world19News #130
Aug. 8, 2003

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In this issue:
1. Public meeting re: contamination around Ellis Park/Context condo development - Aug. 12
2. Slumlords in Bloor West Village?
3. Waterfront Cleanup - Sat. Aug 23
4. "Meow Club" site development
5. KK's woes

1. CONTAMINATION AROUND THE CONTEXT / ELLIS PARK CONDO SITE - Public meeting Tue. Aug 12:
Over the past few years, there has been a huge amount of community & media attention to the condo development at 1947 Bloor at Ellis Park. Because of its location next to High Park and Wendigo Creek, much of the attention has focused on the issue of hydrocarbon contamination on and around the site (likely a result of the gas station that had existed on the site for many years). According to reports we've received recently, this contamination has now been found south of the site in the residential area. Neighbours and others are concerned about what efforts Context Development is or is not taking to deal with this.

Below is a note we received from a reader and an announcement from the High Park Working Group about a public meeting on the issue. Note that on our website (www.world19.com) you can also find a map (PDF format) of the area showing the extent of the environmental impact, as well as some older background on the site.

From our reader:
"In the last month alone, Context has admitted that its remediation efforts on the site have failed, it has fired the environmental engineering firm it hired to carry out the work, hired a new company, and conducted tests in the Wendigo Way laneways that have turned up new areas of contamination in our community.

Below is a notice we are sending around regarding a public meeting next week that will bring together the community, MOE [Ontario Ministry of the Environment], Public Health and Context for an updater on this ever-changing issue. It is also an important opportunity for our community to publicly urge MOE to remain vigilant on this issue and NOT cave in to pressure from Context to cut corners and rush environmental approvals just because Context wants to begin construction next month.

IMPORTANT PUBLIC MEETING - SWANSEA TOWN HALL Tuesday, August 12, 2003 at 7 pm

CONTAMINATED CONDOMINIUM SITE - BLOOR & ELLIS PARK ROAD
Significant hydrocarbon contamination, in the form of gasoline and diesel fuel, buried under the Context (High Park) Inc. property at 1947-1997 Bloor Street West, is migrating off-site and spreading to public and private lands on Ellis Park Road and Wendigo Way. It has recently been found on public lands as far as 100 meters to the south.

The contamination remaining on-site, which includes benzene, a non-threshold carcinogen, is many times the level considered acceptable by the Ministry of the Environment. Context is now asking the Ministry for permission to cement over the contamination, without any further on-site remediation, so that Context can begin construction next month. This will not stop the spread of the contamination.

The site plan agreement signed between the City of Toronto and Context requires the developer to submit an environmental remediation report recommending measures to deal with off-site contamination and to carry out those recommendations. Context must also ensure that public lands, including High Park and the Grenadier Pond watercourse, are protected from environmental contamination.

The High Park Neighbourhood Working Group is concerned that Context wishes to be absolved of any further responsibility to either delineate or remediate the hydrocarbon plume, which successive engineering reports have shown to be much larger than originally described. The Group is also concerned that Context has not carried out appropriate soil and ground-water testing to verify that contaminants have not migrated to or exist on adjacent parkland (such as Wendigo Creek) as a result of previous land use on its site, as the site plan agreement mandates.

Because hydrocarbon contamination is such a serious form of pollution we urge you to attend the community meeting on Tuesday, August 12th at 7pm, which will be held in the Rousseau room at the Swansea Town Hall, on Lavinia Avenue. Display boards are being set up and will be available for viewing before the main meeting from 6:15 pm. You will have an opportunity to make comments and to ask questions of the representatives attending on behalf of the Ministry of the Environment, Toronto Public Health, the developer and others. We have also invited Councillor David Miller and MPP Gerard Kennedy to attend.

This will be a crucial meeting. Please come and demonstrate your interest and concerns. Please encourage your friends and neighbours to come as well.

The principle that the people of Ontario have a right to a clean and healthy environment is enshrined in the Ontario Environmental Bill of Rights!"

2. HUMBER THEATRE - BOUGHT BY THE WYNN FAMILY
As first reported in our previous newsletter, the Humber Theatre closed quietly without public announcment, although we've since heard that the fitness centre plan for the site has fallen through. However, we were very interested to learn who has bought the property: Wynn Family Properties. The Wynn family -- Phil and his sons -- established a notorious reputation in the 60's and 70's, and were identified by many as among Toronto's worst landlords. (In the 1980's, inspired by the Wynns, some tenant activists created an award, the "Golden Cockroach" to be awarded annually to the worst landlord in the City). It appears that the Wynn sons may have improved the level of service recently, however the family does still own the infamous apartments at 103 and 105 West Lodge Ave. in Parkdale. See the eye weekly story from 1999 and the West Lodge tenant site links below for more info.

Besides the 3500 residential units they own, they have a number of commercial properties as well, including the Silver Dollar tavern at Spadina & College and the neighbouring Waverly Hotel (best described as "seedy") -- and now the Humber Theatre site.

For more info on the Wynns, you can visit:
-- Their website: http://www.wynn.ca

--Two articles from eye weekly:
  a) "Landlords from Hell" (Jan. 1999) - see "Wynn some, lose some" near the bottom of the page:
   http://www.eye.net/eye/issue/issue_01.28.99/news_views/landlords.html

  b) "Bad landlords free to gouge", an editorial from Aug. 1999):
   http://www.eye.net/eye/issue/issue_08.19.99/news/editorial.html

-- The West Lodge Tenants' website (complete with cockroaches crawling across the page):
    http://ca.geocities.com/wltenants/

3. WATERFRONT CLEANUP - AUG 23
We received the following note recently:

"I am sending you this informal email to invite you to a Beach Clean-up of Sunnyside and Sir Casimir Gzowski beaches on Saturday, August 23rd, 2003, from 11-2pm, organized by the Toronto Environmental Alliance (rain date: September 6, 2003). Our objective is to promote community stewardship of water and beaches in Toronto and to promote the Blue Flag Program, an international beach safety standard new to Toronto this summer.

We plan to have a couple of brief speeches on Toronto's beaches and the Blue Flag program. The beach clean-up activity will take an hour followed by refreshments, which will be provided.

If you are interested in attending, please RSVP by August 15th so that I'll know how many refreshments to prepare. I will send you confirmation notice once all the details are finalized. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at (416) 596-0660.

Thanks, I hope to see you there. Spread the word!

~Natasha D'Souza
BeachWatch
c/o Toronto Environmental Alliance
TEL: (416) 596-0660 FAX: (416) 596-0345
E-MAIL: n.dsouza@utoronto.ca     www.torontoenvironment.org

For locations and up to date test results, the public is encouraged to call Toronto Public Health's Beach Water Quality Hotline at 416-392-7161 or visit http://www.toronto.ca/beach.
**Always check before you swim!

For more information on Environmental Defence Canada's new Blue Flag initiative and pilot program with the City of Toronto: www.torontobeach.ca
For more information about the Blue Flag Prorgam: http://www.blueflag.org

4."MEOW CLUB" SITE DEVELOPMENT:
(Thanks to the Ripley Area Residents' Group for much of this information)
As some may know, a condo development proposal is underway for the site of the former Meow Club, just south of the Gardiner beside the Four Points Sheraton hotel. The proposal is for two towers: 18 & 24 storeys, with a density of 5.85 (compare the REON/Stelco density of 2.0).

This development raises several issues of concerns: - the density - the precedent of development on the waterfront south of the Gardiner - As a contrast to the lengthy city & public consultation REON undertook, this developer is hoping to skip over much of the standard approval process, and has already filed an appeal with the OMB -- a board that has shown its tendency to grant development approvals that the City had or would have turned down.

A "pre-hearing" conference will be held on Tuesday, Aug 12 at the OMB offices, 655 Bay Street, 16th floor at 10:00 a.m. There will be some limited ability for public participation. It's expected that the City and the Sheraton Hotel will be there opposing the application.

5. KK's WOES
The Villager has recently reported that our neighbouring Ward 14 Councillor has come under close scrutiny for his recent dismissal of his admin. assistant shortly after she returned from maternity leave. For more information, and another take, you might check Don Wanagas's column in today's National Post: http://makeashorterlink.com/?F3BE15985.

Many have questioned the legitimacy (and legality) of the action. Wanagas also raises another challenge KK may face as a result:

"To take this kind of action now against a woman returning from parental leave is just asking for trouble."

And trouble is what Mr. Korwin-Kuczynski can expect. He's facing a serious challenge for his council seat from Sylvia Watson, former city solicitor for the pre-amalgamation city of Toronto. You don't give a talented lawyer this kind of ammunition to use against you during an election campaign."

But, KK has been getting re-elected to council for so many years (22 now!), we'll be interested to see how this plays out.

For world19,
John Leeson

world19:
Supporting citizen involvement in our community and its future.
Phone: 416 766-8605
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