"Cowardice asks the question...is it safe? Expediency asks the question...is it politic? Vanity asks the question...is it popular? But conscience asks the question...is it right? And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular but one must take it because it is right." ~Dr. Martin Luther King

Friday 26 May 2017

WITH DUE RESPECT

My friend Councillor Mrakas has updated us on Facebook onthe status of the United Church rebuild 
proposal. The town's decision is not yet made but the item has been referred to the 
next general committee meeting. 

The Councillor is supportive and provides his rational. 

Tom is in  his third year serving of his first term on Council. He works hard and  provides a channel
for communication with constituents. Also offers information and his position on issues. It's. A mark of respect for those  he serves. 

In response I have to say on some issues, mais non, mon ami, Je suis disagree .

There is little about the United Church site that lends itself to senior living. 

At the time Seniors can be expected to be out and about, traffic is heavy on Yonge Street.  
Exhaust fumes are not good for health. Traffic lights barely provide enough time to cross.  

Amenities are few . Public green space is sparse and the site even less adequate. 

A retirement centre is the last thing likely to revitalize the core. It is not a better use of retail space. 
Seniors are not shoppers. 

The need cited  is not there . Retirement centres are probably second in growth only to the construction industry . It's a lucrative business and resources come from sale of seniors' homes.

What happens in York Region when seniors outlive their stash and York Region has to provide 
beds for the outcasts ? 

Council  is being coy about designation under the Official Plan. Completed in 2010 ,the Promenade Study ,was adopted in the Plan during the last Council term. The area is designated as a "Culture Precinct".  I'm fairly sure the "culture" referenced is not a community of elderly. 

The Planning Director has budgeted millions for fancy sidewalks,heritage lighting and street 
furniture. Build them , they will come and  shop and sit to rest from their  frenzied efforts of 
shopping in the block , wave to drivers and breathe in pollution. 
 
We've heard much about the sacrosanct Official Plan. This proposal requires a change in 
designation with  little to commend  it. Certainly no municipal interest. 

The library was built on Yonge Street twenty years ago. The library got busier the downtown did not.
Stores continued to close. 

Park Place Manor , with a huge presence, was built thirty years ago and still the downtown is moribund.

 Density Intensification  has been referenced . 

The purpose of provincial policy is to bring people on or near public transit routes to cut down on vehicular traffic and reduce urban sprawl. 

Seniors are not commuters . Crossing Yonge Street at the lights is a time challenge . 

There are no  good arguments for this proposal .

Council would do well to review the recent application for a Montessori  school in the vicinity with 
all the same details and difficulties. Thousands of hours were spent seeking ways and means to realise the project.In the end, it came to naught. The last thing mentioned were  soil tests.  

Construction is possible in most soil conditions. The question is one of  feasibility of cost and returns.

Furthermore, an Official Plan designation for high density multiple residential, is exactly what it says.
Nothing in the Plan designates a particular proponent. 

9 comments:

Anonymous said...




How about a hotel instead?

Anonymous said...

I don't know if anything can be done to our down town core to make it some kind of destinational place like newmarket main st. which people like to talk about and compare. I'm tired of hearing about if a business or organization fits into some kind of "plan". Clearly there will people who will disagree with any type of development in their area. And will use "plans" to argue their disapproval. Council then takes their sweet ass time to differ, consult, study and then differ again any or all decisions. Throw in the OMB, and what do we get? Nothing but wasted time, money and a down town core that will never change.

Anonymous said...



The downtown core " is what it is ". It cannot be tweaked or groomed into something else. At one time, there was a supermarket just at Yonge and Wellington that would have been handy for seniors. It closed and sat idle for years.
Council will approve the Church plans. There is no spine for confrontation in any of them. Perhaps it is right. At least a decision will be made. Unlike that nonsense about the former library area which is taking forever just to get bulldozed. The building that held Jonathans might even open in a year or so,



Anonymous said...

It's always boggles my mind when somone wants to invest their money in this Town and all they get are road blocks and grief. Then they have to worry about the provincial and federal government road blocks and grief. The underground economy is growing with a vengeance thanks to all levels ofgovernment.

Anonymous said...


Aurora will never be Newmarket or Unionville and our main street will be perpetually ugly, notwithstanding the plethora of plans and hours spent by bloated councils - not just the current one.

It is a wonder that it took so long for our council to conclude that a parking lot was appropriate for Town Square. What morons have we elected? What now "Cultural Precinct?" Wherefore art thou? What madness rots the minds of those round the table?

At least they don't tweet

The church should be rebuilt, as a church with a large space of greenery abutting - and even a fountain. Why is it necessary to build on every square foot of land? To consider a seniors' living accommodation in the centre of town on what is arguably the busiest street in Aurora smacks of errant stupidity. Such a facility should be constructed in an area that offers peace and tranquility so that its occupants can breathe fresh air and listen to the song of birds.

Anonymous said...

http://www.mrakas.ca/public-planning-meeting-may-24-2017-aurora-united-church/

Anonymous said...

Why so many so many retirement residences? What about the rest of us? Do we not need a place to live?

Anonymous said...

I bet that senior living building will have total occupancy before the doors are opened. Traffic? Pollution? Has anyone been to seniors home in Toronto?

Anonymous said...

We have condo high rise, low rise, towns, detach, semis, links, rentals of all sorts and subsidized homes. The only think we don't have is a trailer park. I wonder how a trailer park will fly on that parcel of land right beside the church with council and the rest of the Town?