THORNHILL, Ont. — Hundreds of people packed Vaughan’s city council chambers – as well as two overflow rooms – Feb. 4 for a town hall meeting on plans to build a highrise condo complex catering to Muslims in the predominately Jewish suburb of Thornhill Woods.

The Islamic Shia Ithna Asheri Jamaat (ISIJ) wants to build subsidized housing in the form of two 17-storey towers, 61 townhouses as well as assisted living facilities for seniors on its 30-acre property adjacent to the Jaffari Centre mosque at 9000 Bathurst St., south of Rutherford Road. The Jaffari Centre is near the Ner Israel Yeshiva of Toronto, an Orthodox Jewish school for boys.

Rom Koubi, chair of the Association to Preserve Thornhill Woods, the organization behind a petition that has so far garnered more than 4,000 signatures from people who oppose the ISIJ’s proposal to rezone the low-density suburb, was one of the many who spoke at the three-hour gathering.

He said the exceptions to zoning bylaws that the developers are seeking to accommodate the highrise buildings, “do not make sense for Thornhill Woods.”

Those who opposed the plan were careful to focus their arguments around zoning bylaws and the impact that 500 new living units and more than 1,400 residents would have on the suburb’s infrastructure, traffic and parking, as well as local schools that are already at capacity.

Many also voiced concerns about the ISIJ’s initial plan to make the development open only to Muslims.

On Feb. 3, Shabbir Jeraj, president of the Jaffari Centre told City News that the condo development would only be open to Muslim families, “because we are building it, we are paying for it. How is that inconsistent with other communities that have come before us and established similar developments?”

Speaking to council, Koubi cited the ISIJ proposal’s intention to keep the development Muslim only, and its claim that such the complex would be similar to other centres, such as the Joseph and Wolf Lebovic Jewish Community Campus in Vaughan .

Kuobi noted that “the Lebovic community was partially funded by the government… The [Lebovic] centre is open to every person regardless of colour, religion, or race. Anyone can be a member. It is a fully inclusive cultural centre.”

Thornhill Woods resident Limor Twena, a mother of three, added, “I appreciate the multicultural aspect of the neighbourhood… But I have a problem with creating a community within a community that is going to be segregated and won’t allow me to participate and serve me… because I’m not of that faith.”

Speaking to CTV News in a story posted Feb. 5, Shafiq Punjani, a developer of the project, said the development would be open to everybody.

“In fact, it’s something that the Ontario law obviously governs. There is a human rights code in place, and we fully intended to live to the letter of the law,” Punjani said.

In a statement issued by the ISIJ following the meeting, Jeraj said, “While we are still in the planning phase, our intention is to design the development with the broader community in mind.  As such, we envision that many parts of the development will be open to all residents of Vaughan and the surrounding areas, including the playing fields and tennis courts.”

Morris Hadida, a real estate broker with Sutton Group Associates who lives in Thornhill Woods, told The CJN that much of the opposition to the plan “has nothing to do with them being Muslim. It’s the highrise subsidized housing.

“Highrise subsidized housing causes two problems: one, it’s an eyesore. People move to the suburbs not to be around highrise buildings.”

Another issue, Hadida said, is that the development could devalue the homes in the area, most of which are worth more than $850,000.

“I had the experience where I moved from Toronto because my bungalow was backing onto a condo, and it did affect property values… I know the houses directly in the area would suffer in value… if they’re backing onto subsidized properties,” he said.

“If they wanted to do just townhouses and not highrises, that would be one thing, even subsidized townhouses… Out of sight out of mind is one thing, but when it’s in your face, it really will hurt the market… The fact that there is potential for this, it will hurt the market this spring.”

While those who spoke out against the proposal heavily outnumbered those in support, members of the Muslim community appealed to the council to approve a plan that they feel would benefit both the Muslim community and the surrounding community of Thornhill Woods by creating jobs and recreational facilities such as tennis courts.

One woman who spoke in support of the development said it would help her community maintain its religious identity in a way that “goes beyond the scope of a school, or an educational system. The lifestyle that I refer to has to do with the development of our property at 9000 Bathurst so that not only are our children’s education needs are met, but rather our whole life experience is enriched.”

But another woman countered that opposition to the plan “has nothing to do with… stopping someone from practising their religion or faith. This has to do with not wanting our community to have highrise buildings, not wanting our community to be so dense and fearing our children walking to school. The issue is that we want our community to stay the way it is, the way the city zoned it to be.”

Following the meeting, Vaughan Ward 4 Councillor Sandra Yeung Racco, who represents the area and is the Liberal candidate in Thornhill, posted a message on a Facebook group called “Preserve Thornhill Woods Community – Say NO to High Rise buildings” that the next step is to put together a community task force “and work together with the applicant and staff to address the various issues that were brought forward this evening and to come up with a mutually agreeable plan. This may take months, but I believe this is the best route to take.”