Undead said:
Plus ca change:

Click to expand...

Hmmm, let's look at the contents of their letter, shall we?

I will use quotation styling to show their comments vs my own.

We have monitored this application to-date, met with Liberty Group for a presentation and educated
ourselves. We support reasonable densification, which we know is required to serve the growth plan in
the region, but this massive proposal is not appropriate for many important reasons:

Excessive condo construction in area - Massive developments have already been approved on
the east and west sides of Yonge Street along the planned subway extension, from Steeles Avenue
north to the Langstaff Gateway lands. Developers have proposed at least 28 towers (approx. 12,000
new units) and Langstaff Gateway may also add 30+ condo towers (15,000 units). The population of
the Yonge Street corridor could easily increase by over 40,000 people.
Click to expand...

That's a lot of people, granted.................. AND?

Reduced parking requested by the Developer - Parking Standard By-laws requires parking to be
provided at a rate of 1.25 residential spaces per unit plus 0.25 visitor spaces per unit. The Developer
is requesting less than minimum parking and asked RORA to support this request to reduce their
building costs. We do not support any aspect of the current application, particularly a lower than
required parking space allotment, as these cars would end up parked on neighbourhood roads.
Click to expand...

Of course, I think it's great the developer asked for a lower parking permission. I don't, however, recall reading a transportation impact study for this one, I wouldn't mind seeing a deal/commitment
from York Region in respect of the level of bus service on Bayview (needs to go up); and I do think the connections over to Yonge aren't ideal and could use some work. But I wouldn't call that a reason
to oppose the development, but rather a basis for refining it.

Height of Neighbouring Condos - The Landmark (across Bayview) is 14 stories; the recently
approved Tridel buildings (adjacent to the north) will be 12 and 14 storeys; Glynnwood (adjacent to
the south) is approved for an 8-storey extension and the proposed Thornhill Square development
(across Bayview) has a proposed maximum height of 15 storeys. As proposed, the Liberty towers
will be up to 4.5x as high! The Liberty development should be limited to approved heights of
comparable neighbouring condos, and fitting the character of the existing neighbourhood.
Click to expand...

Really? Sincere question.....if the lowest comparable building is 12 floors and the tallest in this proposal is 35, if floor heights were the same
the height difference should be just shy of 3x. Is Liberty proposing 12ft ceilings?

Proposed project is out of character with existing neighbourhood
If approved, condos will jut out of an expanse of green space and loom over an established
neighbourhood characterized by historic buildings, a mix of single family houses and low to medium
density buildings. This project as proposed will not fit into, nor connect to, the neighbourhood.
Click to expand...

Bad argument on several levels. No building of a height over 3s would meet this threshold in the minds of the local residents Assoc.

Besides, the existing character must and will change (upside for the homeowners, their property values are going to spike)

Negative environmental impact Healthy ecosystems contribute to healthy, economically sound
communities. Development plans must consider environmental impacts. This project site is in an
area of sensitive environmental land full of mature trees and home to multiple species of flora and
fauna, as well as migratory bird paths. Construction of the proposed magnitude will have
devastating and lasting impact on the environment and ecosystems in the area. Additional impact
studies must be considered.
Click to expand...

As you might imagine, I have some time for this one.

But, I don't think we need a slew of new studies. We need requirements for bird-safe windows, ideally, and some of the buildings would be set back just a bit further from the ravine lands, with the surplus land conveyed to the TRCA for a nominal cost. Extra points for green roof pollinator gardens particularly on podiums and lower height buildings.

Consideration of community impacts - Tens of thousands of new residents will be added to the
Thornhill neighbourhood (based on above noted new projects) at a risk of overwhelming community
services, infrastructure, facilities and limited public green space. Adding another 1287+ units only
exacerbates the situation. Further analysis of infrastructure and a coordinated plan are necessary.
Click to expand...

That last bit is fair, in order to understand the future demands on infrastructure, and community services, you need to have a convincingly accurate picture of how development is likely to unfold;
and what investments are required accordingly.
 
Recording of the community consultation:

markham-ca.zoom.us

Video Conferencing, Web Conferencing, Webinars, Screen Sharing

Zoom is the leader in modern enterprise video communications, with an easy, reliable cloud platform for video and audio conferencing, chat, and webinars across mobile, desktop, and room systems. Zoom Rooms is the original software-based conference room solution used around the world in board...
markham-ca.zoom.us markham-ca.zoom.us

From the presentation:

a.JPG

Thought the private shuttle idea was interesting:
b.JPG

Looks like York Region has plans to widen Bayview:
c.JPG

Thought @Northern Light would find the park plan interesting:
d.JPG


I'm not a fan of the park and parking lot facing the new Royal Orchard-Bayview intersection. It would have been more optimal to place of the towers there and preserve more of the hospital's green space.
 
Undead said:
Recording of the community consultation:

markham-ca.zoom.us

Video Conferencing, Web Conferencing, Webinars, Screen Sharing

Zoom is the leader in modern enterprise video communications, with an easy, reliable cloud platform for video and audio conferencing, chat, and webinars across mobile, desktop, and room systems. Zoom Rooms is the original software-based conference room solution used around the world in board...
markham-ca.zoom.us markham-ca.zoom.us

From the presentation:

View attachment 373641
Thought the private shuttle idea was interesting:
View attachment 373642
Looks like York Region has plans to widen Bayview:
View attachment 373643
Thought @Northern Light would find the park plan interesting:
View attachment 373644

I'm not a fan of the park and parking lot facing the new Royal Orchard-Bayview intersection. It would have been more optimal to place of the towers there and preserve more of the hospital's green space.
Click to expand...

I'll look the entire thing over later......it's almost dinner time!


But I want to comment on that last item, the siting of the new park.
I know exactly what's going on w/that.

Notice that the bulk of the park is in fact set back from the road; and that there's a narrower strip out to the road.
That has been done, almost certainly, because a public park has to have a legal public access without crossing private property.
That's necessary for both City staff to maintain the park, but also for the general public.
The alternative, in the current scheme would have the public walking either across the privately-owned parking lot, or a private road access.
That's a non-starter. Since the park must have an access to the public road, the body of the park can only be so far in (you're not going to make someone walk 300M to get to the main park.
 
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Northern Light said:
Bold move.

Maybe it will inspire Toronto to buy a golf course or two.............
Click to expand...

Toronto's style is more to announce their intent to build the world's most amazing park (insert comparison to a real "world-class park" so it's Toronto's version of the High Line or Central Park or Hyde Park or Millenium Park or whatever), release renderings of it and then never actually take any steps towards acquiring the land or building it etc.

But Toronto does own a few public golf courses they could certainly turn into proper public parks, if they're looking for another route to go. But they won't do that either.

Markham pulling the trigger on almost $200M on one park (on a really nice piece of land, with some history to it) seems pretty admirable, off-hand. I guess one could gripe about lost housing units but they've got plenty of units going in just a bit to the north, in Langstaff Gateway so there may be some wisdom in grabbing parkland where and when you can, in a fast-growing city.
 
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Where is the hospital moving to? Or are they simply closing down operations?
 
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