Parkette will be rezoned, not saved

Roger Varley, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Despite hearing from a dozen residents pleading for the preservation of the King Street parkette Monday, councillor Todd Snooks told a public hearing into rezoning the property that "today's meeting is not about saving the parkette; it's about rezoning."

Council declared the parkette as surplus property in June and agreed to its sale. The parkette consists of a single unserviced lot (no hydro, water or sewer connections) nestled among established homes in the neighbourhood. Various councils have debated the future of the parkette since 1981, culminating with the surplus designation in the summer.

Gerry Oldham, who has fought to retain the parkette for decades, told councillors that previous discussions on rezoning the parkette from "Recreational" to "Residential" concluded that it would be too expensive to service the land and the matter was dropped. She noted that town planning consultant Elizabeth Howson suggested years ago that council drop plans for rezoning and selling the lot. She asked that council reconsider its decision to declare the lot surplus.

A current view of the parkette, as taken from the presentation made during the public planning meeting on Monday.

Patricia Bell said the parkette "is part of the neighbourhood DNA," adding that the space is worth more to the residents than its size.

Lukas Volkmann of Zephyr, a student at Uxbridge Secondary School, addressed the issue as a bird lover. He spoke of the recent awarding of a Bird Friendly designation for Uxbridge and asked what would happen to birds now making their homes in the trees on the lot.

"Let's continue to protect the birds, not chase them away," he said.

Several of the speakers offered the same thought: "Once it's gone, you don't get it back."

Ted Barris noted that the tornado that touched down in May 2022 took away "the green crown" in the neighbourhood, but the trees in the parkette were untouched. He said he fears the mature trees on the lot would be cut down if the property is sold.

After Mayor Dave Barton told the crowded council chambers that council has not yet determined a price for the lot, either as a whole or in six parcels to be offered to neighbours, one woman said she was "appalled" that council is ready to sell the lot but doesn’t know what the price would be. Barton said that the township had prices for both serviced and unserviced land, and had quotes from the region on the cost of putting in services; it is common practice for these prices to not be divulged to the public until after the sale transaction(s) have been completed.

Jan Hill, referencing recent township proposals regarding the Zephyr library, told council: "You're taking away community." Councillor Snooks, ward councillor for the area, countered this by saying that he hoped that part of his community in Quaker Village is also the community of those fighting for the parkette. He pointed out that Quaker Common, a larger greenspace to the west of the King St. parkette, was accessible (the parkette is currently not accessible) and that Quaker Common provides a “huge area that enables people to get to the museum and the schools safely.”

At the end of the meeting, Barton commented that the township must balance where it has parkland. He too brought up Quaker Common, saying this “sizeable park” was 400 metres away from the parkette. He said 1,300 new acres of parkland had “recently moved into” the township with the Uxbridge Urban Provincial Park, and pointed out that the township is in the Greenbelt, in the Oak Ridges Moraine, and is governed by the Lake Simcoe Protection Plan. He said the township has to balance its assets with trying to maintain a “great quality of life here in Uxbridge.”

“Quite often, here in this room, we hear from people who are not happy with the decisions we have to make, and that’s part of it. We sometimes have to make tough decisions.”