The Ontario government announced a 30-day consultation last week to remove 2,832 hectares in 10 municipalities from the Greenbelt, which was created in 2005 to permanently protect agricultural and environmentally sensitive land in the Greater Golden Horseshoe region from development. Companies run by the DeGasperis family, longtime builders based in Vaughan, Ont. north of Toronto, who founded Tacc Developments and Tacc Construction, owns 20 properties in three locations within the Greenbelt the government is proposing to open. The list of landowners also includes a company run by Michael Rice, president and CEO of the Rice Group, and one run by Shakir Rehmatullah, president of Flato Developments. The province said last Friday that the move would make it easier to build at least 50,000 homes and that the plan is to add more land elsewhere in the Green Belt than has been removed. The lands being considered for removal were chosen because they have the potential to build homes in the near future and because they are adjacent to existing urban areas, Premier Doug Ford’s government said. Here’s what CBC News learned about some of the biggest landowners set to benefit from the so-called Greenbelt land swap.

Pickering

The largest parcel the province is proposing to open up for development includes the Duffins Rouge Agricultural Preserve, along the eastern Pickering town line, covering land from Highway 407 in the north almost to Finch Avenue in the south. Four companies controlled by members of the DeGasperis family own 16 of about 60 properties in it. The 16 lots were purchased for more than $9 million, and all but one of the properties were purchased before the Greenbelt was created in 2005. Four companies controlled by members of the DeGasperis family, longtime Vaughan-based builders, own 16 of the roughly 60 properties on this parcel that the Ontario government wants to remove from the Pickering, Ont., Greenbelt. (Government of Ontario) In total, the properties controlled by DeGasperis cover 506 hectares of this part of the Greenbelt. Other landowners within the Pickering parcel include agricultural companies, a golf club and the Toronto and District Conservation Authority.

Vaughan

A company run by the DeGasperis family also owns one of two tracts of land that intersect with the portion of Greenbelt land potentially being removed in Vaughan north of Teston Road and east of Pine Valley Drive. Tacc Developments (Block 41) Inc. bought one for $50 million in May 2021. The 43-hectare property includes a mix of Greenbelt and non-Greenbelt land, the latter of which makes up the largest portions. Corporate records list Silvio DeGasperis, Michael DeGasperis and Carlo DeGasperis as officers of Tacc Developments (Block 41) Inc. Tacc Developments is currently building a low- and mid-rise residential subdivision with other developers in the area at Block 41, one of Vaughan’s last remaining green spaces located on 428 hectares of land bounded by Kirby Road to the north, Weston Road to the east, Teston Road to the south and Pine Valley Drive to the west.

Richmond Hill

Another company connected to the DeGasperis family, Leslie Elgin Developments Inc., owns three parcels containing Greenbelt land being considered for removal in Richmond Hill. Leslie Elgin Developments bought two of the lots together for $37 million in August 2010, records show. CBC Toronto was unable to obtain sales history for the third, although the company obtained a $200 million mortgage on the property in 2017.

King Township

Green Lane Bathurst GP Inc. is the sole owner of the Greenbelt land proposed for removal from King Township. The plot fits into two of the company’s other properties, which together occupy 276 hectares. The company, which lists Michael Rice as its president, bought a total of five parcels in a group sale two months ago on Sept. 15 for $80 million. The Greenbelt was created in 2005 to permanently protect from development agricultural and environmentally sensitive lands in the Greater Golden Horseshoe region. (Submitted by Greenbelt Foundation) Rice is also CEO of Markham-based Rice Group, which is responsible for developing retail, industrial and infrastructure projects. While removing that land from the Greenbelt would open it up for residential development, King Township council earlier this week passed a resolution endorsing it as the site of a new Southlake Regional Health Center site and asking the province to fast-track the development of.

Stouffville

The province is proposing to remove two sections of Greenbelt in Stouffville. They intersect with land owned by three companies. Torca II Inc. based in Toronto, whose president is Marcelo Perez-Hassaf, purchased more than 29 hectares at 12045 McCowan Road for $25 million in September 2020. A numbered corporation listing the same directors as Torca II Inc. purchased 11861 McCowan Road in April 2020 for $12.5 million. Documents accessed by York Region council link Torca to Orca Equity Ltd., a company involved in the design, development and financing of residential, commercial and industrial projects across Ontario, according to its website . WATCHES | What Ford said about Greenbelt:

Here’s what Doug Ford has had to say over the years about Ontario’s Greenbelt development

From pledging never to tap it in 2018 to being part of the solution to Ontario’s housing crisis in 2022, here’s how the premier’s position on the controversial issue has changed. Another company number — 2502536 Ontario Limited — owns the third piece of land. Corporate documents list its president as Weixiang Wang. Wang is also the chairman of Wyview Group, a Markham-based developer working on residential and industrial projects.

Markham

Six lots of Greenbelt in Markham are on the chopping block. Highway 48 Wang is also president of three numbered companies that own land at three addresses on Highway 48 with Greenbelt land the province is proposing to open for development. In 2021, the three companies acquired the properties for a total of more than $80 million. 19th Ave Flato Upper Markham Village Inc. owns a triangular parcel of land that could be removed from the Greenbelt at the northeast corner of 19th Avenue and McCowan Road. Shakir Rehmatullah, who founded Flato Developments Inc. in 2005, he is the president of the company. Flato Upper Markham Village purchased the land on the border between Markham and Soutffville in 2017 for $15 million. The developer is building a subdivision in the area that will include a mix of single-family homes and an apartment building, according to Markham City Council documents. Kennedy Street Minotaur Holdings owns a parcel of land at 10379 Kennedy Road that includes part of the Greenbelt. The company bought it in 2003 for $7.5 million. Its executives include Clayton and Corey Leibel, who are also associated with Forest Bay Homes Ltd.

Clarington

Nash Road Developments Inc. is the sole owner of the land slated to be removed from the Greenbelt in Clarington. Its president is Peter Tanenbaum. The company has owned 34 hectares on the northeast corner of Nash Road and Hancock Road in Courtice since 2003, when it bought it for $2.75 million. The area is the site of several new proposed subdivisions consisting of single-family, single-family, and medium-density residential buildings.

Ajax

A numbered company based in Richmond Hill owns the land the province is proposing to remove from Greenbelt in Ajax – a 42-hectare farm designated as heritage last year. The company purchased the Nicholas Austin property at 775 Kingston Rd. East in June 2018 for $15.8 million. Most of the property is currently part of the Greenbelt. The principal officer of the company is Yuchen Lu, whose address is in Fuyang, China. Here’s the Ontario government’s full proposal to cut Greenbelt land and open it up for development: If you have any information about this story, or any other issue you’d like CBC Toronto to investigate, please contact us at [email protected]