NOTICE OF THE ADOPTION OF AMENDMENT NO. 64 TO THE

RICHMOND HILL OFFICIAL PLAN

PURSUANT TO THE PLANNING ACT

TAKE NOTICE THAT the Council of The Corporation of the City of Richmond Hill adopted Amendment No. 64 to the Richmond Hill Official Plan on the 13th day of May, 2026 through the enactment of By-law 34-26 and in accordance with Sections 16 and 17 of the Planning Act, as amended.

AND TAKE NOTICE that an appeal to the Ontario Land Tribunal (Tribunal) in respect of this Amendment may be made by filing a written notice of appeal with the City Clerk of The Corporation of the City of Richmond Hill, no later than 4:30 p.m. on June 17, 2026. A Notice of Appeal must set out the reasons for the appeal and the specific part of the proposed official plan or plan amendment to which the appeal applies. A Notice of Appeal will be accompanied by a certified cheque or money order in the amount of $1,100.00, payable to the Minister of Finance and be accompanied by the processing fee prescribed under the Tariff of Fees By-law in the amount of $358.00 payable to the City of Richmond Hill.

Council in making its decision on these matters took into consideration all written and oral comments received on the applications.

An explanation of the purpose and effect of the Amendment describing the lands to which the Amendment to the Richmond Hill Official Plan applies is attached. A complete copy of Amendment No. 64 to the Richmond Hill Official Plan, including all background materials, is available by contacting Chinoye Sunny, Planner II - Development, at 905-771-5475 or by e-mail at chinoye.sunny@richmondhill.ca. 

The proposed Official Plan Amendment No. 64 is exempt from approval by The Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing. The decision of the Council of The Corporation of the City of Richmond Hill is final if a Notice of Appeal is not received on or before the last day for filing a Notice of Appeal.

The lands are also subject to a Zoning By-law Amendment application, file number ZBLA-25-0005.

Dated at the City of Richmond Hill this 28th day of May, 2026

Who Can File an Appeal:

Any of the following may, not later than 20 days after the day that the giving of notice under subsection (23) is completed, appeal all or part of the decision of council to adopt all or part of the plan to the Tribunal by filing a notice of appeal with the clerk of the municipality:

1.  A specified person who, before the plan was adopted, made oral submissions at a public meeting or written submissions to the council.

1.1  A public body that, before the plan was adopted, made oral submissions at a public meeting or written submissions to the council.

1.2  The registered owner of any land to which the plan would apply, if, before the plan was adopted, the owner made oral submissions at a public meeting or written submissions to the council.

2.  The Minister.

3.  The appropriate approval authority.

4.  In the case of a request to amend the plan, the person or public body that made the request.

No person or public body shall be added as a party to the hearing of the appeal unless, before the plan was adopted, the person or public body made oral submissions at a public meeting or written submissions to the council or, in the opinion of the Ontario Land Tribunal, there are reasonable grounds to add the person or public body as a party.

Part One - The Preamble

1.1 Purpose

The purpose of this Amendment to the Richmond Hill Official Plan is to permit a private school use with one (1) access point on the lands legally described as Block 315, Part 2, Registered Plan 65M-2174 (Municipal Address: 11 Headdon Gate).

1.2 Location

The lands affected by this Amendment are located at the northeast corner of Major Mackenzie Drive West and Headdon Gate. The lands are legally described as Block 315, Part 2, Registered Plan 65M-2174 (Municipal Address:11 Headdon Gate).

1.3 Basis

The proposed amendment is considered by Council to be appropriate because it is consistent with the Provincial Planning Statement and conforms with both the Region of York Official Plan and the City of Richmond Hill Official Plan.

As established in Chapter 2 Section 2.1.6 of the Provincial Planning Statement, planning authorities should support the achievement of complete communities by accommodating institutional uses, including schools. The Region of York Official Plan additionally provides general direction towards the need for development to be designed as vibrant complete communities. In Section 2.3.1 of the Region of York Official Plan, the provision of a full range of uses as part of complete communities, including schools, is directly applicable to the proposed private school use.

The private school use is to be permitted within the existing commercial building on the lands and is considered a good example of the optimization of existing infrastructure and re-use opportunities as outlined by Chapter 3, Section 3.1.2 of the Provincial Policy Statement.

With respect to the City's Official Plan, the subject lands are located in the Neighbourhood designation. Private schools are a permitted community use within this designation subject to the specific criteria established in Sections 4.1.1(3) and 4.1.1(4) of the Plan. In particular, with respect to access, although Section 4.1.1 ( 4) establishes a need for a minimum of two access points, the intent of this criteria is to ensure that the site access is sufficient for a typical private school use. However, the proposed private school is a much smaller operation than is typical for such use. The traffic assessment results and onsite circulation review indicate that a single vehicular access is sufficient for the proposed school use on the site.