Bayview and John Visioning exercise

• AWRA  is eager  to collaborate with Markham Urban Planning staff (see our email dated February 20th)
• We aim to be a conduit to address community questions and concerns. Please see our communications with Markham's Urban Planning Project Lead

1. July 10th and 17th email exchange
2. July 10th Attachment Community questions and concerns 

 Preparing for the public visioning exercise will help us improve the chance of a successful vision. 

 AWRA is organizing a working group to bring together community questions, concerns, and ideas on our area's future. If you are interested, please check out our call for volunteers.

The redevelopment of Thornhill Square and the upcoming Bayview and John Visioning exercise opens the door to pursue the opportunity to improve our neighbourhood and to create a vibrant urban focal point for the surrounding community as intended in the Markham official plan.

The Bayview and John visioning exercise opens unique opportunities including:

• The creation of a vibrant Town Centre to serve Ward 1 community. It will provide much-needed amenities  where people can get together to interact, to celebrate, to stroll, or just to enjoy day-to-day living.  See this document for a reference.

•  Aileen-Willowbrook neighborhood becoming a more complete community (a modern urban concept to address the issues faced by commuter communities).  All levels of government support Complete Communities development. This includes Ontario, York Region, and City of Markham.

• Better community services sized to serve our growing communities.

Population growth combined with  the need to limit further urban sprawl has driven "intensification" within existing urban areas.  

Furthermore,  decades of housing supply deficits, left unchecked by policy makers, have lead to a historic housing affordability crisis.  

This "emergency" housing crisis has led to lowering many urban planning development "barriers". This leaves urban development open to abuse and overdevelopment. This, in turn, threatens the quality of life of current and future residents.

Although the overdevelopment proposed for Shouldice lands was adverted, the Thornhill Square redevelopment (currently on hold due to sanitary capacity constraints) poses another threat to the livability of the area. 

Planning Act changes have shifted the focus of municipal urban planners towards building  more units, not better communities. This can be clearly seen in the draft document presented by staff,  where the only opportunity envisioned in the document is to build 2 towers over 15 storeys in the parking lot fronting Green Lane.

For communities to thrive, they need a more balanced approach. It must ensure they are complete in terms of services, transportation, parks, and more for our communities to be a vibrant place to live, work, shop, and play!

Ward 1 amenities and Community service levels are already overloaded according to City of Markham standards.  Recently approved development will raise our neighborhood's population by at least 15%. We need to fix this service deficit.

But these services reach beyond the AWRA community. They serve all Ward 1, whose population will double in the coming years due to developments in the Yonge North Subway Extension, the Bridge TOC, and the Langstaff Gateway area. 

Yet, regardless of the foreseeable increase in demand, Commercial and Retail services will be drastically reduced if Thornhill Square is redeveloped as per the 2023 settlement agreement (for more info visit our Thornhill Square webpage).