Weston Road & Highway 7 Condo Development Public Meeting

As per my intial post, the City of Vaughan Committee of the Whole Public meeting took place last night, and while there were 4 items on the agenda, clearly most of the attendees were there for the last item...

The Liberty Development application of 7777 Weston Road (formerly the site of the Al Palladini dealership).

Although I had intended to be present, circumstances changed.  I was however, tuned into the live broadcast of Vaughan Council Chambers.  I was told that the Council Chambers were fairly packed with interest from the public.

There were a number of deputations made by the public along with East Woodbridge Community Association President, Roseanna DeFrancesca. Mrs. DeFrancesca as you may or may not know, has thrown in her nomination hat for Ward 3 Councillor in the upcoming November municipal election.  She also was behind the campaign to notify neighbourhood residents of the Committee Meeting, which is how I learned about the date.  It turns out that the agenda for the meeting did not surface on the municipal website until late last week.  I personally called the City only to find out that "they were behind schedule" on posting the agenda.  In any event, I thank Mrs. DeFrancesca for her efforts.

As I noted in my initial blog post, the main issues of concern voiced by most of the deputants revolved around traffic, density, overall building height and the strain on municipal services.

Peter Weston of the Weston Consulting Group was present representing the applicant, Liberty Development.

Mr. Weston was diplomatic in his address to Council along with the public concerns and was quick to acknowledge that this was an initial step in a long process and that his client would work with members of City staff and the community in trying to come to terms with an acceptable outcome for all.  Quite frankly, he had no choice to do otherwise.

What I found interesting in his comments were that:

a) the development would likely take in the range of 8-10 years for completion, and that
b) the transportation issues would be addressed by introducting a  4-way stoplight at the intersection of Northview Blvd and Weston road (which currently offers right-in, right-out access only), the completion of the Chrislea Rd. 400 overhang and the further development of high speed transit routes and the York Spadina Subway extension.

All the issues presented were valid ones, but without access to studies to address the issues, it's very difficult to intelligently conclude on any of the matters.

What I can say for certain is that a 8-10 year timespan for development will undoubtedly increase the strain on this intersection and community residents and business owners during the development period.

Secondly, the fact that the transportation feasibility hinges on an the enhanced transit system seems to be a rather weak foundation.  There is no certainty as to an ultimate completion date and although the project is underway and even ahead of schedule (according to some), there's nothing to suggest that the project can't be halted or delayed in the future for any number of reasons.  What happens then?  Do we politely ask Liberty to stop development and construction?  The credit crisis should be the latest and most obvious lesson that nothing is certain.  Furthermore, this site will not be "on the line".  Residents will still need to commute to the subway if that is their choice transportation.

If the would-be residents decide to commute East (which is most likely the case) by way of high speed transit, they'll need to walk across Highway 7.  A underground tunnel or overhead bridge that directly leads to the transit connection point, should in my opinion, become a mandatory requirement in the eventual development. Anything less would seriously compromise the safety of pedestrians.  As we've regrettably seen the past two weeks, pedestrian street safety is a growing concern.

The comments made during the meeting will now be collected and synthesized by City staff, who will then address such concerns with the Developer for additional commentary.  A motion was also carried that a sub-committee be formed in consultation with the Rate Payer's group and other community stakeholders to help advance and the public issues with the Developer.

Although it all sounded like all parties would leave to work it all out and live happily ever after, I think we all know where this is eventually headed...

One Major Battle...or, OMB for short.

(Author's note:  The photo above is from Liberty's Thornhill City Centre Vista (22 storeys) and Beverley (19 storeys) development...the proposal for 7777 Weston calls for 33 storeys)