The Mayor calls this decision a compromise to prevent an appeal to the Ontario Land Tribunal.
Markham council has given the green light to a revised subdivision plan for a significant development along Highway 7. Mayor Frank Scarpitti described this choice as a negotiated agreement influenced by the potential risk of an appeal to the Ontario Land Tribunal.
The council opted for the updated plan instead of facing a tribunal ruling.
During the meeting on March 24, Scarpitti explained that the approved proposal represents a middle ground.
“What we currently have here is a settlement. It is probably not as good as what we had originally when we passed this development,” he said.
He pointed out that the landowner could have appealed to the Ontario Land Tribunal, which might have left the city with less say over what happened next.
“That being said, this landowner could have started the whole process and gone to OLT and we would have probably just received the typical things that we could ask for,” he said. “I did spend a considerable time with the applicant and ask them not to do that, to actually work with us.”
A staff report indicated that this new draft plan was submitted after the owner withdrew a previously approved version in order to apply updated parkland dedication rates under provincial legislation, thus lowering parkland commitments.
This proposal, brought forth by 2690622 Ontario Inc., c/o Kingdom Development Inc., pertains to properties at 4077, 4101 and 4121 Highway 7 E. It will allow for multi-phase development featuring mid- and high-rise buildings, public roads, parks, and greenway areas.
The plans still include providing a public park covering about 0.53 hectares.
The subdivision will set up four development blocks along with public roads and parklands aimed at supporting mixed-use mid- and high-rise projects.
The site spans 5.8 hectares on the south side of Highway 7, east of Birchmount Road, and is currently partly vacant.
The staff mentioned that this application complies with Planning Act requirements and aligns with provincial, regional, and municipal policies while recommending approval under certain conditions.
An earlier version of this subdivision was initially draft-approved in 2014 but has been revised multiple times; now this current application replaces those previous approvals.
Sscarlett Liu is a federally funded reporter at Markham Economist & Sun
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