Toronto Nordic Condos | 40.3m | 12s | Collecdev-Markee | gh3

For some reason midrise buildings seem to have a harder time in this city than highrises.

For one, towers are most often built close to existing towers, where mid-rises (at least in this city at this point in time) often replace a much different typology.

People hate change.
 
For one, towers are most often built close to existing towers, where mid-rises (at least in this city at this point in time) often replace a much different typology.

People hate change.

People are so extreme that even the idea of rooming houses or basement apartments, which have zero effect on the buildform of the neighbourhood, are unacceptable to many of them.
 
So the meeting was originally an informal open house by the developer, and turned into a full presentation by the solicitor due to the amount of people.

Highlights:

  • Extremely childish behaviour, talking over the presenter, shouting out nonsense like calling the townhouses the Berlin wall, and likening the towers to the Titanic.

  • Some real grade A douches, who then went on to say that the presenter needed to respect the neighbourhood, while being disrespectful the entire time.

  • Cell Phones going off the entire time.

  • Some legitimate concerns raised by the tenants of the existing rental buildings, mostly due to being uninformed about the process, their rights, and how far along in the process this proposal is. Essentially boiling down to questions about the right of return.

  • Some asinine comments about the look of the building, by people who dressed like they had no taste to begin with.

  • Concern that a light at Champlain would be too close to the lights at Wilson Heights and King High, and that traffic will go up Bathurst to enter the neighbourhood rather than across Wilson and then up into the area.

  • NIMBY shit concerning the height.

  • Concern that there is not a parking spot for each unit.

  • Concern that there is going to be too much parking.

  • Questions about the capacity of the schools in the area to absorb new childreen.

  • Councilor Pasternak saying he knew this development would be problematic when he first saw it.
 
^^^ Sigh. These truly are Trumpian times - fearful, tasteless, dumbed down, ignorant, resistant to facts, resistant to change...
 
So the meeting was originally an informal open house by the developer, and turned into a full presentation by the solicitor due to the amount of people.

Highlights:

  • Extremely childish behaviour, talking over the presenter, shouting out nonsense like calling the townhouses the Berlin wall, and likening the towers to the Titanic.

  • Some real grade A douches, who then went on to say that the presenter needed to respect the neighbourhood, while being disrespectful the entire time.

  • Cell Phones going off the entire time.

  • Some legitimate concerns raised by the tenants of the existing rental buildings, mostly due to being uninformed about the process, their rights, and how far along in the process this proposal is. Essentially boiling down to questions about the right of return.

  • Some asinine comments about the look of the building, by people who dressed like they had no taste to begin with.

  • Concern that a light at Champlain would be too close to the lights at Wilson Heights and King High, and that traffic will go up Bathurst to enter the neighbourhood rather than across Wilson and then up into the area.

  • NIMBY shit concerning the height.

  • Concern that there is not a parking spot for each unit.

  • Concern that there is going to be too much parking.

  • Questions about the capacity of the schools in the area to absorb new childreen.

  • Councilor Pasternak saying he knew this development would be problematic when he first saw it.

Thanks for the summary - and the witty retorts. Oh it look like the Berlin Wall...this one is just begging for some unpleasant responses.

AoD
 
^^^ Sigh. These truly are Trumpian times - fearful, tasteless, dumbed down, ignorant, resistant to facts, resistant to change...

This is different than Trump and, I would argue, less defensible. Trump's base is uneducated rural hicks, and the classic Toronto NIMBY is a single-family home-owning millionaire.
 
I hope projects like these get through the OMB before Wynne changes it.
Indeed. Do we have a thread for the OMB reforms on UT by the way?

I have my own issues with the OMB, but I think these reforms are disastrous for the purposes of allowing development (free market) to make Toronto a more dense, livable and urban city.

If this development is the Berlin Wall, then I wonder if these NIMBYs understand that they are on the wrong side of it, opposing market forces, unabashedly protectionist.
 
So they had the formal community consultation meeting happened last night.

As you'd expect. More of the same from residents, putting up a big fuss about how adding this kind of density will ruin the neighbourhood, and how they will lose their privacy in their back yards, some of those being residents the next street North. Those residents were upset they didn't provide renders of what their view would be from their yards (they did provide renders for those adjacent to the site). There were a few questions about local schools and capacity that couldn't be answered.

Tenants of the buildings had a lot of questions, much to the dismay of homeowners. A lot of them were fairly simple about right to return and basicly peace of mind questions. No opposition to density or form.

City planner basically said that they are in an avenues designated zone and are entitled to build up to 8 stories, and that they would likely be negotiated down to somewhere between the 8 and 13 stories. There was also a parklands request that the applicant will have to deal with that requires a 500 msq(?) public park area at the corner of Faywood, and a new policy regarding replacement of office space, though that is being challenged at the OMB right now by developers.

The builder representatives made the case that the heights and density are fitting for the location based on Tippet road developments, and its proximity to transit.

The traffic studies group laid out the increased volumes and the proposal of signalizing the intersection at Champlain.

Again, lots of rude behaviour, people talking over each other, and one person telling my wife that she doesn't know what she is talking about when she did not agree that the development was ridiculous. I can't imagine the patients these officials and developers must have to deal with these "consultations".
 
It can only be for lack of decision, as there hasn't been one.

42
 
Do you know on what grounds the appeal is being filed? Lack of decision? the E-status page doesn't say anything.

This development application came in December 23, 2016 (just before development application fee price increase for 2017),.... it usually takes about 2 years for a development application to get to CityPlanning FinalReport and CityCouncil,.... here, they OMB early,... why? Due to OMB changes, developers are OMB trigger happy,... to get their foot in the OMB door before it shuts on them. Right now, they still don't know when OMB changes will start or if it'll be retroactive to previous Spring when Province announced OMB changes,....
 
Last edited:

Back
Top