Box Grove Markham

                        

The community of Box Grove is located in the area around Ninth Line (also known as Box Grove By-Pass) and 14th Avenue. With the development of the recent years, the community has grown eastward and extends both north and south of 14th Avenue.   Boundaries:Highway 407 on the north, Steeles Avenue on the south, the Rouge River on the west, the nor/south railway line between 9th and 10th line on the east. The land around Box Grove was purchased by the Ontario Government in the 1970s as part of a greenbelt plan to separate Markham and planned developments in Pickering such as a federal airport and a new community.  The Markham and York Region Official Plans put rural designations on most of the Box Grove lands. Unfortunately, the Harris government sold the Box Grove lands to a developer in the late 1990s. Ontario's Environmental Commissioner criticized this land sale because it was done without the legally required public consultations and environmental reviews.  Markham and York Councils both amended their Official Plans to allow urban sprawl on several hundred acres around Box Grove. To make matters worse, they refused to apply good ecological planning principles to the proposed development. The Box Grove lands are adjacent to the nationally significant Rouge River Park. Streams flow through the Box Grove lands towards the Little Rouge and Rouge Rivers. Despite this planning context, Markham Council and the Ontario Municipal Board approved a Plan The Friends of Rouge have said  that If Markham Council had a Strategic Plan to increase forest cover, it could improve the health of the Rouge Park and its fish and wildlife habitat and it could improve local air quality and outdoor recreation opportunities. By providing more forests and parkland for Markham residents to enjoy, Council could protect and enhance local quality of life and property values.-see the map.

author- Mark Pniewski -realtor.

 

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