The Beach, which makes up a large portion of Ward 32 (Beaches-East York), is not only one of the favourite places to visit in the Toronto it’s also a place where people are eager to live.

With that desirability comes a number of local struggles as community members fight to maintain the area’s unique character and heritage value while trying to gauge what is appropriate new development in their ward. This issue is at top of mind for those belonging to the Kew Beach Neighbourhood Association, which was formed in 2009 due to concerns neighbours have about a condominium development proposal for 67-76 Kippendavie Ave.

Fed up with what they’re calling a “lack of consideration” for their concerns, several KBNA members shared in an email to The Mirror that they feel city planning officials “disregard clear and obvious opposition” to many large developments in the area making in “many cases blatant and obvious errors and omissions when reviewing and evaluating applications.”

Members of the local residents’ group also expressed their exasperation with city planning, approving development that “clearly exceed height and density limit, usually sighting other precedent-setting decisions that were also opposed by residents, but that has previously received city planning approval.”

Julia McInerney, president of the Toronto Beach East Residents Association (T-BERA), recently consulted her members about their biggest concerns in the ward and once again development rose to the top of the list.

“The most important issue is preserving the charm, beauty and character of the Beach. We need protection policies in place,” she wrote in an email to The Mirror, pointing to options such as heritage conservation districts, a secondary by-law, and special neighbourhood designations as well as the funds to both support and facilitate them.

She said there should be “a complete ban on the current practice by developers of (the) acquisition of multiple properties for the purpose of irregular single lot creation requiring zoning change for intensification developments that are completely out of character for the beach.”

Further, T-BERA – which represents those living in an area bounded by Lee Avenue to the west, Wineva Avenue to the east, Lake Ontario to the south and the laneway just below Queen Street east to the north – wants increased accountability for the planning department through community consultations with residents associations and the review of decisions by a separate city office and the Committee of Adjustment. They also want more funding and professional experts provided by the city when developers appeal to the Ontario Municipal Board.

One of the primary local issues in recent years, election candidates are often asked how they plan on working with both constituents as well as developers eager to snap up prime lakeside properties for new condominiums and other intensification projects.

The overwhelming response by the five candidates interviewed – Sandra Bussin, Mary-Margaret McMahon, Brad Feraday, Bruce Baker, and Keith Begley – is the need to involve the community in the development process from Day One, even before an application is submitted to the city.

Incumbent councillor Sandra Bussin called development a “challenging subject” as the province is enabling owners to develop property as they wish within certain guidelines.

“When the community gets involved we have seen some successes,” she said, pointing to two local heritage conservation districts – Lyall and Kingswood Road (south of Kingston Road) – that have helped protect the community from inappropriate development.

Bussin said the New Official Plan recently passed by city council also helps address some concerns pertaining to “out-of-character” developments but said the matter is still quite subjective.

Her plan for addressing development concerns is through the creation of a Ward 32-specific design review panel, which Bussin said she received approval for this past summer.

“It’s like a second set of eyes,” she said.

Mary-Margaret McMahon is proposing a similar idea: the creation of what she’s calling a “community preservation panel” where residents with knowledge about planning issues work to develop an overall vision for ward.

“This cuts through the red tape,” McMahon said.

“I’m all for smart development. Not all development is bad. I’d like to attract the right type of developers.”

Brad Feraday also said new developments must be done in partnership with neighbourhood associations.

He said a lot of problems arise when the planning department allows developers to have height and density increases for their projects above the by-law.

To address this issue, Feraday has written to local planning requesting any development applications for two parking lots next to a future condominium at 67-76 Kippendavie Ave. be required to fall within the maximum height and density allowed for this current project.

Bruce Baker said he feels it’s unfair for citizens to have to raise thousands of dollars to fight developers at the Ontario Municipal Board and feel more “city participation” is needed in the planning process.

“We need the developers to actually go to the community first,” he said, calling the Kippendavie development a “missed opportunity” as the city could have bought the site and worked with a developer on this project.

Keith Begley’s take on this issue is to establish a city-wide by-law that would require builders to meet with the community and the local councillor to review their proposed plans.

“It’s time to bring community back to municipal government,” he said, noting this step would cause less wasted time at city council as the community would have already given its input on any given development.

Another important local issue of interest is infrastructure, notability the inadequacy of local sewer systems, which causes flooding and sewer back-ups in many local homes during heavy rain storms.

An ongoing concern, the City of Toronto is in the process of studying ways to upgrade the system. Interim solutions are also being explored at this time.

Members of the Kew Beach Neighbourhood Association said they feel a comprehensive ground and storm water plan should be implemented for the Beach community.

Those from T-BERA said also “green sustainability” must be a priority with “intensification projects reducing green space and creating water run-off floods and infrastructure overloads, with the proposal of the light rail system using valuable set-aside land for the Ashbridges’ treatment facility and interrupting the bicycle paths.”

Begley said the city’s approach to dealing with infrastructure issues in Ward 32 has been far too reactive and not proactive enough.

“The reactive approach only costs us money and is a band-aid solution,” he said, calling for a better plan for local infrastructure needs in the future.

“We’re expanding and developing yet our infrastructure stays the same. We have to think into the future and see where we’re going and build for that.”

Baker said more legislation is needed when it comes to releasing chlorinated effluents into Lake Ontario from the Ashbridges Bay Treatment Plant and feels alternative to chlorines such as ultraviolet or ozone must be explored further.

He also said building the LRV facility at the ABTP is a “bad idea” and said other options like installing storm water ponds and wetlands would make the plant work more efficiently and effectively.

“To me, that plant is operating illegally.”

Calling for an immediate engineering review and plan to address the local sewer system, Feraday said it’s unacceptable for the basements of homes to flood repeatedly and for sewers to back up into them during heavy rain storms.

He also said city planning must take into consideration the increased pressure on the sewer system when new developments go in.

“Every time you build, you reduce the capacity. By putting concrete in place of soil there’s less natural drainage,” he said.

Once again pointing to “attracting the right kind of development,” McMahon said one of the ways she’d improve the situation is by replacing asphalt medians with flowers and plants and mandating parking pads permeable so water has more places to go instead of just the aging sewer system.

Underlining that she’s the best one to champion for improving local infrastructure, Bussin said a series of infrastructure projects are currently underway in the ward notably lead pipe replacement and the Coatsworth Cut clean up. She also said a study has recently been completed about basement flooding issues in the Beach and recommendations are expected to be presented once council resumes.
LRV FACILITY / LOCAL TRANSIT

Being so close to the downtown core, many residents in Beaches-East York rely on public transit and are counting on the city and the province to improve public transit options in and out of their community.

“The new mega-streetcars will not improve the poor service we have at the end of the 501 route and will actually cause more traffic congestion as they cross Leslie at Lake Shore (Boulevard),” said Hans Looije, president of the Beach Triangle Residents Association (BTRA, pointing to the local impacts of a plan by the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) to transform 20-acres of land on the same site as the Ashbridges Bay Treatment Plant into a storage and maintenance facility for the city’s new fleet of 200 light rail vehicles.

“The TTC has done many studies, but as traffic in the Beach increases, the problem gets worse.”

Bussin said the new fleet of Euro-style streetcars is “absolutely critical” for making transit accessible for the disabled and young families. She also said the new fleet is good for the environment as it helps reduce the emission of greenhouses gases into the atmosphere.

She said the city needs a site to store the new fleet noting a “state-of-the-art” building would be built at the ABTP site and that Leslie Street would also be “greened” as a result of a design competition.

Bussin also said similar yards will have to be set up across the city as the transit network expands, adding she has pushed to have a percentage of the new LRVs stored at the nearby Connaught site.

If elected, the incumbent councillor said she’d continue to work hard to continue fighting for capital funding for local projects and initiatives.

“I’m the only councillor that knows how to get the best for our community. I certainly have the proven record of getting results.”

McMahon said the light rail vehicle yard is an issue she’d like to re-open and, if elected, she’d also lobby to have one fare for all routes, express or regular.

“Why are people penalized for wanting to get downtown faster?” she said.

Her priorities as the potential future councillor are to engage the community by hosting town hall meetings at area libraries and pushing for financial accountability by creating a culture of smart spending.

Having attended several meetings about the new LRV yard, Feraday said out of 21 options explored he’s not happy the TTC chose the one at Lake Shore Boulevard East and Leslie Street.

“They could have divided (the new streetcars) up into different sites. It’s just exacerbating a problem that’s already bad,” he said referring to the congestion along Leslie Street where hundreds of LRVs are set to travel daily.

He also said the new streetcar fleet is a good thing but not the only way to go to get people moving throughout the city. He’s even proposing the “old school” streetcars be refurbished and used for lower capacity routes such as St. Clair Avenue and Kingston Road.

Feraday said as the next councillor his main priority would be the budget and the city’s $3 billion deficit.

“If we don’t have our financial house in order we can’t afford to do anything,” he said, adding he’s unhappy with 20 cents of every tax dollar being used to pay the interest on the city’s debt.

“It’s not just about cutting dollars but using your money effectively by looking for new streams of revenue, and making partnerships with the federal and provincial governments and other municipalities.”

Baker called the 501 streetcar line a “nightmare” and said he’s not confident the city’s new fleet of streetcars will help the problem.

He also called the contentious LRV site another example of the city not working with residents.

Currently being sued by George Foulidis, owner of Tuggs Incorporated and the Boardwalk Café, for comments he allegedly made regarding a “flawed” lease deal, Baker said if elected his priority would be to ensure transparency, fairness and the best value for the taxpayer.

“I want to ensure there are no sole-sourcing contracts put out,” he said.

Once again touching on the lack of planning, Begley said the city didn’t consider all the factors – especially where it would put the new LRV fleet – before putting the order in.

“It’s not in the right location. Again, the city didn’t plan,” he charged, adding the former “Palmolive plant” at the Don Roadway and the DVP would have been a far better site.

Begley said he anticipates “commuter chaos” as a result of the new LRV site at Leslie and Lake Shore.

“It will cause more traffic congestion throughout the community,” he said, noting more express bus routes are needed until the larger Transit City plan is implemented.

The one thing Begley would focus on, if elected, is eliminating party politics at the municipal level.

“I strongly believe you can’t represent a municipal party and your ward at the same time,” he said, underlining a strong representative is needed for the Beach.

“The community is not built of one party.”

Dropouts:
Lawyer Neil Sinclair announced early Wed., Oct. 20 that he would no longer be actively campaigning and has decided to throw his support behind Mary-Margaret McMahon.
Martin Gladstone is also no longer actively campaigning for the position and is also supporting McMahon.
Kieron Pope has also withdrawn from the race.
Candidate Albert Castells was unavailable to share his thoughts on local issues with The Mirror by press time.

- Joanna Lavoie

Posted in East York - Beach, News