Details

As a frequent visitor to York Region Elementary School on Yonge Street I feel I know the boys and girls quite well.

There's Jack Heath from Markham, always with his hand up, dying to tell us how much he knows. Then there is Frank Scarpitti, the boy who gets the most pocket money, but he contributes to the life of the school, always asking questions about school projects.

Playing with his Apps

And then there is Tony Van Bynen from Newmarket who sits at the back of the class, rarely saying anything. More often than not he is playing with his apps under the desk.  

Personally, I think he gets far too much pocket money for his own good.

Take this example from earlier today.

The School had invited Mr John Jenson and two of his colleagues from Metrolinx to give a slide presentation on Regional Express Rail and how it would impact on York Region.

Van Bynen caught napping  

Up comes a slide which tells the class that the Barrie line will be twin tracked all the way up to the Allandale station in Barrie itself. I wait in vain for Van Bynen to correct this obvious error but, yet again, he is snoozing at the back of the class.

Clearly, he hasn't done his homework or prepared for this important presentation. Van Bynen - or Van Trappist as they call him in the staff room - lives in his own little private world.

Now Mr Jensen is talking about level crossings and grade separations. This is an important issue in Newmarket where the rail tracks cross Mulock Drive, Water Street, Timothy Street and Davis Drive. At the moment, the 15 minute service zone (that is, up to Aurora) is the top priority for Metrolinx. Newmarket is an afterthought.

A diligent, inquisitive and spirited boy from Richmond Hill, Vito Spatafora, tells us level crossings are a major issue in his neighbourhood and he demands to know what is going to happen and when.

Mr Jenson assures him there will be talks later this year but there is little in the way of detail. Van Bynen is not paying attention to any of this. He says nothing.

The mistake

Afterwards, as Mr Jensen and his colleagues are leaving the school, I stop them and say their presentation was wrong in one very important respect. The Barrie line is ­not going to be twin tracked all the way up to Allandale. Yes, they say. I am correct. I am told the slide should have referred to the environmental assessment that is being carried out along the full length of the line. Twin tracking will end at Aurora.  

Now the class is learning about water and wastewater. We also touch on sewers which the boys in particular find hilarious. The head boy, Wayne Emmerson, has a fondness for lavatorial humour and can be heard laughing loudly at his own jokes, slapping his thigh.

Now the class is being introduced to the wonderful world of trees. Mr Lane and Mr Buchanan are talking about the "State of the Forests" in York Region.

This should be of interest to Van Bynen because of a raging controversy in Newmarket where a developer is chopping down perfectly healthy mature trees to make room for two monster homes on a lot he has just purchased and which he intends to sub-divide.

A knowledgeable girl

Margaret Quirk, a knowledgeable girl from Georgina, tells the class the Emerald Ash Borer is a particular threat in her neck of the woods where a staggering 16% of trees are Ash. This is the highest in York Region. In Van Bynen's area, for example, only 3% of trees are Ash.

We learn that the Emerald Ash Borer is an invasive wood-boring beetle. All untreated Ash trees are expected to die as a result of this infestation.

Margaret speaks of the huge cost of removing dead Ash trees in Georgina and believes the Federal Government should be asked to contribute to the cost. She says it is not just about Georgina - the problem extends right across the country.

She appeals to Van Bynen who sits on the Association of Municipalities of Ontario which represents the views of municipalities across the Province.

Goldfish

Now Margaret is looking directly at Van Bynen:

"Has this been an issue at AMO?"

His mouth gulps open like a goldfish but no words come out. He has been daydreaming again! It is left to Emmerson to say the matter will be looked into.

If Van Bynen carries on in this way he may well find himself expelled from school.

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 

Details

Whilst Norm Stapley is busy chopping down mature trees at 181 Beechwood Crescent the rest of us are thinking how best we can preserve and protect our forests and woodlands.

This is how the property looked before Norm got to work with his chainsaw.

Chris Howie - who is taking a deputation to Newmarket's Committee of the Whole tomorrow - has launched a petition on change.org to save the trees, or what's left of them, from the predations of Mr Stapley. There is an arresting photograph of the felled trees.

Quite by coincidence, this coming Thursday (2 March 2017) York Regional Council will be considering a thought-provoking report on the state of the Region's forests - which includes woodlands, trees and shrubs in all urban and rural areas. It will be sent to Newmarket Council and to the other eight municipalities in due course.  

The report reminds us of the crucial contribution trees make to the wellbeing of the planet and to our immediate surroundings:

"The size and health of a tree greatly affects the benefits it provides. Large trees deliver greater household energy savings, air and water quality improvements, runoff reduction, visual impact, property value enhancements and carbon sequestration capacity.

In fact, one large healthy tree can store approximately 65 times more carbon and remove 15 times more air pollution annually than one small tree. Unlike most built infrastructure,trees are a great investment because as they grow their value and benefits increase."

It comes as no surprise, then, that the Region wants to increase the canopy cover from 31% at present to 35% by 2031 and 40% by 2051. Good for it.

Newmarket - a growing urban centre though relatively compact -  has the second smallest percentage tree cover in York Region, after Markham so we've got to be a very good steward of what we have.

 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 

Details

The future of Newmarket's historic Main Street is now in play.  

The OMB has set Wednesday 3 May 2017 as the provisional date for the Prehearing on the Clock Tower. It will be open to the public.

The venue has not as yet been decided.

The OMB tells us a prehearing is the meeting of Parties and Participants before a full hearing. Prehearings help to:

* identify issues, parties and participants

* organise complicated matters

* determine what documents need to be exchanged

* determine procedures before and during the hearing

* set future hearing dates

The Clock Tower developer, Bob "the Barbarian" Forrest, has appealed to the OMB on his original application - the one that was comprehensively rejected by councillors on 28 November 2016 with the decision confirmed by full Council on 5 December 2016.   

Forrest has hired the silver-tongued lawyer Ira Kagan to make the case for the Clock Tower development. I do not yet know who the Town will have in its corner - but he or she had better be good and totally up to speed.

Kagan is working from some pretty dodgy material but we know he is skilled in turning a sow's ear into a silk purse. He should not be underestimated.

He acted for the developer at the Slessor Square OMB Hearing. He appeared for Marianneville at the Glenway OMB Hearing and for Highland Gate Developments who are planning to build over the golf course in Aurora. From time to time he appears before committees at Queen's Park, arguing for changes to the Province's planning regime.

In June 2015 I sat next to him at the Glenway "lessons learned" meeting. Although he chose not to tell the meeting what he had learned he was open enough with me.

In those early days of innocence, I recall telling him how shocked I was that there was no transcript of the Glenway OMB Hearing. He casually remarked it was open to any of the Parties to commission one.

Seems to me the forthcoming Clock Tower Hearing deserves a transcript. It is a perfect case study on Heritage Conservation Districts and the threats they face.

Apart from the Town and the Developer we can expect other parties and participants to be involved in the OMB Hearing.

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Update on 3 March 2017: the prehearing will be held at 10am on Wednesday 3 May 2017 in the Council Chamber, Municipal Offices, 395 Mulock Drive, Newmarket.

 

Details

Markham's mayor, Frank Scarpitti, has wisely decided that discretion is the better part of valour. 

He passed on the chance to represent Markham-Thornhill in the House of Commons where a by-election is to be held on April 3. The vacancy was created when the previous MP, John McCallum, was appointed Canada's ambassador to China.

The Liberal standard bearer, Mary Ng, has taken leave of absence from her job as the Prime Minister's head of appointments.

Scarpitti may run for Chair of York Region in 2018 - the first time the position will be up for election involving the voters at large - but who knows? It could be another dance of the seven veils.

Wayne Emmerson, the incumbent who was appointed by his Regional Council colleagues in a 16-4 vote in December 2014, has already declared he will run next year.

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Update on 28 February 2017: Liberal candidates complain of dirty tricks.

Update on 2 March 2017: And Tamil Canadians are, apparently, upset.

Update on 3 March 2017: Candidate withdraws from Liberal nomination race, crying foul.

Update on 7 March 2017: The Liberal Party centrally has the final say on candidates.

 

Details

Yesterday (21 February) "protected" trees at 181 Beechwood Crescent (off Park Avenue in Newmarket) were clear cut and immediately removed with only the stumps remaining.

I am told the trees on the front and side of the property included a 125 year old Heritage Sugar Maple and several 75 year old beech trees. But how can they be protected when they have just been chopped down?

The photos below show (a) the Google street view of the property in 2015

and (b) the scene of the crime earlier today.

As I understand it, under the Town's planning regime, the property is big enough to be divided into two parcels for redevelopment - but the trees got in the way.

(The lot has a frontage of 39m and a lot area of 2,300 sq m. The zoning (R1-C) stipulates a minimum frontage of 18m and a minimum lot area of 743 sq m.)

The trees at the front of the property have now gone and, after the demolition of the house, the ones at the rear of the lot will, presumably, be next.

Unless someone, somewhere, does something about it.

The trees can't cry out for help.

In 2013, York Region passed a by-law

"to prohibit or regulate the destruction or injuring of trees in The Regional Municipality of York"

but we all wait to see what relevance it has to 181 Beechwood.

I am told that the treed area at the back of the lot falls within the area covered by the by-law.  

In a bitter irony, the first item on the agenda of the Town's Committee of the Whole on Monday 27 February is a PowerPoint presentation by planning staff on

"Tree Removal and Protection Policies and Regulations".

The timing is enough to make the poor old willow weep.

Included in the report's recommendations (at page 49) is one directing staff to  prepare and bring to a future Council meeting a by-law regulating and protecting significant trees on private property.

It is already too late for some.

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 

  • You are here:  
  • Home