from insidetoronto.com....
DAVID NICKLE | Nov 11, 2009 - 2:09 PM |
Yonge condo gets go-ahead at community council
Tower will be set back from historical buildings on street
Plans to build a 45-storey tower on top of the historic Rawlinson Cartage Buildings at St. Joseph Street and Yonge Street got the go-ahead from the Toronto and East York Community Council this week.
The project, by Joyonge Developments Corporation, is an attempt to, as delicately as possible, insert the mixed-use commercial and residential tower on top of and set back from historic buildings on both St. Joseph and Yonge streets.
If council approves the plan at its November meeting, the developer will also improve lighting on St. Nicholas Street - now, essentially a laneway running from Wellesley to St. Joseph's Street - to make it more pedestrian friendly.
The proposal got mixed reaction from the community.
John Anderson, president of the Historic Yonge Street Small Business Association, came to praise it, citing the plan's sensitivity to the existing Yonge Street facades and the setbacks.
"We are worried that our neighbourhood will become a dense canyon filled with tall buildings that block out light, create wind tunnels, result in perpetual traffic jams and make it impossible for us to do business," he said. "What we're looking at here today I feel is a template for other possible developments on Yonge Street, where we can maintain the historic nature on Yonge Street and still accommodate the great need for intensification."
Residents, on the other hand, objected to what they regarded as yet another condominium tower entering into their neighbourhood.
Kathryn Holden pointed out the residents in the new condos would be virtually staring into the living rooms of existing condos.
"If you look at the tiny lane of St. Nicholas - the developer is using that as a buffer so as not to set back his tower. That means on the other side of the lane there's a tower of 22 storeys and those people are going to be looking across into each other's units."
Paul Farrelly said the development pushed boundaries of what's acceptable in the neighbourhood too far.
"And there's no compensation for the pile driving that will take place while these massive towers get built," he said. "There's no compensation, no regard at the community level - no engagement in any meaningful dialogue."
Steve Diamond, who spoke representing the developer, maintained the community had been well-consulted and the project was a good one.
"What you have before you is going to set a new standard in terms of heritage preservation," he said. "We've gone out of our way to not only do facade retention on these buildings, but they'll be fully restored."
Local Councillor Kyle Rae supported the application.
"I would say to the residents that you've really trapped yourself in this notion that it all has to happen on Bay Street," he said. "Intensification was on Bay Street why? Because it was a wasteland of parking lots in the '70s and '80s and as far as I'm concerned, that's not the best use of land in downtown Toronto. Bay Street has largely been built out and now it's Yonge Street. The real challenge is how do you preserve Yonge Street at the same time as you find developments to finance the preservation."
Community council supported the plan.