Thank you to all the Weston Downs Residents! Your passionate letters and deputations made a difference. On May 18th, through a closed door session, council ratified the motion from the Committee of the Whole meeting of May 11th, 2021, to send the 4101 Rutherford Road landowner and the Weston Downs Community to an LPAT-led Mediation. Mediation will allow the community, the city, and the landowner to negotiate for a building that will respect the character of the Weston Downs Community. Council committed that if LPAT-led Mediation fails, they will reject the proposed plan.
Prior to the May 11th Committee of the Whole Meeting, Vaughan City planners had recommended that City Council approve the landowners proposal. On May 11th, City Council had the option to approve or reject the proposal. City Council deferred its decision and sent it to LPAT-led mediation in order to allow the stakeholders to arrive at a compromise. Prior to the May 11th Committee of the Whole meeting the landowner had already appealed his case to the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal (LPAT – formally the OMB).
If you missed the Public Hearing that happened on September 17th we’re providing a video link. There were 700+ residents of Weston Downs that showed up to speak up against the Velmar Plaza Development. And we were loud. Take a look at the video and send us your comments.
Thank you to all the residents of Weston Downs and adjacent neighbourhoods for coming out and supporting us! Wow… What a turnout! The council chambers were packed and the overflow area had to be used to accommodate all of our supporters.
They put us last on the Agenda. They didn’t give us enough chairs. They didn’t even have speakers so that we could hear properly. And they put us behind Doo Doo the Clown (no disrespect intended towards Doo Doo…) . But they kept an anxious group of Residents waiting. But we persevered. Voiced our opinion. Sometimes Loudly. But definitely we were articulate and passionate.
Public consultation is an important part of the application process. Members of the public are invited to provide comments at the Public Hearing. For those who plan on attending the Public Hearing, here is a link to the deputation form. Hard copies will also be available in Council Chamber that evening.
ALL APPENDICES ARE AVAILABLE FROM THE CITY CLERK’S OFFICE
PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS MEETING WILL BE AUDIO RECORDED
AND VIDEO BROADCAST www.vaughan.ca (Agendas, Minutes and Live Council Broadcast)
Mayor and Members of Council
2141 Major Mackenzie Drive
Vaughan, Ontario
L6A 1T1
RE: PUBLIC HEARING
Official Plan Amendment File OP.19.003
Zoning By-law Amendment File Z.19.008
Velmar Centre Property Limited Applications
4101Rutherford Road
Dear Mayor and Members of Council,
We hereby oppose the approval of the Official Plan Amendment OP.19.003 and Zoning By-Law Amendment Z.19.08 submitted by Velmar Centre Property Limited to permit the development of a 7-storey mixed-use residential apartment building that includes 139 residential units and 615 m2 of commercial space, at 4101 Rutherford Road.
We oppose the approval to the Official Plan and Zoning By-Law for the following reasons:
The proposed built form of this 7-storey building is not compatible with the built form of the surrounding community of single-family
This apartment is out of character with the neighbourhood. In fact this community was built as a cohesive community with minimum 60 foot lots and unique urban design guidelines. This apartment building will destroy the character of the community that we have loved and lived in for over three decades.
The density of this proposal is too high. Though the current Official Plan permits a density of no greater than 5 FSI, this applicant is proposing a density of 3.14 FSI.
This proposal will compound the current traffic issues that the Weston Downs community is experiencing with traffic Many residents who live to the north and west of Weston Downs cut through our residential streets in order to circumvent the gridlock on Weston Road during the morning and evening rush hours.
Weston Road and Rutherford Road already experience traffic issues. The current residents of Weston Downs have difficulty turning onto Rutherford Road in the morning not to mention adding an additional 200 or more cars to the problem of turning right or left onto Rutherford.
This tall and large apartment building will overshadow the tennis court and park which abut the proposed apartment building.
The tall and large apartment building will cast shadows on the houses that are across the street from this development.
There are only 3 parking spaces at grade with the remaining 257 parking spaces located in the 3 underground parking It is clear from this parking situation that this will no longer serve as a local convenience plaza for our neighbourhood. The residents of Weston Downs do not want to run in and out of our local stores by parking underground. The local plaza stores essentially will be unusable for our Weston Downs Community.
The access in and out of the apartment building complex will not work properly. It is currently difficult to go in and out of the plaza during the morning and afternoon rush since there is a line of cars along Velmar which infiltrate Weston Downs in order to bypass the gridlock on Weston Road and Rutherford Road. It is currently difficult for our current residents to leave their properties as they try to enter the gridlock on Velmar caused by infiltration during these times. How do you expect an additional 200 cars to do this in the morning and afternoon rush?
This proposal has directed the commercial space towards the Rutherford Road frontage indicating that they want to encourage a pedestrian friendly environment. This will accomplish the opposite. Without the commercial space on Velmar, our community of approximately 5000 residents will no longer have convenient access to our local plaza establishments.
It is too soon after the last VOP 2010 review to make such changes to the official plan. The City invested a significant amount of time and money into the VOP review and it is not appropriate for a developer to try to change what has just been approved just to increase their profits
In conclusion, we ask that Council turn down this application as presented based on the excessive density, traffic issues, ingress and egress issues as well as unsuitable built form. This proposal is not compatible with the character of the vibrant Weston Downs community. It will cause shadows and traffic issues that will serve to reduce the current resident’s enjoyment of their homes and community. This proposal will take away the convenience of visiting our local stores both because of parking issues, traffic and the relocation of the stores. Please do the right thing and support our residents by turning down this proposal.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Yours truly,
Nadia Magarelli
Co-president, Weston Downs Ratepayers Association
Public Meeting regarding an application to permit a 7-storey mixed-use residential apartment building at Velmar Plaza in Weston Downs
When:
Tuesday, September 17, 2019 at 7 pm
Where:
Vaughan City Hall, Council Chamber
2141 Major Mackenzie Drive, Vaughan, Ontario L6A 1T1
Why:
The owner of Velmar Plaza at Rutherford and Velmar has submitted an application to build a mixed-use residential apartment building.
7−storey
139 residential units
615 ?2 ground floor commercial space
only 3 parking spaces at grade
257 underground parking spaces in the 3 underground levels
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Please come out and say:
NO to the proposed 7-storey apartment building.
NO to the redevelopment of our 3 local plazas into mixed-use apartment buildings.
NO to higher density … traffic infiltration is already a problem in Weston Downs.
NO to additional cars … Weston Road and Rutherford are already congested.
Your presence will speak louder than words
Sign the Petition
The Weston Downs Ratepayers Association will be hosting a Meet and Greet to sign petitions, talk to neighbours and provide updates regarding this 7-storey apartment building proposal.
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Date: Saturday, September 14th, 2019 Time: 2 pm to 5 pm Location: Velmar Park (Velmar and Rutherford)
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Weston Downs Ratepayers Street Representatives will be visiting your street with petitions.
If you have not signed the petition, then be sure to attend the Meet and Greet and bring your neighbours too!
A public hearing to receive input on the following planning applications will be held on:
COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE (PUBLIC HEARING) September 17, 2019 at 7:00 pm at VAUGHAN CITY HALL, COUNCIL CHAMBER 2141 MAJOR MACKENZIE DRIVE, VAUGHAN, ONTARIO, L6A 1T1
PROPERTY:
4101 Rutherford Road, (southwest corner of Rutherford Road and Velmar Drive) (Attachment 1 – Ward 3).
APPLICATIONS:
The following applications have been submitted to permit the development of the Subject Lands with a ?-storey mixed-use residential apartment building that includes 139 residential units, 615 m2 of ground floor commercial space at grade, 3 parking spaces at grade, 257 parking spaces within 3 levels of underground parking, with a total Gross Floor Area (GFA) of 13,035 m2, and a Floor Space Index (FSI) of 3.15 times the lot area as shown on Attachments 2 to 6:
Official Plan Amendment File OP.19.003 to amend Vaughan Official Plan (“VOP 201 O”), specifically the “Low-Rise Mixed-Use” designation on the Subject Lands to increase the maximum permitted building height and FSI from 4-storeys and 1.5 times the area of the lot to ?-storeys and 3.15 times the area of the lot respectively.
Zoning By-law Amendment File Z.19.008 to amend Zoning By-law 1-88, to rezone the Subject Lands from “C3 Local Commercial Zone”, subject to site-specific Exception 9(814) to “RA2 Apartment Residential Zone”, together with the necessary site-specific zoning to implement the proposed development shown on Attachments 2 to 6.
APPLICANT:
Velmar Centre Property Limited
FILE NUMBER(S):
OP.19.003 and Z.19.008
CONTACT:
Additional information may be obtained from Clement Messere, Senior Planner, of the Development Planning Department at 905-832-8585, Extension 8409. Comments may also be mailed to the Development Planning Department at the same address, or faxed to (905) 832-6080, or e-mailed to DevelopmentPlanninq@vauqhan.ca prior to the meeting (please quote file name and numbers).
The Planning Act, R. S. 0. 1990, c.P. 13 authorizes the City of Vaughan to collect any personal information in your communication or presentation to City Council or its Committees. The City collects this information to enable it to make informed decisions on the relevant issue(s). If you are submitting letters, facsimiles, e-mails, presentations or other communications to the City, you should be aware that your name and the fact that you communicated with the City will become part of the public record and will appear on the City’s website. The City will also make your communication and any personal information in it such as your address and postal code or e-mail address available to the public unless you expressly request the City to remove it. The City audio records Council and Committee meetings. If you make a presentation to a Council or Committee, the City will be audio recording you and City staff may make these recordings available to the public.
Please direct any questions about this collection to the Senior Planner listed above.
JASON SCHMIDT-SHOUKRI, Deputy City Manager, Planning and Growth Management TODD COLES, City Clerk
Official Plan /0. Reg. 543/06) If a person or public body would otherwise have an ability to appeal the decision of the City of Vaughan and/or the Regional Municipality of York, to the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal but the person or public body does not make oral submissions at a public meeting or make written submissions to the City of Vaughan before the proposed Official Plan Amendment is adopted, the person or public body is not entitled to appeal the decision.
If a person or public body does not make oral submissions at a public meeting or make written submissions to the City of Vaughan before the proposed Official Plan Amendment is adopted, the person or public body may not be added as a party to the hearing of an appeal before the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal unless, in the opinion of the Tribunal, there are reasonable grounds to add the person or public body as a party.
If you wish to be notified of the adoption of the proposed Official Plan Amendment, or of the refusal of a request to amend the official plan, you must make a written request to the City of Vaughan, City Clerk’s Office, 2141 Major Mackenzie Drive, Vaughan, Ontario L6A 1T1.
Zoning By-law (0. Reg. 545/06)
If a person or public body would otherwise have an ability to appeal the decision of the City of Vaughan to the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal but the person or public body does not make oral submissions at a public meeting or make written submissions to the City of Vaughan before the by-law is passed, the person or public body is not entitled to appeal the decision.
If a person or public body does not make oral submissions at a public meeting, or make written submissions to the City of Vaughan before the by-law is passed, the person or public body may not be added as a party to the hearing of an appeal before the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal unless, in the opinion of the Tribunal, there are reasonable grounds to do so.
If you wish to be notified of the passing of a Zoning By-law, you must make a written request to the City of Vaughan, City Clerk’s Office, 2141 Major Mackenzie Drive, Vaughan, Ontario L6A 1T1.
DATED at the City of Vaughan this 23rd day of August, 2019.
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