{"id":35425,"date":"2024-11-21T16:56:53","date_gmt":"2024-11-21T21:56:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=35425"},"modified":"2024-11-28T17:09:28","modified_gmt":"2024-11-28T22:09:28","slug":"apartment-proposal-spurs-concerns-about-sheppards-bush","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/apartment-proposal-spurs-concerns-about-sheppards-bush\/","title":{"rendered":"Apartment proposal spurs concerns about Sheppard\u2019s Bush"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A proposal to redevelop a corner of Industry and Mary Streets for purpose-built rental units has sparked concerns on its impact to both Mary Street and the adjacent Sheppard\u2019s Bush Conservation Area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The plan for a seven-storey apartment building of 97 units for a lot currently occupied by a single-storey industrial unit and a tennis court was before Council at last week\u2019s Public Planning meeting \u2013 but with just 71 parking spots earmarked as part of the proposal, residents questioned where any spillover parking would go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The obvious answer, from their perspective, was the Mary Street access to Sheppard\u2019s Bush, an area which is already challenged by commuters claiming spaces before getting on the GO Train.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s important that the Town and Council look at this very carefully about the impact on the zoning change and build\u2026 on the environment, parking, traffic and the integrity of surrounding building structures during the build before agreeing to proceed with this amendment and ultimate build,\u201d said resident Cheryl Bain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSheppard\u2019s Bush Conservation Area is a 26-hectare natural resource, a gem in the heart of Aurora\u2026 donated to be preserved for the enjoyment of Aurora residents. It is home to many diverse wildlife as well. It is accessed from the south by way of Industry Street\u2026 what steps will be put in place to ensure that this natural resource is not put in jeopardy by rezoning and the allowing of this seven-story building at its cusp. Parking is going to be another concern. Although the proximity to the GO Train station may persuade some to use this form of transportation, in reality it would not be the majority. This could equate to 200 or more cars to park somewhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhere will all these cars park? The Sheppard\u2019s Bush parking lot will be a prime location for them, which would not allow parking for patrons of Sheppard\u2019s Bush. Other surrounding areas will also be continuously filled with parked cars on Industry Street, Mary Street, and also cars on\u2026 surrounding business parking lots. Hand in hand with parking, comes traffic congestion. This will be a safety issue with the proposed build and the increased number of cars on the road each day trying to get out of Industry Street onto Mary Street.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mary Street was once a dead-end street, which served as a degree of traffic control, she said, a view which was shared by another resident who delegated to the meeting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keith Bennett, a resident of Mary Street for more than 30 years, said he has seen traffic grow \u201cexponentially\u201d in the intervening years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou need a lot of patience as it is right now,\u201d he said of trying to back out of his driveway. \u201cAlthough there is a sign there saying No Heavy Trucks, they are there constantly. Somebody has allowed GO Buses on Mary Street now and traffic is crazy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Council did not make a decision on the proposal, they welcomed the chance for it to come back to a future Public Planning meeting to address residents\u2019 concerns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ward 5 Councillor John Gallo said it would be good to look at redevelopment in this area as a holistic rather than \u201cpiecemeal\u201d approach, a view shared by Ward 2 Councillor Rachel Gilliland, who pointed out that that is on existing property owners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With that said, however, she said she was \u201cimpressed\u201d that the proposal was being brought forward as purpose-built rentals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe desperately need that type of development in our community,\u201d she said. \u201cBeing in the MTSA (Major Transit Station Area) I actually look at this application and wish it was more intensified.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the issue of traffic and its impact on Sheppard\u2019s Bush, Ward 4 Councillor Michael Thompson said he shared the concerns over the \u201coverflow\u201d and the impact this would have on community members as a whole looking for a place to park while enjoying the greenspace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSheppard\u2019s Bush is a community asset that gets well-utilized and we don\u2019t want to see anything that limits access to it,\u201d he said. \u201cI know it is kind of a little bit outside of the scope of the application, but at the same time it is impactful. It needs to have some consideration about how we can ensure Sheppard\u2019s Bush remains open to the greater community as well and not as a result of lack of parking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOne of the unique aspects of this application is it borders or is adjacent to Sheppard\u2019s Bush. While environmental studies are always part of the planning process, as mentioned by one of the residents, are there additional steps or more that we can do through this process to ensure this development does not negatively impact Sheppard\u2019s Bush and the utilization of that area by the greater community.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A similar view was offered by Ward 6 Councillor Harold Kim, who added: \u201cThis is an ideal place for purpose-built rentals. At the same time, we have to balance that with honouring and protecting whatever environmental land that exists adjacent to it, which is Sheppard\u2019s Bush.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Director of Planning Marco Ramunno told Council that parking and traffic studies will take place before the next meeting to make sure there is no \u201cdetrimental\u201d impact on the area. He also noted that parking could turn into a bylaw enforcement issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere are also warning clauses we can introduce to the future site plan and in those agreements to warn residents that the Sheppard\u2019s Bush is not a public parking zone or should not be used for visitor parking for the tenants of the building or owners of the building,\u201d he said. \u201cThese are comments that we\u2019ll take under review and moving forward, but we do have natural heritage review and geotechnical studies that will have to be reviewed to ensure\u2026 there is no detrimental impact to the woodland edge [of Sheppard\u2019s Bush].\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Taking in the feedback from Council and members of the Public, Mayor Tom Mrakas said he hoped the applicants \u201cheard loud and clear\u201d what they would like to see with the application.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Brock Weir<\/strong><\/p>\n\r\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A proposal to redevelop a corner of Industry and Mary Streets for purpose-built rental units has sparked concerns on its impact to both Mary Street and the adjacent Sheppard\u2019s Bush Conservation Area. The plan for a seven-storey apartment building of 97 units for a lot currently occupied by a single-storey industrial unit and a tennis […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35425","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general_news","category-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-9dn","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-20 12:29:26","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35425","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35425"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35425\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35426,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35425\/revisions\/35426"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35425"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35425"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35425"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}