Last Friday, Councillor Sandra Racco sponsored a meeting between PTWA and the City of Vaughan’s Planning department. The main goals of the meeting were to review the revised Jaffari development application, to discuss both the city and PTWA’s positions on the identified issues and to get an update on the process and timing for the ongoing review of this application.
We want to thank Councillor Racco for arranging this meeting and the City of Vaughan staff for meeting with us. This is just one of many 2-3 hour meetings that PTWA has had with the City of Vaughan over the last three years and we continue to be impressed with the amount of time and effort that Councillor Racco and city staff have dedicated to this ongoing file.
We would like to start off by making one point very clear as we have been asked this question by a number of residents: This or any previous Jaffari development application has not been approved in any form by the city. The application is still in the review process, and the city has indicated that they are still months away from being able to form a final opinion.
The city has done a preliminary review of the revised application and has sent the documents out to a number of agencies and departments for review (i.e Toronto and Region Conservation Authority, York Region, York Region District School Board, City of Vaughan Traffic, Heritage Vaughan Committee, etc). Each of these entities will review and provide (or already has provided) some feedback on the application and in some cases, has requested additional information from the applicant before a recommendation can be provided.
Here are some of the highlights from our meeting at the city:
General Comments
Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA)
Heritage Vaughan
Traffic Department
Parking
Public Access
Inclusive Community
The city concluded the meeting by saying that they don’t expect to receive all of the requested information for at least a couple of months, and the timing is completely dependent on how quickly the applicant provides the outstanding reports requested by the city and external agencies. The city doesn’t expect to be in a position to provide an opinion on this file until at least the fall of 2017 or later.
We left the meeting with a couple of overall impressions. First, the city is being extremely thorough with this application and they have placed the onus on the applicant to address both our concerns and the city’s concerns. Second, there is no rush to form an opinion or to make a decision on this application until every external agency request has been satisfied. The city understands that this application has been hanging over the community for 3 years now and wants to ensure that the proper process is followed.
We have begun to utilize our professional consultants again (i.e. planner, lawyer, traffic consultant etc.) and these experts come at a high cost. Please consider making a donation to PTWA to help fund these expenses. This will allow our volunteer board and community volunteers to continue to represent the community with the best professional representation. Your past and future support is much appreciated!
We will continue to update the community as we receive additional information.
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