One man’s legacy has left its mark on Bradford West Gwillimbury.
Based on a report from Mana Masoudi, committee of the whole recommended Jan. 21 that council approve using the name Marques Crescent for a new street to be built as part of the proposed Bradford East Developments subdivision at the southeast intersection of Simcoe Road and Danube Lane.
Ward 4 Coun. Joseph Giordano called the reasoning behind the name a “beautiful story” and “very compelling.”
The report summarized a letter from Gorette Marques Carvalho, explaining the name honours her father Augusto Marques, who immigrated to Canada from Carapelhos, Portugal, in 1957. He arrived in Bradford in 1958 where he worked in the Holland Marsh and sponsored other family members to come to Canada. Marques established a family by 1964 and purchased his first home on Graham Side Road. By 1970, Marques purchased his first farm on Simcoe Road, and helped establish and sponsor the town’s first Portuguese club in 1973.
He is remembered for his contributions to the community and his deep appreciation for the Holland Marsh’s agricultural heritage.
Deputy Mayor Raj Sandhu was also supportive, recalling his family used to know Marques.
“It feels good when we’re doing something like this when the family has done so much for the community,” he said.
The name came from the town’s official list of candidate street names, to which it was added in June 2023 after being proposed by one of the winning bidders in CONTACT Community Services’ ‘A Home for the Holidays’ charity auction, which ran in December 2022.
Planned to be built on 3.22 hectares across eight properties, the subdivision is expected to include 93 new homes with a mixture of 61 townhouses with frontages of 6.2 metres, 24 single detached homes with frontages of 11.6 m and eight semi-detached houses with frontages of 9.2 m. Many of those would be accessed by Marques Crescent — a 373-m long street looping through with two access points to Danube Lane.
On Aug. 6, council approved an official plan amendment and zoning bylaw amendment as well as provided draft approval for draft plan of subdivision for the development on Aug. 6, which rezoned properties from future development (FD) and environmental protection (EP) to various forms of residential one (R1) and residential two (R2), both with exceptions to reduce lot areas and increase heights.
That followed the developer making some changes to their plans, such as increasing the number of parking spaces, following concerns expressed during a public meeting on Nov. 28, 2023.
Recommendations from committee of the whole are considered for approval at the next regular council meeting.