Toronto West Don Lands: Blocks 17 & 26 | 141m | 43s | Aspen Ridge | Core Architects

AlvinofDiaspar said:
This bit is the most troubling:



So in other words, this shift creates a lot of room for these properties to be used potentially as "favours" - because unless the buyer intended to transfer the net benefit to the end-users, the differential will be pocketed by the new owner of these properties.

AoD
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The corruption here is galling to see. It shocking that there is no law that mandates that the sale of provincial property via competitive bidding. That the government can just hand off provincial assets without scrutiny is shocking to me. Its public land.

@DSC where are you hearing rumours about a settlement? What does a settlment here even look like? An agreement by the province to sell the land to the city?
 
lomeri said:
@DSC where are you hearing rumours about a settlement? What does a settlment here even look like? An agreement by the province to sell the land to the city?
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If I were a betting man, at this point I would guess that the most likely outcome is an agreement between the City and Province that there be some degree of incorporation of the heritage buildings into the final plan; the "rest" of the project details outlined in the MZO would likely remain intact (i.e. the total amount of GFA, building heights, and mix of uses).
 
lomeri said:
The corruption here is galling to see. It shocking that there is no law that mandates that the sale of provincial property via competitive bidding. That the government can just hand off provincial assets without scrutiny is shocking to me. Its public land.

@DSC where are you hearing rumours about a settlement? What does a settlment here even look like? An agreement by the province to sell the land to the city?
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I have no idea what any settlement might look like but it could presumably range from a week (or a day)' of consultation to a cancellation of MZO and a decision by Province to organise a planning charette on possible uses for the site.
 
Allandale25 said:
KWT thread:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1363909395097280525
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This "public consultation" is a web page that contains almost no information, is highly misleading / factually incorrect, and operates on the premise that the heritage buildings will be demolished. It would be laughable if it weren't a clear attempt to justify a terrible process and bad decision after the fact.

https://www.ontario.ca/page/consultation-crown-land-affordable-housing-eastern-avenue-toronto

I encourage you to visit the site and submit your thoughts on why the government's actions are anti-democratreic and why the heritage buildings should NOT be demolished or altered unless there is a genuine public consultation, all required studies and documents are released, and the province divulges specific project details.

Finally, this offer is completely out of touch with the reality that the province lost in court quite badly when the interim injunction was granted. The legal issues in this case are not about consultation--which is not a requirement--but the fact that the province did not meet its own guidelines, essentially falsified a heritage report to justify demolishing the Foundry, and breached its subdivision agreement with the City.

Looming over all this now is the emerging corruption scandal. The City has zero incentive to settle for nothing.
 
Amare said:
We've got to do some deep digging to find out if there's anyway to find out who is the beneficiary in all of this corrupt backroom dealings.
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Jesus, who cares:rolleyes:...
..Haha if you do too much digging you may find out the city is is just as much to blame of the same shenanigans .
 
From Friends of the Foundry

We’re writing with some news about the coming court date, February 26.

As agreed by all parties — the St. Lawrence Neighbourhood Association (SLNA), the City, and the Province — the hearing has been adjourned (postponed) to give all parties more time to come to some kind of resolution.

If they can’t reach a resolution, another court date will be set and the hearing will proceed.

This is great news (for now) because the parties have also agreed that the Interim Order will remain in effect. In other words, the province can’t continue with the demolition while we are discussing resolution.​

In the meantime, the Province initiated a one-way “consultation” process which continues until March 4, with the province asking for community input. Please click here to write to the province today, letting them know this isn’t good enough. A regular two-way dialogue with the community must take place, something we have asked for since October.

We must remember, the Province owns the land, and the Ministerial Zoning Order (MZO) allows them to bypass nearly all planning requirements set by the City. The Court ordered them to continue the pause on demolition because there is compelling evidence that they have not met their own standards under the Ontario Heritage Act and had breached heritage-related commitments in a subdivision agreement.

The Province is attempting to fulfill those requirements now. Once they are finished, there is a risk we will no longer be able to stop them through the courts. So a mutually-agreed adjournment right now is a good outcome.

What power do we have? Same as before: public pressure. Here’s why we can’t let up:​

  • We have the support of politicians at all three levels of government, representing all major opposition parties in the Ontario Legislature (NDP, Liberal, and Green).
  • We have 23,000 signatures on our petition.
  • We have written thousands of letters to Premier Ford and to Ministers Clark, MacLeod, and Scott; to all the Conservative MPPs in the 416 region, and to many others in the Legislature.
  • All major media outlets have covered our story multiple times. Most of the stories are critical of the Province.
  • Online discussion of the issue is not going away.
  • Crucially, citizens of Ontario are starting to connect the dots between the MZO affecting the Foundry site and other MZOs across the province, along with other coercive manoeuvres the Province has used to fast-track development without full and fair public consultation with those directly affected. Check out these stories about Stratford and Orillia.
As always, we want to thank you for staying engaged, and continuing to pressure the provincial government by writing emails, and/or directly challenging them online via social media. Don’t forget to write to the province today using their “consultation” link. The fight is long from over so long as the MZO stays in place.

Respect Local Planning
http://www.respectlocalplanning.com/
 
Automation Gallery said:
Jesus, who cares:rolleyes:...
..Haha if you do too much digging you may find out the city is is just as much to blame of the same shenanigans .
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Have you been paying attention? I think not. Though the City certainly do not always act as fast as we may want, and there have been cases of City and Councillor 'corruption' in this case the Province failed to involve the City AT ALL and, as the site belongs to the PROVINCE, if anyone is paying anyone for 'a nice piece of cleared land' the City or Councillors will not be the ones getting any $$ or other pay-offs.
 
DSC said:
From Friends of the Foundry

We’re writing with some news about the coming court date, February 26.

As agreed by all parties — the St. Lawrence Neighbourhood Association (SLNA), the City, and the Province — the hearing has been adjourned (postponed) to give all parties more time to come to some kind of resolution.

If they can’t reach a resolution, another court date will be set and the hearing will proceed.

This is great news (for now) because the parties have also agreed that the Interim Order will remain in effect. In other words, the province can’t continue with the demolition while we are discussing resolution.​

In the meantime, the Province initiated a one-way “consultation” process which continues until March 4, with the province asking for community input. Please click here to write to the province today, letting them know this isn’t good enough. A regular two-way dialogue with the community must take place, something we have asked for since October.

We must remember, the Province owns the land, and the Ministerial Zoning Order (MZO) allows them to bypass nearly all planning requirements set by the City. The Court ordered them to continue the pause on demolition because there is compelling evidence that they have not met their own standards under the Ontario Heritage Act and had breached heritage-related commitments in a subdivision agreement.

The Province is attempting to fulfill those requirements now. Once they are finished, there is a risk we will no longer be able to stop them through the courts. So a mutually-agreed adjournment right now is a good outcome.

What power do we have? Same as before: public pressure. Here’s why we can’t let up:​

  • We have the support of politicians at all three levels of government, representing all major opposition parties in the Ontario Legislature (NDP, Liberal, and Green).
  • We have 23,000 signatures on our petition.
  • We have written thousands of letters to Premier Ford and to Ministers Clark, MacLeod, and Scott; to all the Conservative MPPs in the 416 region, and to many others in the Legislature.
  • All major media outlets have covered our story multiple times. Most of the stories are critical of the Province.
  • Online discussion of the issue is not going away.
  • Crucially, citizens of Ontario are starting to connect the dots between the MZO affecting the Foundry site and other MZOs across the province, along with other coercive manoeuvres the Province has used to fast-track development without full and fair public consultation with those directly affected. Check out these stories about Stratford and Orillia.
As always, we want to thank you for staying engaged, and continuing to pressure the provincial government by writing emails, and/or directly challenging them online via social media. Don’t forget to write to the province today using their “consultation” link. The fight is long from over so long as the MZO stays in place.

Respect Local Planning
http://www.respectlocalplanning.com/
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Let’s hope that the city doesn’t play ball with the province if they make it clear in negotiations they’re not going to approach things in good faith.
 
I provided my feedback for the Province's consultation. I tried to not be political or too strident, in the hope that this would allow the points to speak for themselves:

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am writing as a concerned resident of Toronto to provide my comments regarding the provincially owned property at 153-185 Eastern Avenue ("The Foundry Site").

I believe it is an appropriate and admirable goal to use this site to increase the supply of affordable housing in Toronto. A mix of affordable and market-rate units is appropriate to achieve the goal.

I am, however, very much opposed to the demolition of any of the heritage structures at The Foundry Site. I do not believe that retaining the structures in their entirety (or as near as is possible given the premature demolition that has taken place) ought to constrain the development of affordable and market rate housing at the site. The historic buildings could be repurposed for community use, while residential towers are accommodated on what is presently open space on the site. The height and density of these towers could be significant, given the site.

Given the rapid growth of Toronto and Ontario, industrial heritage sites are rare, and ought to be protected. Future generations will look back with disgust should buildings such as those on The Foundry Site not be preserved. It is all the more frustrating to see this occur on a provincially-owned site, where the public good ought to be considered in the disposition of the asset.

I am also opposed to the nature of this consultation, which is rushed and unable to provide for a principled debate since no proposal with respect to the development of The Foundry Site has been presented. It is unclear that uninformed members of the public could even be aware that this consultation is taking place, and if they are, the Consultation website does not include enough information to inform them regarding the subject matter.

In summary, it is my position that:

1) a more extensive and informed heritage consultation process than the present one ought to take place;

2) having "some elements of the existing structures inform development" would be an extremely deficient form of heritage conservation at this site;

3) the heritage buildings at The Foundry Site ought to be retained in their entirety; and

4) with the heritage buildings retained, the site ought to be developed with as great a number of affordable housing units, accompanied by market rate units, as is possible. There is no concern with high density and height of development at this site.

Regards,
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Edit to add: I included my letter here in the hope that it might provide inspiration for others looking to draft feedback. I did not write it to be a form letter or applicable as anything but my own opinion, but if anyone wishes to cut and paste or paraphrase portions, feel free to do so.
 
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From STAR. https://www.thestar.com/politics/pr...eport-that-it-sold-dominion-foundry-site.html

Under fire over the future of the Dominion Foundry heritage site, Municipal Affairs Minister Steve Clark insists the provincially owned land has not been sold to a developer.

In the wake of a CBC report that the Progressive Conservative government had a provisional deal to sell the Eastern Avenue property to an unnamed buyer, Clark said no such accord has been reached.

“Regardless of whether there (were) conversations around this site ... at the end of the day, there are no deals around this site. This site remains in our possession,” the minister said Monday.


“A heritage impact assessment that was conducted on the abandoned site found that it required demolition so that it could undergo full environmental remediation,” added Clark.

“Our government approved a negotiating mandate that would help facilitate the future sale of the site,” he said.


“But let me be clear, the site has not been sold to anyone. There is no final sale on this property.”

It may well be true that no sale has yet been finalised but it is VERY strange that the MZO (see above) listed in quite some detail the buildings that were to be built on the site. Did Minster Clark wake up one day with this configuration in mind or did 'someone' say "If only we had a nice site near downtown that was cleared and ready for the immediate construction of x and y we would be so happy that we would shower you and/or the Tory party in money"?
 
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