Birth of a Community

 

Berczy Village

 

My husband Chris and I bought our dream home in the William Berczy area 13 years ago.  A year after we moved in, we welcomed our first born in March 2002.  Since our family took roots in this beautiful community, we witnessed the opening of Castlemore Public School in May 2002, watched Berczy North & South Park grow into wonderful places for children and family to play in.  However, many of us probably didn’t know that the homes we currently live in, the schools our children attend to, the parks we use, the church and grocery stores we go to are on lands that were previously deemed agricultural. To assist you with better understanding the development process of a Future Urban Area and how your homes came to be, the Berczy Development Timeline is illustrated below.

 

Berczy Development Timeline

 

1976: Markham Official Plan designated the lands north of 16th Avenue and east of Kennedy Road as agricultural.

1989: Provincial Policy Statement on Land Use Planning for Housing was approved by the Ontario government and required municipalities to designate sufficient lands to supply various housing types to meet growth demand.

1990: Markham conducted the Urban Expansion Study and  projected a total population of 260,000 and 167,000 jobs in Markham by 2011.

1993: Official Plan Amendment No 5 (OPA 5) was adopted and approved, which required intensification within existing urban area (Markham Centre, South Unionville and Leitchcroft) and outward expansion resulting in the development of Cathedral, Woodbine North, Angus Glen, Berczy Village, Wismer, Greensborough/Swan Lake, Cornell and Box Grove. These communities were the Future Urban Areas of 1993.

1997: Development of Berczy began, and became the earliest and fastest growing community. It proved very successful and in high demand, and was sequentially developed over 10 years.

2009: One of the major landowners within Berczy Village, the Beckett farm family, chose not to sell their land until 2009.

2014: The Becket farm land is the new Upper Unionville neighbourhood that is currently under  construction.

 

Come join our Public Open House tonight at 6:30pm in the Great Hall/Council Chamber and witness the birth of a new community - the north Markham Future Urban Area. The City of Markham is undertaking a comprehensive planning process to guide the development, and these lands will accommodate new neighbourhoods and employment areas.