[getsmart-l] Markham: Residents cry foul over plaza

[Janet May]

New urbanist residents cry foul over plaza 

  

Markham 

Sep 22, 2007 05:56 AM 


By: Simone Joseph 

Greg Scully knew there would be a retail plaza near his Angus Glen home when
he bought it six years ago.

But he didn't imagine it would be like what is proposed for the southwest
corner of Major Mackenzie Drive and Kennedy Road.

"We have no problem with commercial development," Mr. Scully said before a
community meeting at Angus Glen Golf Club Wednesday.

"It is the way they are developing it, the proposal (that is the problem),"
neighbour Janet Jones said.

So is the area to become some massive shopping complex? A big box power
centre? Something unseen in York Region?

No, the "retail village", as it's being called, is a conventional strip
plaza with a Starbucks and probably a bank, a daycare, a haircutting salon,
a pub and an optometrist's office.

But when Mr. Scully bought his townhouse, sales agents and the secondary
plan promoted Angus Glen as a "new urban development", a trend that promotes
pedestrian-friendly streets.

The roads are narrower, meant to encourage walking rather than driving.

Parts of the developer's plan, including a drive-through Starbucks, are not
in keeping with new urbanism, Mr. Scully said.

That has the neighbourhood concerned about noise and traffic, which wouldn't
have been a problem if the plaza was designed mainly for pedestrian traffic.

"They have entrances (to the plaza area) coming right up to our doorsteps,"
he said. "We're putting our (neighbourhood) children at risk." 

Kylemore Communities president Patrick O'Hanlon disagrees with Mr. Scully's
assessment. "We tried to maintain the architectural style and the Angus Glen
flavour," he said.

Tim Hortons and other eateries showed interest in becoming part of the
plaza, said David Black, broker and owner of Monopoly Commercial Realty
Inc., leasing agent for Angus Glen. Monopoly Realty is a real estate
brokerage company. 

The builder rejected these retailers, which would have resulted in three
times as much traffic as Starbucks, Mr. Black said.

"We don't want to put just anyone there," Mr. O'Hanlon said.

Certain aspects of the plaza can be altered to meet residents' needs,
according to Mr. O'Hanlon.

"We can dictate (trucks) come in a different way," he said, addressing
concerns about the route garbage trucks would take.

Anyone buying a home should visit the local planning department to see what
is in the works for the area, suggested Councillor Dan Horchik, who arranged
the meeting. 

Some developers post a secondary plan in their sales office, he said.

The town will review the development plan and suggest changes.

Construction of the plaza is expected to take up to a year.

 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://list.web.net/archives/getsmart-l/attachments/20070926/091e8651/attachment.htm