Say No to Developer Greed at Unionville

Unionville, where rural meets urban…for a few more years.

This week I’m going to deviate somewhat. I’m dedicating this space to a cause close to my heart and my backyard. When my son recently captured the scenery pictured above, I realized that this last rustic holdout in Unionville will disappear soon. Developers are about to raze down all the trees in our neighbourhood to make way for townhouses and condominiums.

Now I’ve always known, since the day we moved into our house twenty-some odd years ago, that the nearby fields would one day be built out. The problem is that from the onset, the developers have been over zealous about the density. The residents fought the development plans back in the early 90’s, and the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) ruled for a compromise—more density than what the residents wanted, but less than the developers’ plans.

For various reasons, the development didn’t start—we got to keep our wetlands, the deer, geese and other animals that made these parts their homes. Now the story is changing. A building boom is happening in the area. The developers have returned—with a vengeance. They’re looking for density levels as high as 2.4 times more than the original ruling handed down by the OMB.

We, the residents here, were asked to compromise once and we did. We’re now being asked again to give up more…give up the reasons why we chose this neighbourhood as our homes. These new proposals reflect pure developer greed with total disregard for the existing families who moved here years ago. They want to ram these new plans through knowing full well the extent to which the additional density would increase the traffic gridlocks that we already experience.

We must say, “NO,” to developer greed. Some of the residents have formed a non-profit organization, the Village Parkway Residents Association (VPRA), so we can participate at the OMB hearings for these developers’ new applications. However, the VPRA has to engage legal and expert assistance to be able to oppose these plans. We need funds to conduct a meaningful opposition. Please help us and contact Tom Zigomanis at tzigomanis@rogers.com for more information on how to make a financial contribution towards this cause. No amount is too small…you can make a difference.