Stelco site development
Community Liaison minutes June 10/02

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Windermere-by-the-Lake Community Liaison Committee (WLCLC)
Fifth Meeting

Monday June 10, 2002 at 7 PM - Swansea Town Hall
A Joint Undertaking of the City of Toronto and REON Development Corporation

MINUTES

Chair: Barry Brooks
Attendance:
Community Members: Jamie Bell, Lawrence Horsley, Bill Roberts, Norm McLeod, Ron Braun, Robin Sorys,
REON: John Davies, Bob Leech, David Moore, Helen Aitkin
Absent: John Leeson, Michael LeGresley, Paul Didur, Tony McGrath, John Hockin, Adrian and Dahlia Holzscherer, Mary Ellis, Lina Volpe, Paula Gallo

The meeting began at 7:00 pm.

1. Review of Agenda
Barry Brooks welcomed participants. Bill Roberts moved that the Agenda be adopted. Seconded by Lawrence Horsley. All were in favour.

2. Approval of Minutes of May 6, 2002 Meeting
Bill Roberts pointed out that his last name was incorrect in some references in the minutes, and that Barry Brooks' name was misspelled. Bill moved the minutes adopted with the aforementioned amendments.

3. Business arising from Minutes

a. Site Walkabout
Jamie Bell gave a brief report on the Walkabout, which was held June 4, 2002. He pointed out that the presence of wildlife was dramatic, with the siting of a Night Heron, and a Canada goose and eggs. This was in stark contrast to the traffic noise and commotion. He noted that many of those who participated were new to the community engagement process, but that they were quickly brought up to speed with the development.

Bob Leech added that nineteen people in all attended. They asked questions freely about groundwater, remediation, and the schedule for development. The Walkabout did not generate any list of action items.

b. Update on demolition and remediation
Bob Leech reported that remediation of East Site is now complete. No further demolition has been done on the West Site since the last meeting. Remediation started on West site is moving forward as planned. They have removed a number of underground storage tanks and continued with soil sampling and testing.

Jamie Bell noted that he has heard from someone living near the site that they have seen trucks coming in with concrete for crushing, as well as I-beams, tanks, and metals, from off-site. Bob Leech said that he would look into that.

• Bob Leech to look into issue of materials being brought onsite.

John Davis asked Ron Braun for feedback on what he sees from his residence across from the site. Ron reported that he doesn't see much going on, and that it is generally a very quiet site.

Ron asked if any bioremediation is going to be done. Bob Leech responded that bioremediation is only effective for the elimination of petroleum hydrocarbons. When soils are contaminated with metals as well, there is no sense in doing bioremediation, since you would have to remove the soil in any case. If bioremediation is going to be utilized for remediation on the West Site, it will be done in a controlled fashion, on the remaining concrete slab. An area of 70 x 10 metres would be required.

John Davies said the building is still remaining on the West Site because Priestly (the excavator) is looking to find a buyer for the intact building, which would be dissembled and relocated. Also REON thought that the dry area provided by the building could be useful, though it hasn't been used much yet. If bioremediation were to be done, it would be done there. The building is also being used for signage by Priestly.

Ron Braun asked if there was a possibility that they would store the building if it is not sold soon, since he knows someone who could be interested in buying the building at a later date. Bob Leech said that the building will be taken down within two months. The remediation is being done from east to west. Once they reach the building they will have to remove it.

c. Review of East Site Development Plan
John Davies reported that the sales and display building on the east corner at Ellis is now in place and the model apartments will soon be completed. This building will contain displays, "closing" rooms, as well as the model apartments. Access to the sales building by vehicle will be from the Queensway, at the middle of the East Site. John explained that access from Ellis is not possible because the turn is too tight.

Lawrence Horsely asked if it would be possible for the Liaison Committee members to preview the sales and display building before it is open to the public. John Davies agreed to discuss this with Cresford, REON's builder-partner and get back to the Committee.

• John Davies to discuss Committee preview of Sales Office with Cresford

Lawrence also suggested that signage at corner of Ellis and the Queensway would be useful to help people locate the entrance. David Moore said that the sign could be posted on the Ellis/Queensway corner, or on the face of the building on the north side. Barry Brooks emphasized that signage will be important.

Site Plan Models
David Moore (Pellow + Associates Architects Inc.) presented two models of the site plan - one was a recreation of an earlier prototype, which had incorporated input from Swansea stakeholders. The second was a model of the current site plan for the East Site, which incorporates community input with adaptations made in consultation with the builder-partner, Cresford. The current site plan proposes smaller units, a decision based on current marketplace trends.

The plan proposes that the townhouses along the street will be 11 metres high for the front units, and 13 metres for the back units. The units on the front will be two storeys high with entrance at the ground level. Those at the back will be three storeys with a raised entrance, and access to the roof. An additional row of townhouses will be located in the interior of the site, south of the street-side townhouses. The space formed between the rows of townhouses, and bounded by the high-rise on the west corner, will form a natural courtyard, which will be landscaped. Portland Place, located between Spadina and Bathurst, Front and Wellington, provides an example of an internal courtyard similar to that proposed for the Windermere By-the-Lake development.

The park on the Ellis Street corner will incorporate the waterway which is currently visible on the site. The berm along the south of the site, which provides a buffer from the rail-line, will be terraced and landscaped. David Moore pointed out that the original draft site plan provided for 61% landscaped area. This has increased to 72% on the East Site.

The elevation of the ground level has been set in accordance with the standards defined by the Toronto Regional Conservation Authority (TRCA), based on the provision for a storm of the magnitude of Hurricane Hazel in 1954.

Jamie Bell asked how the view corridor on the site at the foot of Southport is going to be maximized. John Davies said that originally a driveway into the site had been proposed across from Southport to create a "window" into the site. The driveway ahs been moved west, but a pedestrian access has been maintained. This is a visual link to Southport only - it has never been intended to create either a vehicular or pedestrian crossing of the Queensway at this. It is far too dangerous.

John Davies said that the Section 37 agreement provides for $127,000 for waiting stations at the Windermere stop, plus the cost of a safely fence at the right-of-way, as requested by TTC.

Lawrence Horsley asked for confirmation on the heights of the buildings. John responded that the maximum would be 22 stories - the same as before. Ron Braun asked if the reduction of the footprint on the East Site would result in an increase on the West. David Moore said that this would not be the case. Because the townhouses will be thinner, they would create less of a footprint. John Davies added that the townhouse buildings were proposed to cover a 42,000 square feet footprint in the earlier plan. This has now been reduced to 36,600 square feet. John Davies explained that now that Cresford has come on board as builder-partner, REON is able to complete the detail required to apply for site plan approval. The plan must adhere to the approved height limit, building envelope, and density limits.

Ron Braun asked how the additional acreage from the purchase of the rail lines would affect the building envelopes, and the height of buildings. John Davies said that they had anticipated the purchase from the beginning, since they would require the land in order to accommodate the setbacks. This additional 42,000 square feet - roughly equivalent to another acre of land - allows REON to create more park space, and get rid of telephone poles, which will enhance the aesthetics of the site. Ron asked if this would result in an increase in units. John Davies responded that there would be another 80,000 square feet of housing, but distributed proportionally over the whole site. Ron asked how many units would be built on the East Site. David Moore answered that there would be 150 units.

Ron Braun asked what impact this would have on traffic. John Davies said that REON is applying for a reduction in parking on the site. Bill Roberts said he was concerned that people living this far west in Toronto do not make good use of the TTC, but rely on driving. He said that the TTC becomes congested this far west. He suggested that if parking is reduced too much, people will use the plaza for parking. Barry Brooks said that Waterfront initiatives will drive improvements to the TTC. Lawrence Horsely asked why REON is looking at reducing parking, and suggested that REON should provide more units of visitor parking for optional leasing or selling.

Bill Roberts asked if all parking was going to be underground. He pointed out that whether it is legal or not, people are going to park on the internal roadway. Barry Brooks said that there will not be any above-ground parking on the East Site, except temporary parking for service vehicles, but some will be provided on the West Site. John Davies added that once it was decided not to include any retail in the development, REON decided against above-ground parking.

Bill Roberts suggested that some temporary parking - even metered parking - could be useful. John Davies agreed that this was not a bad suggestion, and that they would look into parking options. He added that there is a possibility of accessible parking in a semi-enclosed area at the entrance to the underground garage. John thanked the committee for their input into the parking issue, given that REON is still working out the details.

John Davies explained that parking regulations refer to the number of spaces required per unit. Originally they had designated 1.25 spaces per unit, but now, with fewer of the larger units, they propose to reduce the ratio to 1.15 per unit. He added that REON is still looking into this, and it will not be finalized until the submission to the Committee of Adjustments is complete. Before this happens, he said, REON would get back to the Liaison Committee.

Ron Braun noted that the current design is very distinctive, and asked if the West Site was going to harmonize with this. He also asked if any of the density of housing would be transferred to the West Site. John Davies responded that the West Site will be harmonized with the East, and that there will be no transfer of density.

David Moore explained that the buildings will have a lot of glass, and will have rounded features. There will be some terracing on top. Lawrence Horsley asked if there would be any greenspace on the roof. David said they don't have answers to that right now.

John Davies noted that the next step will be to continue working out the details of the design, before the site plan application is submitted. By the time of the Open House they will be closer to the final design. Details will include unit layouts, and facades on buildings. He said that everyone on the Committee will get copies of the site design, which is a public document. The Committee of Adjustment application will likely be submitted in early July. The Committee would likely address the application at a meeting in late July.

John Davies proposed that the Liaison Committee meet shortly before the Committee of Adjustment meeting. He said he would circulate materials as soon as possible. Although they will still be fine-tuning specifics, REON will start locking into the plan currently presented.

John noted that the Public Art component will be progressing very soon, with a meeting likely within next two weeks. Barry noted that REON should contact Jane Purdue (Public Art).

Lawrence Horsley asked if REON can send the Committee members digital copies of the design. David Moore agreed to email these to Helen Aitkin in PDF format for distribution.

Jamie Bell asked what progress has been made with the City of Toronto upgrade of the Queensway, and suggested that the City should engage the community in the planning process.

d. Update on Section 37 activities
John Davies noted that through the process of land purchase and application for development REON completed the additional purchase of the CN lands. From the very beginning REON has intended to incorporate those lands into the site, a process which would be submitted through the Committee of Adjustment. Although this does not require rezoning, which would require section 37 agreements, REON would like to look into the City's interest in providing additional benefits to the community. Rather than opening up the whole section 37 - which was quite comprehensive - REON suggests that the Community should identify additional direct benefits to the Community to compensate for the amendment. In the original Section 37 agreement some of the things that were considered valuable to the Community were school playground funds, the Town Hall addition, the Boathouse, and the Joy Station.

Barry Brooks said that David Miller has suggested that provisions for the separate schools in the Community should be considered.

Norm McLeod said that as a member of the fund-raising committee for the Town Hall, he is aware that they have raised only a third of the quarter million dollars required.

Jamie Bell suggested that the High Park Advisory Committee, Chaired by Robin Sorys, would like to see improvements to the wetlands area of south end of Grenadier Pond. City funding had been earmarked for that, but the process has slowed down. John Davies cautioned that funds allocated for wetlands improvements could get swallowed up by Toronto Parks and Recreation.

Robin Sorys suggested a contribution to the Chess Club, which is trying to renovate their building to provide a "Welcome Centre".

John Davies requested that the Committee identify some ideas and submit them to REON.

4. Open House - June 27, 7:30 pm, Swansea Town Hall

5. Other business
John Davies noted that there is a pre-application meeting concerning a proposed development at the Swansea Plaza location for two condo towers and retail space. John asked if the Liaison Committee was going to take a position on the proposed development. Barry Brooks noted that the developer will have to discuss all of the issues with the Community.

6. Next meeting - July 23, 2002, 7:00 pm, Swansea Town Hall

Minutes as taken by Helen Aitkin