A vote for a long-awaited plan to revitalize the residential and industrial Thornlea neighbourhood plagued by health concerns has been put on hold after tensions between local residents and business owners flared.
Instead, a new committee, consisting of five representatives from both residents and business owners as well as four regional councillors, will be created to rethink the Thornhill Revitalization Plan for reconsideration by Markham City Council next fall.
At a special council meeting held last month to give approval in effect to the plan, business owners voiced concerns that the revitalization plan imposed unfair restrictions on businesses.
A working group, whose recommendations were adopted in principle by the City of Markham in March, proposed banning new industrial businesses from the area to concentrate on expanding commercial uses and rezoning the former Canac Kitchens factory site to mostly residential.
Mary Flynn-Guglietti, a lawyer for Mercedes-Benz, which wants to turn the 92,000-square-foot Magna International warehouse on Green Lane into a modern headquarters, said the plan would present unfair obstacles to some businesses. Under the proposal, Mercedes’s plans to include a small repair and service wing would be jeopardized.
Peter Pavlovic, president of the neighbourhood’s Aileen-Willowbrook Residents Association, was upset that the original plan was not adopted.
“We are disappointed. Council went one way, then swung 180 [degrees] in a different direction,” said Pavlovic. “I think that Thornhill residents have taken note how they’re being treated.”
According to him, residents in the area have long complained about foul emissions from nearby industrial businesses, and many looked to the revitalization to make the area healthier for families and their children. Nonetheless, he said he welcomed residents and business owners working together toward a comprehensive vision for the area’s future.
“The business side [has] reached out to us, which is fabulous,” he said.