Today, April 19 at 6PM there is a Committee of Adjustment (CofA) hearing. The first agenda item is regarding a very significant application by the Augustinian Fathers for approvals of minor variances to enable the construction of a longterm care home with 160 beds at Marylake Monastery. To build this facility they propose to demolish the monastery (which is beside the Shrine) and construct a new building; to do so approval of minor variances is required. The application is based on the proponents having received confirmation from the the Township that the current zoning permits it. When the latter was presented at Council February 2021 Council was simply told that it was permitted based on several factors including that it met a key condition of the Oak Ridges Moraine for expansion. The latter being that longterm care existed at the site pre 2001 and that it had continued. At time of this meeting I voiced strong doubt of such and continue to doubt it. I consider several of the requested variances to be too significant to be considered minor. The CofA will be livestreamed. To read the applications, the accompanying reports and the numerous submissions by persons voicing opposition or support see here. Getting approval of these variances is not the last step in the process as the site plan application needs to be approved. Unfortunately the approval process for the latter does not require /Council approval as delegation of authority has been given to Director of Growth Management Services by the Province’s Bill 23 legislation.
I agree with Deb Schulte that this location is unsuitable for a Long Term Care facility because of the absence of any public transportation thus making (underpaid) staffing very difficult to attract and retain.
Debbie,
Why are the videos of past Council, Committee of the Whole, and Committee of Adjustment meetings destroyed after 2 weeks? Other municipalities keep theirs in archives. Why were the minutes of Feb. 6, 2021 changed (not sure of the date but it was the first one in Feb 2021) At the top the minutes say that they were revised after a reconsideration at the next Council meeting, but neither the agenda nor the minutes reflect this. It seems underhanded to change minutes unless they were incorrect, but certainly not after a motion of reconsideration. Especially an invisible motion of reconsideration.
Hi Nancy, I can’t explain your query about revised minutes. Need to ask the Clerk. As for why aren’t they archived….its current policy. I think it would be changed; changing it was raised at the council meeting when new procedural bylaw was tabled. Staff have been asked to provide cost impact.
Hi Debbie,
I have finally figured out why the minutes were changed. It had nothing to do with the Marylake issue. It involved changing some names of streets in a new subdivision.