Thank you for clarifying. I would assume for this phase it will still take a long time to expropriate or negotiate for the air rights for the first phase (east of Spadina). Does anyone know how long this process usually takes?
Council has authorized staff to use expropriation if necessary.
Times for these processes can vary widely.
The City could negotiate forever; though if determined to get a property will typically move for expropriation within six months.
Though I'm not aware of the City having made such a move yet; and authorization was granted in February.
Once the City moves to expropriate, it can essentially take possession immediately.
A rights owner can only stop this by disputing whether the expropriation has a legitimate public purpose. In this case, a park would easily pass that test.
However, once the City moves to take possession, if no price is agreed on, the matter (of price) leaves the City's hands and goes to the OMB, as I recall for arbitration.
In theory (and this has happened) that decision can in turn be appealed to Divisional Court.
However, that is entirely a matter of price, not possession.
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I can affirm that City staff had been planning to begin construction as early as 2021.
Due to pandemic related delays if nothing else, that will not likely be met.
But I feel quite safe with the suggestion there will be a finished park long before 2030.