Council Update – July 11, 2017

Last night council had before it the application for the Aurora United Church rebuild. The application has a senior living/retirement home that would be part of the development. As I said at the table – and have stated previously with other applications, as the application requires an amendment to the OP and a zoning amendment, I believe that amendments should only be allowed if there is a benefit to the community as a whole. In reviewing this application I believe that it provides a number of benefits to the Town, first it provides much needed accommodations for senior living within our downtown core that will allow for residents to stay in Aurora as they grow older. Second is that this will help with the revitalization of the downtown core. While it will not be the only thing that will change the downtown, it is one piece of a larger puzzle that is part of the vision for the area to intensify as per the Provincial policy . The other clear benefit is that the development will include 8000 sq ft of community space on the ground floor. At a time when this Town is struggling to find space for user groups, this could be part of the answer to find that much needed community space… and lastly this will bring the United Church back to its rightful place in the heart of our downtown… So as I said, clear benefits to the Town. I fully appreciate and understand that the residents in the immediate area still have concerns and staff have indicated that all parties will continue to work on fine tuning the application up until the site plan agreement. The vote was recorded and the motion to approve the application passed 7-2 (Councillor Gaertner and Abel opposed).. Here is a clip of what I said…