Developers are aiming to add more density to a proposal at 201 Davis Dr., but Newmarket council members raised concern about the traffic impact it could have.
Mosaik Davis Inc. wants to build a nine-storey, 216-unit condo on the property, after previously receiving municipal zoning approval for a smaller version of the development. Planner Rosemarie Humphries of Humphries Planning Group presented to council about the proposal May 6 for a public hearing on the development.
But the new version of the development will not have an exit onto Davis, only exiting onto the nearby Penn Avenue and Longford Drive. That garnered concern from councillors worried about how that could impact traffic flow in the area.
“The amount of traffic essentially exiting all onto Penn Avenue seem to me to be a very poor plan,” Councillor Victor Woodhouse said. “That’s one little street … I can’t believe there is not at least a right (turn) out onto Davis Drive with this number of units.”
The property is located between Davis and Penn, next to the Tim Hortons on Longford. It has remained vacant since developers received zoning approval for a six-storey, 147-unit development there in 2021.
Humphries said the building meets density requirements, with it being located in a major transit station area.
“It’s very transit-supportive. We are looking here to meet and address intensification policies,” she said. “We will help, in fact, meet the intensification targets.”
As for the exit, Humphries said that happened at the behest of the Regional Municipality of York. She said with changes to the project relocating the entrance, the region no longer supported a right-in, right-out exit onto Davis and they changed the project accordingly.
Councillor Trevor Morrison, representing Ward 4 where the development is located, said it is a point that concerns him.
“I wouldn’t mind revisiting that to see if that might have another opportunity to have some of the traffic brought back onto Davis Drive,” he said.
Affordable housing was also brought up. Morrison questioned whether more lower-priced rental units could be part of the project.
Humphries said there are internal discussions about that.
“It’s slightly premature at this point in time,” she said. “It’s high on the radar.”
Woodhouse said that should hopefully be an element of this development.
“It’s wonderful for businesses and individuals to move ahead and make a profit. That is part of what makes our society work,” he said. “But when you’re adding this many units, it would seem appropriate to me there would be significant effort put forward to come up with affordable units. At the very least, they would assist in building our community.”
No members of the public made delegations regarding the proposal, but some wrote letters of concern. Nearby resident James Wagstaff said it is out of character with the neighbourhood and could create issues with the limited access.
“It is worth noting that a previous proposal for a six-story building was already met with concerns from the community,” he said. “Increasing the height to nine stories would only exacerbate these issues and create further disruptions to the neighbourhood.”
Council made no final decisions on the proposal, with staff to bring back a recommendation report at a later date.
