Newmarket council's Monday, July 20 committee of the whole meeting will be live streamed at 1 p.m. via Zoom on the town’s website.
Here is the full agenda.
Here are some items NewmarketToday is following:
Newmarket to tackle anti-Black racism
Newmarket Mayor John Taylor will issue a proclamation on July 20, 2020 that states the town is committed to taking meaningful action to address anti-Black racism, and to building a more inclusive community by promoting equity, accessibility, and inclusion through its thoughts and actions in support of Newmarket’s growing community.
The official public announcement will acknowledge that systemic barriers to full participation in the community continue to affect the lived experiences of Black Ontarians.
The proclamation also directs town staff to create an anti-Black racism task force comprised of up to 10 citizen members, in consultation with the Newmarket African Caribbean Canadian Association. As well, up to three council members are to be appointed to the new committee.
The terms of reference are to be decided, and could include provisions that support the work of other municipal task forces and committees.
Parking reviews
Council will discuss staff recommendations that address three separate traffic and parking problem areas, including:
- Timothy Street: Create a no-parking zone on the south side of Timothy Street from Church Street eastward around the Trading Tree area, which is located just west of Main Street.
- Kingsmere Avenue: Notre Dame Catholic Elementary School’s traffic and parking operations have impacted the community for quite some time since it was built 20 years ago. A petition submitted to council from nearby residents calls for increased traffic and parking mitigation measures from Ivsbridge Boulevard to Stonehaven Avenue. Council will consider a raft of new measures to address the long-standing issues.
- Helmer Avenue: No additional parking restrictions are recommended for the street, but staff suggest its report be forwarded to management at the Eagle Terrace Long Term Care home to ask that it remind all visitors who park on Helmer Avenue to treat the community with respect and to comply with the town’s parking bylaws.
Site-specific exemptions to temporary building ban
Council will consider two applications from homeowners who are seeking an exemption to the temporary building ban known as the interim control bylaw.
The first involves a request to demolish an existing single-storey house at 318 Andrew St. to build a new two-storey home that would be nearly triple the height of most homes on the street and 161 per cent larger than the house that is there now.
A staff report recommends that council deny the request on grounds that the proposed dwelling would be out of character for the surrounding neighbourhood, which largely maintains the original character from when the neighbourhood was first developed in the 1950s.
The second applicant seeks to add a partial second-storey addition to the existing single-story home at 737 Grace St.
Town staff recommend that council approve the exemption request because the proposed addition will not result in over-development of the lot and will be only built over a portion of the existing dwelling, resulting in a home that is appropriate in height and mass for the lot.
