This letter is in response…

This letter is in response to the consideration of the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing (the “Minister”) to make a Minister’s Zoning Order pursuant to section 47(1) of the Planning Act (an “MZO”) respecting the proposed development application submitted by Battcorp Holdings (Vaughan) Ltd. and Battcorp II Holdings (Vaughan) Ltd. (collectively, the “Applicant”) for the properties municipally described as 661 and 681 Chrislea Road in the City of Vaughan (the “Subject Property”).

The Subject Property is generally located on the south side of Langstaff Road between Weston Road and Highway 400 and is approximately 1.64 hectares in area. It is currently comprised of a gas station, auto repair and maintenance facilities, coffee shop, music school, and several office and commercial spaces. The Subject Property is designated “Prestige Employment” in the 2010 Vaughan Official Plan and three of its boundaries directly abut a Provincially Significant Employment Zone.

The Applicant is interested in converting and redeveloping the Subject Property to permit the development of four residential high-rise towers between 32-storeys and 35-storeys each in height and consisting of 1,488 residential units (the “Proposed Development”).

The TACC Group of Companies is proud to call the City of Vaughan home for almost four decades and employs over 2,500 people across the GTA. A number of its business operations are headquartered in very close proximity to the Subject Property within the City of Vaughan’s Prestige Employment area. This includes the main office of TACC Construction at 270 Chrislea Road, which is one kilometer directly south of the Subject Property.

For the reasons outlined in the balance of this letter, it is respectfully requested that the Minister reconsiders the issuance of an MZO to permit the Proposed Development.

By way of summary of the recent history of the matter, the Applicant completed its Pre-Application Consultation Meeting with the City of Vaughan (the “City”) on May 29, 2023, before the City deemed the submission of the requisite development applications complete on October 6, 2023. Shortly thereafter, in December of 2023, City Council agreed to submit a request that the Minister make a Community Infrastructure and Housing Accelerator (“CIHA”) Order pursuant to section 34.1 of the Planning Act in connection to the Proposed Development. Since that time, it is understood that certain proposed statutory amendments remove the Minister’s authority to make CIHA orders but that an MZO can still be used for similar purposes, and that the Minister is now considering the use of an MZO in connection to the Proposed Development as outlined in ERO Number 019-8617.

It remains unclear why the Proposed Development is being considered for ministerial zoning relief rather than requiring the Applicant to follow the typical planning processes of the City and the Region of York (the “Region”). Given the ambition of the Proposed Development, an MZO would have to be overarching in nature to exempt, without limitation, a Site Plan Application, Draft Plan of Subdivision Application, Draft Plan of Condominium Application, a Municipal Comprehensive Review, as well as to exempt conformity to the York Region Official Plan 2022, the Vaughan Official Plan 2010, the Provincial Policy Statement 2020, and A Place to Grow: Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe 2019. Adherence with these application processes and instruments is critical to supporting a comprehensive land use planning process with consideration to surrounding context and the promotion of good planning principles, all with the goal of building complete communities.

It is also not clear how the Proposed Development satisfactorily meets the provincial priority intake threshold of the zoning order framework for an MZO. The Subject Property is not within a Major Transit Station Area, or an Intensification Area as depicted in the relevant provincial and municipal plans, and the Proposed Development will not create a transit-oriented mixed-use community. The proposed density for the Subject Property is also disproportionate and more fitting for other major intensification areas that the City has identified in other locations, such as the Vaughan Metropolitan Centre.

Furthermore, the Proposed Development would be incompatible with the surrounding existing uses and would result in the creation of an isolated set of residential structures amidst active commercial operations. The immediate area surrounding the Subject Property lacks the elements of a typical residential neighbourhood including schools, community facilities, and walkable destinations. This sentiment is echoed in the Region’s letter to the City dated November 14, 2023 stressing its concerns with the Proposed Development:

“York Region Development Planning staff do not support the use of a CIHA Order on the subject lands to permit the proposed development. A comprehensive planning exercise of the larger non-employment lands should determine the appropriate amount and type of development commensurate with required hard and soft infrastructure and services. Complete communities are not created with an isolated island of high density residential, surrounded by an employment area and adjacent to a 400-series Highway.”

There is also significant concern with how the shoehorning of residential development amongst the longstanding pattern of employment uses surrounding the Subject Property would lead to a destabilization of the employment land. As a Provincially Significant Employment Zone, the area immediately south of the Subject Property bounded by Jevlan Drive and Chrislea Road serves as an engine for job creation and business activity in the City of Vaughan.

The Proposed Development would also lead to significant compatibility issues. As an example, TACC Construction, like many of its neighbours in the subject area, deploys a countless number of heavy vehicles on a daily basis travelling northerly on Chrislea Road and Silmar Drive – the latter being one of the only points of ingress and egress to and from the Subject Property – towards Langstaff Road, in order to access the adjacent southbound Highway 400 ramp. Considering the existing traffic congestion in the area, the density proposed through the Proposed Development would have an immediate detrimental transportation impact to the area.

In all aspects, the Proposed Development is not appropriate, does not represent good planning, and will threaten the long-term viability of the employment lands in the immediate proximity of the Subject Property.

It is kindly requested that you refuse to issue an MZO to permit the Proposed Development and instead return the matter to the City for its continued consideration through the typical public planning process.

Sincerely,

TACC GROUP OF COMPANIES