MASSIVE TURN-OUT AT PUBLIC MEETING

The Assembly Hall auditorium was packed last night with as many as 140 residents who were there to protest Dunpar’s application to build townhouses on the site. The city planning department asked for community input … and they sure got it! There was a virtually unanimous show of hands in disagreement; speaker after speaker offered up all of the points of concern that have troubled the community and which have formed the content of the dozens of written submissions sent in to Greg Hobson-Garcia. No one spoke in favour of the proposal. Although maybe "not a priority" for our Councillor, many spoke about a community desire to have the City exporpriate the site, or, at least, the southern half on green space, and turn it into a waterfront park.

With so many counts against the application, plus the opposition of the community, the Councillor and the Conservation Authority, major breaches of the Official Plan and Zoning and inconsistencies with past OMB decisions, it is virtually inevitable that the planning department will eventually report to Community Council that it has decided against Dunpar on this proposal. In fact, the developer’s representative, Tom Giuancos, made no attempt whatsoever to even “sell” the project to the community.

The planning staff said their intention is to report to the Etobicoke-York Community Council on January 13^th, 2009 where the real decision will be made. The council is made up of eleven west-end City Councillors. These Councillors have the authority to accept the planners’ recommendation, modify the recommendation or overrule it.

Last night, Councillor Grimes reaffirmed his opposition to this proposal and said that he would vote against it at Community Council and ask the other Councillors to oppose it. He also said that, if any modifications were made to the application, there would be another public meeting. He would not, however, commit himself to an ongoing opposition to any townhouse development on that site (for example, a new application for six, not seven, townhouses). He also said that he would direct the City Solicitor to defend the City’s position should the developer appeal to the Ontario Municipal Board.

Community Council meetings are public and residents can make short deputations. In order for anyone to do this, they need to know the meeting date and they need to get on the deputation list by calling Sandra Domotor, Etobicoke-York City Clerk, at 416 394 8083. Submissions can also be sent to the eleven individual Councillors prior to the meeting. A submission, for example, could be the same one that you sent to Greg Hobson-Garcia with an explanatory add-on.

Councillor contact information is available at http://www.toronto.ca/committees/council_profiles/torontowest.htm

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