Communications
Gary Atkins
former crpa president
Last updated May 30, 2006

Eastern Markham Strategic Review

After 3 years, 14 Committee Meetings, 4 Public Forums and hours and hours of Staff and consultant time the Eastern Markham Strategic Review was published (available on the Town Website).  If you go through its 43 pages you begin to sense that this is not so much a Planning Document but rather an outline and/or forecast of what will be needed in the future to provide a land use charter for these lands which comprise an amazing 24% of Markham.  Obviously, it is of great importance to us in Cornell (and Box Grove) as this is the land to our immediate east and will define our future as more sprawl or noteworthy green space.  

Words like Vision, Community, Heritage are used to form the approach and  action words like “strengthen”, “enhance”, “protect” and “balance” hint at the strategy.  The Report presents a Vision based on the concept of “countryside”  --  and goes on to identify Five Principles, and some Forty recommended Actions to respond to the Principles, all of which speak about  the environment, land use, heritage, transportation and related matters. What isn’t so obvious is how the Town intends to create a huge zone of restricted development right in the middle of two jurisdictions intent and dependent on high density development activity.

The Environmental System

The central premise and the dependent condition is the linking of the Oak Ridges Moraine to Lake Ontario, an ambition to be celebrated.  These provincially-owned lands have high ecological importance and include Little Rouge Creek, links to Rouge Park, Petticoat Creek and Duffins Creek.   For us, the immediate benefits are the completion of the Rouge Park which, as shown on the area maps, are to Cornell’s immediate east (just over the Markham by-pass). This has long been a Cornell promise;  primarily to link to a major Conservation area for advanced recreation and secondarily to protect from the probable never-ending continuum of high density development. Having the Rouge Park right next door is a significant asset to Cornell; certainly no other GTA area would be able to boast of such an extent of linked parks.

However, to make this happen Markham has to spend time, energy and probably some money on 2 separate files. First, the Town must take a very active role in the Planning for the Pickering Airport to ensure environmental protection.  A key will be to learn if more lands will be needed for buffers and protected zones.  The Airport site does contain a number of tributaries of the Little Rouge and Duffins Creek.  So far, Markham’s record of protecting water is not very good;  far too many have been piped and diverted to accommodate development.

Also, the Town will have to be more aggressive in getting the Rouge North Management Plan implemented fully. The final Plan will identify permitted uses, restoration areas, trails and other amenities through a 600 metre corridor between the 9th Line and Steeles and Major MacKenzie; a significant undertaking. And for sure, Markham has to be more proactive with its Partners in this endeavor.

Present and Future Land Use

This is a fascinating part of the Report.  Will Markham really allow 24% of its area to remain a development restricted zone?  Will it support an agriculture economy? Consider the constraints; high land prices, limited agricultural support, proximity to urban areas etc.  And yet that is what they say they want to do, they profess to want to support agricultural use in perpetuity through land purchase and support for the tenure purchase program.

But, how will this be accomplished given the current Plans for Employment Lands, the Airport and York Region Transit? Common to all of these is a need for a high population base and an advanced traffic infrastructure.

The Report continues to say that there will be every effort to retain all of the vast number of heritage resources to complement the Countryside Vision. Again, the record shows that Markham’s record of keeping its heritage is policy lenient and carelessly supervised.  Heritage preservation requires considerable dollars and Markham has many higher financial priorities. Thus, this will be an ongoing challenge.

Recommended Actions

On July 8, 2003 Council endorsed the 5 Principles and 40 Actions of the Final Report.  This tends to exaggerate the scope of the effort. What was endorsed was the need to continue to discuss and negotiate with many levels of government. The Province owns much of the land. The Federal Government owns land and has significant regulatory control. GO Transit and Toronto and Region Conservation Authority play a huge role. 

It is no wonder that there was the suggestion that a Rural Markham Liaison Committee be created to continue this work. One does wonder why Cornell, the next-door neighbour, has not been invited to participate.

In summary, Cornell applauds the intent to keep the rest of Markham as green as it can be and congratulates the Planners in recognizing the need for a balance of density, agriculture, heritage and conservation. The work ahead is immense and there will be a need to have a steel-willed resolve especially when confronted with the pressure of lucrative development dollars.  

Grand Cornell Public Planning Meeting Review

On Tuesday, November 8th, The Town of Markham held a public planning meeting regarding future development in Grand Cornell. The plan amendments proposed were important because of the increase in density that they would bring - specifically in the form of high rise buildings that were not in the original Cornell plans. Overall the CRPA is happy with the plans that were presented but voiced concerns regarding density, building height and traffic congestion. Also of issue, is the location - once again - of the bus loop, which due to some oversight has been placed on top of a local land owners property! This is the first of a number of meetings regarding these plans, and we wil keep you posted as things progress.

See below for the link to meeting minutes, as well as three maps by HR developments showing proposed zoning for the high density areas:

> Cornell Public Meeting Minutes

HR Maps

Cranes, Drains, and Automobiles

With all the construction equipment back at work on 9th Line during the month of May, I’m sure you all thought the widening of 9th Line had finally begun… psyche!  You can take your foot of the gas pedal and slip it back into neutral folks – it was just more drain work.

One of the earliest meetings I was asked to attend after becoming President of the RatePayers, was to continue discussion and decision-making on the 9th Line. Since then, it’s still the same.

Cornell and Participation House are two key stakeholders.  We need to have access and egress – and no – we don’t want this to be a high volume traffic carrier. Participation House has the same demands, with a greater sense of urgency. The Region would like it to be, in my opinion, a feeder from Stouffville and beyond, which would mean a wide multi-lane road with higher speed limits. Fortunately, our neighbouring Rate Payer groups have done a great deal of work on noise levels, traffic counts, and community awareness, all of which mitigates against this design.

I believe that the consensus is that the Region should build an “urban boulevard.” This would be a narrow, four-lane road, with passing lanes and esthetically pleasing landscapes. Although typically this is not amenable to high volume and speed limits, stoplights and even traffic humps could also be incorporated into the design. High-speed traffic would then tend to use the by-pass, which after all, is what it’s supposed to do. Such a design would be within the concepts of a New Urbanist community – the edge should define the beginning of the community.

Now, when will the decision actually be made? I heard we’re still at design point zero… BUT the Region won’t keep the money in the budget forever. Stand by, it has to happen one of these days!

Cornell Center – Public Meeting June 29th, 2005

Overall we found the June 29th Town Center meeting to be of interest but we do have some concerns, we hope that the Town of Markham will consult with Andres Duany – Prominent New Urbanist Architect and Planner – on a go forward basis.

The density increases are, I am told, a dictate of the Province to the Region with the demands of York Transit being the primary factor. My concern is that the proposed built form be such that it is integrated into the community and that it retains the guidelines in the New Urbanist envelope.

Cornell is very much a work-in-progress and we must be vigilant to maintain the standards that we have fought to put into place. We must integrate ourselves to this process and ensure that the Town accepts our input as a value.

For more information on these new plans or more information on New Urbanism please refer to the links below:

 

Cornell Centre District

Cornell Secondary Plan Review Update
http://www.markham.ca/markham/channels/planning/studies_cornell.htm

 

New Urbanism

CNU - Congress For The New Urbanism
http://www.cnu.org/index.cfm

New Urban News
http://www.newurbannews.com

National Geographic - The Virtual Suburb
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/earthpulse/sprawl/index_flash.html

Online NewsHour Special
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/newurbanism

 

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