fields the questions.

The Mayor, Tony Van Bynen, is here too along with regional councillor John Taylor.

Bob kicks off by explaining the twin towers are not going to be as high as we all thought. It is certainly an arresting start, grabbing our attention.

We are told the zoning plan differs from the concept plan.

In this multi-million dollar project we learn that the left hand appears not to know what the right hand is doing.

Bob is disarmingly frank. He says they didn’t have their act together.

He explains there is a difference between the height of a “residential storey” and a “commercial storey”.

Seems to me that overall height – not necessarily storeys - is the main thing.

I ask Marion.

She confirms that the concept plan submitted to the Town shows the taller tower at 268 feet.

As for the four levels of underground car parking. Well… that could turn out to be three levels.

Bob tells us:

“If we manage to improve the efficiency of our plans we could put two (underground parking levels) under the retirement home. We could go down to three.” 

Brad Rogers from Groundswell – the developers urban planning consultants – announces that the application conforms to the Town’s Official Plan. In the course of the evening he says this a number of times.

Then why are the developers asking for a zoning by law amendment to permit increased height and density? (Answer: the Official Plan allows for this if certain conditions are met.)

Brad tells us that municipalities around Newmarket are building skywards. In Vaughan there are ones over 20.

 “When I drive by them they look pretty big.”

John Taylor asks about traffic studies and how the results might vary depending on the type of land use. Good question. 

Slessor’s traffic expert says the traffic impact of the development would be modest. He distinguishes between traffic generated by the site and “background traffic growth”.

But traffic is something for another day. The numbers are being crunched by the region and the town hall.

Bob signs off this part of our conversation by reminding us that this is a ten year project.

A decade of dump trucks and dust.  Aaaaaaaargh!

Phase 1 is the retirement building. Then, Phase II, the “adult lifestyle community” in the higher of the twin towers. Then the rental building. Then the long term care or retirement facility.

But Bob explains there are question marks over long-term care.

 “It is very unlikely we’ll do it.”

What about affordable housing? Here again, the developer’s thinking has changed.

They originally said they were proposing “a specialised form of housing that will be marketed towards older adults and seniors” and that the Region and town’s affordable housing provisions “cannot be applied to the units within the proposed development.”

Now we are told there will be affordable housing. (see Developer’s Documents)

Now we ask about step backs to the retirement home fronting George Street.

Bob says: “we will never be putting a step back in the retirement building”.

That’s unfortunate. Seems to me the Town’s Official Plan says they should.

We now move on to environmental matters.

Green buildings are smart.  For example, they use shower water (so-called grey water) to flush the toilets.

Bob, who describes himself as assertively green, tells us that, alas, grey water is not part of the development.

“It is so hard to make that stuff work!” 

Brad again reminds us that the developer’s plans fit in with the Town’s Official Plan.

To underline the point he tells us that the 20 storey tower at the corner of Davis and George (and which has already been approved by councillors) is three times the density of Slessor Square.

This is a jaw dropping statistic we must investigate further.

What else did I learn?

There will be no privacy wall around the site during construction – or, at least, not one worthy of the name.

On a series of questions about the impact on the adjoining neighbourhood we are, for the most part, still in the dark.

Some residents will experience a loss of sunshine as the towers’ shadows fall across their homes.

Bob promises to come back to us on this one.

 “It is a while since I last looked at the shadow study.”

The developers confirm they will do a “viewshed’ analysis showing how the towers will look when viewed from different vantage points around town.

On soil remediation, we are told the developers will dig down 3-4 metres and cart the contaminated soil away to landfill.

On water, we are assured there is absolutely no threat to the aquifer that supplies part of the town’s drinking water.

On fire safety, we are told the fire chief seems to be content with the proposals.

We are concerned that the tower’s adult lifestylers will be able to look down on adjacent properties and gardens, invading people’s privacy. The developer’s solicitor looks baffled.

Now we are getting close to wrapping up the meeting.

Brad Rogers says he prefers to dialogue with small groups to find solutions to the issues raised.

Hmmm.

I see problems with this.

I like open door meetings (tightly chaired and respectful of others’ opinions) where people participate, listen and learn.

That simply doesn’t happen in small atomised groups – which is why developers prefer them.

Finally, Marion reminds us that the Town is convening focus groups to look at the Secondary Plan as work on it evolves.

This is news to me – and to my Shrink Slessor Square friends.

It must be the best kept secret in town.

 

Details

Letter published in the Era Banner on 25 January 2012

As a resident and taxpayer in Newmarket for the past 24 years, I am writing on behalf of a group of concerned citizens to express our opposition to the proposed development on the former Slessor Motors site on Yonge Street. 
The project will radically alter the visual and planning landscape in Newmarket and is a massive departure from the accepted planning guidelines employed by the town during the past decades. 
The project proposes two huge towers of 26 and 29 storeys, in addition to two seven-storey buildings on a very small footprint of land. 
They far exceed anything that has been approved in Newmarket in the past and will be an architectural eyesore dominating the visual landscape forever. 
They will be constant reminders of our poor judgment, much like the failed venture at The Tannery Mall on Davis Drive.
If approved without significant modification, Slessor Square will be the standard to which all future proposals will be compared and ultimately approved by the Ontario Municipal Board. 
It will open the development floodgates and lead to out-of-control construction and a serious deterioration of the quality of life in what is a quiet, safe community.
This project is a choice between sustainable, progressive and reasonable growth and intensification and unlimited, unrestricted and uncontrolled development. 
The latter will lead to Newmarket becoming similar to a number of other forgettable urban wastelands, such as Yonge and Sheppard Avenue and Yonge and Finch Avenue in Toronto and Major Mackenzie and Yonge in Richmond Hill. 
These kinds of cold, impersonal and intensified architectural landscapes have made a lot of developers rich, but have done little to improve the quality of life in these communities. 
They are what most people moved to Newmarket to escape.
The argument that intensification will bring additional tax revenues and help build infrastructure is a chicken-and-egg debate. 
Toronto serves as a cautionary tale. It has high intensification, yet services and jobs are being slashed. 
Bigger is not always better, as Toronto has experienced. 
We will regret our apathy if we do not demonstrate our displeasure with this planning coup.
Dr. R.  Bahlieda
Newmarket

Details

Marion Plaunt
Planning Department
Town of Newmarket

Dear Ms. Plaunt,

Here are the themes I mentioned on Tuesday night during the public meeting about the proposed Slessor Square development.

  • I welcomed more density along the Yonge Street corridor
  • I recalled the Friday evening meeting convened by the United Way about social infrastructure and noted the reference by an earlier presenter to the concept of social capital outlined by urban expert Jane Jacobs, both based on less tangible aspects of community building
  • I wondered about the experience local people would have if the development goes ahead as planned:
    • what will it be like as a pedestrian on Yonge Street on a windy January day with even higher winds coming down off the towers and such little set back or stepback from the sidewalk
    • what it will be like for neighbours on the other side of George Street to have so many new neighbours on such a small footprint; increased traffic, shadowing, the looming presence of the towers
    • what it would be like to live there with the tiny amount of green space in the design. I asked where neighbours living there might go outdoors to play chess together, where residents could go outside to do tai chi together and where residents might go outside to socialize with families who came to visit as examples. I wondered if the balconies would be big enough for both sitting and potted plants for those who liked to garden. Accepting money instead of a parkette doesn't help those who will live in this development.
  • I said the town will be ill-served if none of the units are affordable. This kind of stratification hurts economic diversity, a necessary feature of healthy communities.
  • I insisted the planners could come up with much more creative plans for the buildings and the site that would suit Newmarket much better for a long time to come, that we did not need to repeat the errors made elsewhere as densification took place.

I hope this helps.

 

Robin Wardlaw

Details

To the Mayor and Councillors,
Newmarket.

I wish to express my strong opposition to the proposal for the Slessor site.

This important site must be planned and coordinated in conjunction with the much wider affected area of Yonge street and Davis drive . It should not be permitted to be developed at the proposed density and height unless Council is prepared to see this similar scale of development in many other locations along the Yonge and Davis frontages within Newmarket. Once established , the proposed development will set the precedent for all other applications .

The Slessor development is extreme in both height and density and more suited for locations such as those abutting the provincial 400 highways, and those with access to high volume mass transit much closer to Toronto.

Allowing this development to proceed outside of a new Zoning bylaw for the Yonge and Davis frontages will eliminate the only real opportunity for wide public input and rational planning . Variances of the scope needed to amend the existing Zoning for the Slessor site are far beyond those which should be approved , or in my opinion even be allowed to be submitted. Approving these kind of variances makes a mockery of good planning, and reduces the planning process simply to one of developer money and influence on a site by site basis. This is what zoning bylaws are intended to avoid, and variances to amend zoning bylaws should be the minimum necessary to comply with the intent of the bylaws, not to subvert them. The variances needed for this Slessor development will dramatically change the intent and purpose of the existing zoning on the site.

In conclusion, I believe that this application had been put together by accountants and engineers. There is minimal thought gone into the actual planning for this development. The intent seems to be to simply come up with a development proposal which will generate the highest financial return to the developer, and to then intimidate Newmarket Council into approval by its grandiose appearance.

Respectfully submitted,

 

Mr D Nelson
Newmarket

Details

217 Harrison Drive
Newmarket
L3Y 6B8

The Mayor and Councillors
Town of Newmarket
395 Mulock Drive
Newmarket L3Y 4X7

7 February 2012

Dear Mr Mayor and Councillors

Slessor Square

I want to thank you again for giving members of the public an opportunity to comment on the proposed zoning by law amendment which would pave the way for the Slessor Square development.

At the meeting last night I made a number of points relating to the proposed development and here I recap.

The developers say Slessor is an example of good planning in a high visibility site.  On the contrary, it is the antithesis of good planning. It is a massive over-development of a tight site of under 2 hectares.  It is too big.  Too bulky.  Too high.  And too dense.

Slessor wants a density of 832 persons and jobs per hectare.  The Town has a current
maximum for this area of 200 - 250.

The developers want 29 storeys.  The Town has a current maximum of 8 – although
departures from this maximum are frequent.

The developers want a colossal underground car park for over 1200 vehicles.  The
Town says it wants to see fewer parking spaces in this corridor.

Slessor Square will be visible for miles yet no viewshed analysis has been carried out.
This is a serious omission and the application should not progress until one has been
submitted.

The development goes way beyond all the standards and guidelines set out in the
relevant plans. Town, Regional and Provincial.  I am not aware of any planning policy
or planning statement that mentions densities even close to what is being proposed for
Slessor Square.

If the Council allows this, it will set a precedent and the skyline will be utterly
transformed within the space of a few years. And decisions still to be taken on the
Town’s forthcoming Secondary Plan for Yonge/Davis will be pre-empted.

The impact of the proposed development on the surrounding residential
neighbourhood will be profound. The developers are asking the Town to set aside
safeguards in the Official Plan specifically designed to protect neighbourhoods from
inappropriate and over bearing development.

The Town should advise the developers to withdraw their application and bring
forward proposals that conform to the existing Official Plan.

There should be no departures from the Plan through zoning by law amendments.
Any proposed development of this site which involve significant departures from the
existing Official Plan should await the publication and adoption of the Town’s
Secondary Plan which is currently in preparation.

One final point that did not arise last night.

The applicant, Dwight Slessor Holdings Limited, has contributed to the election
campaign funds of candidates running for office.

Provincial law does not require councillors to make a declaration of interest in respect
of these donations.

However, if councillors who received a financial benefit from the applicant consider
that a conflict of interest has arisen, then they should of course declare it.

I am attaching a further note (The Slessor Square development should be rejected)
which elaborates on some of the points made above

Yours sincerely

 

Gordon Prentice

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