#204: (Almost) goodbye, SOS from resident, 2500 Bloor meeting,
In this newsletter:
1. Our (almost) final newsletter
2. 2500 Bloor Development: Community Meeting, Oct. 5
3. Fight the Height: new community association re: 2500 Bloor
4. SOS from Bloor St. resident
1. Our (almost) final newsletter
It’s been quite a few months since our last newsletter (and website update), and while our publishing has been irregular at times in the past, we’re thinking that after 11 years it’s time to retire our world19 community network, one which was certainly the first in the area to use the Internet as a community organizing & advocacy tool.
We expect to issue a final newsletter in the near future as a sign-off. However, just like zombies that never die, you should never count us out… don’t be surprised if some day in the future, you find another world19 newsletter lurking in your inbox.
2. 2500 Bloor: Community Meeting
Date: Monday, October 5th, 7 pm
Place: St. Pius X Catholic School,
Tomorrow evening, the City of Toronto Planning Department will host a Community Meeting regarding Tridel’s proposed condo development at 2490/2500 Bloor St. This meeting had originally been scheduled for June 25th, but was postponed due to the municipal strike. The purpose of the meeting is to formally introduce the development application to the community and invite feedback.
The Planning Department has also rescheduled the related design charette - now to be held over the two evenings of October 21st and 28th As we noted in our June newsletter the charette is intended to provide an opportunity for the community to consider possibilities and issues raised by the 2500 Bloor proposal and other potential development sites in the immediate vicinity - most notably the Odeon Humber block. Participation in the charette will be limited. The process will be explained and volunteers will be solicited at tomorrow night’s meeting.
Links to documents and other information related to the Tridel development can be found in our June 23rd newsletter update.
3. Fight the Height emerges from the shadows of the proposed 13 and 16 storey condo towers and the Old Mill Community Association is born.
As summer was officially heating up so too was ‘Fight the Height’ (FTH)- a group of local residents who will literally be living in the shadows of the condo towers, should Tridel’s development application succeed as it presently stands. Opposed to the height and density of the proposed development, FTH gathered steam through the summer as neighbours came together on several occasions to assess their options and develop a strategy. By the end of summer, the group was incorporated as the Old Mill Community Association (OMCA) with an immediate mandate of ‘fighting the height’ but with an eye to lasting over the long term. And at the moment, all signs point to Councillor Saundercook also being prepared to fight the height alongside the OMCA.
So, despite Tridel’s earlier efforts to consult with the community through a working group process involving local ratepayers and residents, it looks like their community work regarding 2500 may have only just begun.
No doubt all interested parties will be in attendance at tomorrow night’s meeting at St. Pius.
If you are interested in signing up for the Fight the Height newsletter, email fighttheheight@yahoo.ca
4. SOS from Bloor St. resident
We’ve previously reported about the situation that Linda Sepp faces. Linda is the last resident of the otherwise-boarded up block on Bloor between Oakmount and Pacific. Linda faces extreme challenges, as she suffers from Multiple Chemical Sensitities and Environmental Sensitivities (MCS/ES), a debilitating condition, and she has been desperately seeking help in locating new housing: a need that in her case is literally a matter of life and death.
After years of legal wrangling, the company (W & J Properties) which owns that block and wants to demolish it for development, will finally take over her building in April, 2010. Meanwhile Linda is living there, and is now without heat or adequate water. And while W&J has offered assistance to acquire a new home for her, because of her disability Linda is unable herself to actually search for housing safe enough for her to live in.
As she has stated, “the lack of safe housing is the number one issue for people with MCS/ES, and access to that would go a long way towards diminishing the debilitating effects of this disability.”
(In fact, as she has explained, MCS/ES will not even allow her to go to a hospital, because the conditions there are potentially life-threatening to her and others in her condition).
We’ve posted a short WORD document she sent us which outlines what she has been through, and the help she says she has so far failed to receive from agencies, elected representatives and other officials.
Most urgently, it outlines the help she is hoping to find, somewhere. It’s last note:
Time is of the Essence
Despite the date of April 4, 2010 for Linda’s landlords to gain legal possession of her home, given that the gas for heat and hot water was cut off, she has no warm clothing, and the water is unsuitable for her daily needs, time is of the essence for her to relocate before the cold weather season starts. Any and all assistance to meet this goal is urgently needed.
Linda can be reached at urbanfengshui@hotmail.com or 416 766 2862
Below are some MCS links she forwarded to provide more background on the illness and its repercussions to those who suffer from it:
Hospital Protocols: http://www.mcscanadian.org/hospital.html
The American Academy of Environmental Medicine: http://www.aaemonline.org/index.html
The most up to date perspective on MCS: http://thetenthparadigm.org/mcs09.htm
New article on mystery fragrances: http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2009/08/ebg082609.html
Pollution & air quality - Indoor air quality - Scents
http://www.lung.ca/protect-protegez/pollution-pollution/indoor-interieur/scents-parfums_e.php
Health Care Without Harm:
http://www.noharm.org/us/pesticidesCleaners/
http://www.noharm.org/us/pesticidesCleaners/Fragrances
What’s under your kitchen sink, in your garage, in your bathroom, and on the shelves in your laundry room? Learn more about what’s in these products, about potential health effects, and about safety and handling.
http://householdproducts.nlm.nih.gov/index.htm
Some past media coverage of her situation: The Toronto Star, Aug. 2007 and the National Post, May 2009
On behalf of world19,
John Leeson
Elizabeth Lines
Hi John & Elizabeth - thanks for all the great work! I often feel the only way to be connected to the issues is through World19.
Cheers
Jim Adams
The community owes you a considerable debt of service. Losing World 19 reminds of the heartbreaking news of I.F.Stone’s retirement. Losing the truth !
Thank you for all of the local information and activism over the years. Your newsletters will be missed.
jim
You embody democracy in action and citizen responsibility.
Kudos for your more-than-a-decade dedication.
jm
Hi Liz & John - I’ll be sorry to see the lights go out at World19. A unique perspective that I will miss - who can I trust to tell me what is going on our little part of the world? Anyhow, all the best.