14452 Yonge St – Again….

I have heard from many residents who are deeply frustrated and concerned about a motion Councillor Gallo is bringing forward to Council next week.

Councillor Gallo’s motion requests that the Region resubmit the application for a transitional housing development at 14452 Yonge street—a planning application that Aurora Council denied over a year ago and for a location that the Region has already clearly stated will not be on the list of sites considered for transitional housing

In my view, this motion is neither helpful nor productive as it does nothing but create false hope for those who wanted this project at this location while stirring up unnecessary stress and anxiety for the broader community.

The facts are that Council issued a formal refusal of the application over a year ago, no appeal was filed, and the application was closed.

The Region has since moved forward with fulfilling its obligations under the 2021 site plan agreement for 14452 Yonge St. Over 300 trees have been planted, the parking lot has been paved, and an expansion is planned for this spring.

In conjunction with the region’s work on the site, Town staff are advancing the trailhead expansion, ensuring public access to the new park as we enter the design phase.

In terms of locating transitional housing, The region is engaged in a comprehensive region-wide, evidence-based site identification and assessment process, the purpose of which is to find the best locations for transitional housing in communities across York Region and this report will be presented at Regional Council in a couple of months.

In addition, over the last year, the Region has worked to address immediate needs for supportive housing in York Region by :

▪ Adding 43 beds across existing emergency and transitional housing locations

▪ Opening up an additional 50 seasonal shelter beds

▪ Investing in additional Outreach Workers

Simply put—everyone has moved on.

Rather than waste everyone’s time with a motion that will do nothing to support the development of much-needed supportive housing, our efforts would be better spent continuing to work with the Region to identify suitable locations ;

Not asking them to stop it.

In my opinion, we need to focus on real, collaborative solutions that will make a difference, not empty political gestures that do nothing more than afford us the opportunity to pat ourselves on the back without actually accomplishing anything.

Our residents deserve – and expect – nothing less.

LETTER FROM YORK REGION

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