In July 2007, an application was submitted for "Zoning By-law
amendment and for Site Plan approval to construct a seven storey
mixed use building containing 36 residential units and retail
space at grade" on the southeast corner
of Woodbine and Gerrard.
In September, notices were posted informing the public of this
fact and giving name and number of the city planner in charge of
the project.
(Why are these signs always a single unrelieved block of
hard-to-read uppercase type?)
Community meeting no. 1
The mandatory community consultation meeting, held October 11, at
the Fairmount Community Centre, was chaired by ward councillor
Sandra Bussin and attended by more than 60 people.
This despite the large number of people who did not receive a
notice of the meeting.
Notices are required to be sent to all residents within 400
metres, but many residents in that area did not receive one.
In addition, at least some of those who had been added to the
list by the planner also did not receive the notice.
This appears to be the fault of city bureaucracy other than the
planning department or the councillor's office, though I haven't
confirmed that.
Presentations were made by senior planner Mike Mestyan and
architect Carson Woods, and questions and comments were received
from the community.
Concerns raised by members of the community, included height,
density, parking, traffic, overlook, lack of retail space, as
well as a concern that once rezoning had been approved, the
project would be changed from condominiums to low-income housing.
The city planners addressed many of the same concerns in
their preliminary report.
Meeting no. 2: working group
At the meeting on November 21, the architects presented modified
designs which addressed a number of concerns raised at the first
meeting.
The details were somewhat sketchy due to short notice of the
meeting and the fact that architect Carson Woods was away in the
antipodes.
The new proposal kept the height at 7 storeys, though both the
6th and 7th floors were reduced in size.
The number of units was reduced from 36 to 26(?), and the
amount of retail space was increased.
Meeting no. 3, Wednesday, 23 January, 2008
At the third meeting, the proposal presented to the community
was essentially the same as that shown at the November
meeting. There were more details, but the building was still 7
storeys.
Once again the concern that the project would be converted to
low-income housing was raised. Planner Mike Mestyan said that
the by-law could be drafted in such a way as to make that
economically infeasible.
29 July 2008
Community Notice
from city councillor Sandra Bussin
Yan On appeals to the OMB
The Applicant (Yan On Investment Ltd.) Appeals Development
Proposal for 763-765 Woodbine Avenue & 1945-1955 Gerrard
Street East to Ontario Municipal Board (OMB)
The City of Toronto has received notice that the applicant (Yan
On Investment Ltd.) for the redevelopment of properties on the
south-east corner of Woodbine Avenue and Gerrard Street East
(763-765 Woodbine Ave. & 1945-1955 Gerrard St. E.) is
appealing to the Ontario Municipal Board for permission to
proceed with the project.
The developer has chosen not to scale back the proposal for this
site to meet neighbourhood and Planning Department requirements.
As a result, I, along with the City of Toronto Planning
Department and the City Solicitor, will oppose the proposal at
the OMB. Local residents are encouraged to participate in this
process.
Dates have not been established for the actual hearing at this
time. When this occurs, my office will convene a meeting of the
Community Working Group and City officials to discuss the appeal
and develop a joint plan of opposition. We anticipate the hearing
will be sometime in late October or November 2008.
Please do not hesitate to call my office for more information.
E-mail:
councillor_bussin@toronto.ca
Phone: 416-392-1376
Website: http://sandrabussin.com/
The OMB page for the case is at
Case No. PL080819
.
Comments and responses
Please use the form at the bottom of the page to add your comments.
- Date:
- 15 Oct 2007 21:37:33
- From:
- Antony & Lyanne Upward
- Subject:
- Open letter to Councillor Bussin and city planner Mike Mestyan
Councillor Bussin, Mr. Mestyan:
Firstly we wanted to thank you for organizing /
participating / chairing the community meeting held last
week concerning the planning application for 763-765
Woodbine Ave / 1945-1955 Gerrard St East.
As requested, as input to the finalizing of the city
planners report on this application which Mr. Mestyan
presented at the meeting, and as input to the community
committee that Councillor Bussin will be organizing, we
wanted to put on record our comments related to this
application.
Could we also ask you to pass on to the applicant that we
want to encourage the development of the community around
the immediate Woodbine / Gerrard intersection and
appreciate the lead (and risk) that he is taking putting
forward this proposal.
more...
- Date:
- 30 Oct 2007
- From:
- David Stevenson
- Subject:
- Appropriate and much needed
I think the type of development being proposed on the south-east
corner of Gerrard and Woodbine is not only appropriate, but much
needed as well. Higher density development at this location makes
use of existing infrastructure and promotes the use of public
transit. It will be replacing the older run down buildings (with
no architectural significance), with a new, more aesthetically
pleasing building.
This project is consistent with the policies of the City of
Toronto Official Plan by promoting higher density mixed use,
pedestrian oriented development along arterials.
In addition, this project is consistent with the Provincial Policy
Statement (Planning Act) and the Places to Grow Act, by providing
infill development that promotes the use of public transit and
utilizes existing infrastructure.
I suggest we promote more of this type of urban development in our
city and communities, rather than allowing NIMBYism to stand in
the way.
- Date:
- 26 Nov 2007
- From:
- Michael Holloway
- Subject:
- Lack of notification for meeting
I apologize to all, I was not at the latest community meeting
about the Condo development on the south-east corner of Woodbine
& Gerrard. I intended to attend but received no notification --
even though I added my name and address to ward representative
Sandra Bussin's contact list at the first meeting. I found out
about it here, at Woodbine-Gerrard.com, one hour after the
meeting ended.
more...
- Date:
- 26 March 2008
- From:
- Jason Cuthbert
- Subject:
- My Home
I have lived in the Woodbine and Gerrard area for
approximately 30 years and have always said that the area
needed a face lift. I currently live in the Woodbine and
Danforth area which is riddled with crack heads and dive bars
but that's another topic. I work in the construction
management industry specializing in major renovations for the
top 100 businesses in Canada. I have always tried to figure
out what would be suitable to this area of Toronto I have had
many thoughts and ideas but one come to mind let me explain.
When I grew up in the area it was mainly Italian, Portuguese,
Greek and Anglo Saxon and during the housing boom in the 90's
many groups moved away to suburban areas. The neighbourhood
businesses started to change hands and many of them didn't
survive. Just to give you an example there was once a glass
shop, shoe shop, jewelery store, bank of Nova Scotia, fish
and chips etc, and many of them survived for over 20+ years.
I have seen the proposal's for the new S/E corner of Woodbine
and Gerrard. The designs seem to be in the prospective of the
"beach area" I prefer the first idea. The reason for it is I
don't believe they will get the money they want for it, just
for the simple fact that the powers that be have also
approved two low income level developments in the area, and
one of them being non-profit.
For the first designers idea of more residential and less
retail make sense to me because of parking and logistical
obstacles. I have always felt like we needed a major retailer
in the area to spark the attention of the people to get out of
there homes and walk about and get the neighbourhood "feeling"
back and striving again. My best idea is open a Tim Horton's
it's a major T.T.C route and people or walking around all the
time and I think it would do quite well.
Lets face the facts the city of Toronto is changing rapidly
and so will Woodbine and Gerrard. Sometimes you need to clear
a patch and start new.
