A reminder that our (almost) annual Garden Party will be held this coming Sunday, June 22. We hope that many old and new subscribers can come and meet your neighbours, friends, and fellow community supporters.
 

If you'll be coming, and haven't yet let us know, we'd appreciate a quick note by email to mail@world19.com.  Hope to see many of you there!
 

Sunday, June 22, 1-4pm (Rain or shine)
 

Earlier this year, we noted that the "Humber Odeon block" of Bloor had been acquired by a single buyer. The still-mysterious new owner, Claude Bitton, was a former partner with the Wynn family (as Wynn Bitton Inc.) in the original development proposal for the theatre site. Since then, he has apparently taken sole possession not only of the former Odeon site and all the properties west to Riverview Gardens, but he's also active on the east side of the Village as well.

The two story medical building at 2150 Bloor St. W. (immediately east of the Runnymede Library) was recently purchased by the same Mr. Bitton. At this point, we don't know the ownership or sales status of properties constituting the remainder of that block that runs east to Kennedy Park Rd, but it also appears ripe for redevelopment.

Mr. Bitton's plans for the Humber block and for 2150 remain unknown - as do his background and development history. Enquiries made to Councillor Saundercook about Mr. Bitton and these properties have revealed nothing. Despite the fact that it was the Councillor's office who first informed us of the buyer's name, the response we recently received from Mr. Saundercook was that "All of the information currently available was conveyed at the community meeting which my staff attended on April 30th." [The reference is to the BWVRA public meeting; see links below] However, no information at all about the buyer or his potential plans in fact were conveyed at that meeting. The Councillor knows more than he seems willing to pass on.

(It should be noted that to this point, no new development application has been filed; the only proposal with the City is the original condominium plan for the Odeon Humber site).

In the short term, the prospects for Bitton-on-Bloor are not encouraging. The Humber block remains half-closed.  Billy Bob's and the Fan have now both closed their doors, although as we had expected, it appears that a new tenant will be leasing the location - at least until the block is torn down. To the west, the Old Mill car dealership will be moving to Jane/St. Clair in early 2009; the fate of its large property is still unknown, as is the future of the tenants of the office building located at 2490 Bloor, who have been told they MAY have to vacate by the end of the year.

Meanwhile, the medical future of 2150 appears shaky. Although there are banners advertising space for lease, some existing medical practices have had to leave, and we have heard that potential new tenants who have responded to the advertised availability have declined, based on quoted rental charges. A medical building without medical tenants is not feasible. The ground floor pharmacy's viability depends on those medical tenants, and the residents of the Grenadier retirement home a block to the east, depend on both the pharmacy and the medical offices in the building. This is not an encouraging scenario.

What will be happening along Bloor and when, and how can the community be involved? Those were some of the questions we asked in our April 27 newsletter (see below), and ones which were raised in the 2005 Bloor West Village Urban Design Study, which world19 participated in. (See link to study below).

In February, Etobicoke-York Community Council (EYCC) requested city staff to review that Study, and report back to EYCC regarding "how the study may be applied by City staff to redevelopment projects in the area, including the car dealership site west of Jane Street on Bloor Street West."

At the June 10th EYCC meeting the Information Report was received for information purposes only.

We will continue to pursue this issue, and promote public information and involvement in what may become major changes along Bloor Street.

LINKS:
Previous wordl19 newsletters:
-- #183 (Apr 27/08) "What's happening, who knows, and why don't we know?" 
-- #179 (Feb. 10/08): "Bloor St.: The Wynns of Change"
-- #178 (Feb. 3/09): "The real blockbuster"
-- Bloor West Village Urban Design Study (a 9mb PDF format file)
-- Community Council Background document 
-- BWVRA public meeting on BWV development
 

Our previous newsletter (http://www.world19.com/world19News185.htm) reported on the city's plan to create bike lanes on Annette St. as part of the overall Toronto Bike Plan - and on what we considered at the time to be an unacceptable "compromise" supported by Councillor Saundercook to reroute a significant segment of these lanes to St. Johns Rd.

You may recall that the only public consultation on the Annette lanes was a barely publicized Open House in April at which some Annette businesses, concerned about some loss of on-street parking, expressed loud objections to the bike lane proposal. Then, as a result of that poorly attended meeting, the Councillor announced he would be supporting a diversion of the designated bike lanes on Annette to a 'signed route' on St. Johns Rd. between Runnymede and Jane Streets.

We were concerned about this recommendation for several reasons. First, it was invalid as it was based on utterly inadequate consultation. Secondly, it is illogical and unrealistic because it suggests that cyclists should needlessly divert their most expedient routes. Basically, cycling routes should be straight and consistent, and not be needlessly diverted north, south, east and west.

Thirdly, we believe it is more dangerous for cyclists to travel on 'signed routes' vs designated lanes, regardless of the logic behind the route itself. And finally, abandonment of the Annette lanes will not auger well for the continued implementation of the bike network across the city. A decision to abandon the Annette St bike lane proposal could have a major negative effect on the long-term success of Toronto's ambitious - but to-date unrealized - Bike Plan. If bile lanes cannot exist on a relatively un-busy commercial strip like Annette St., then where do we go from here?

Fortunately, we were not alone in our concerns. The June 4 Public Works and Infrastructure Committee meeting that considered Annette among other bike lane proposals heard from many people who shared our issues - enough that the Saundercook/St. Johns proposal seems to have been taken off the table. See http://www.world19.com/bike_comments.htm for many of the comments sent to the Committee which were copied to world19. Our deputation is also posted there.

The Committee voted to support all four bike lane proposals on the agenda that day, including Dupont/Annette from Lansdowne to Runnymede. Regarding the Runnymede to Jane stretch, the Committee "requested the General Manager, Transportation Services to meet with the local Councillor and various community groups (e.g., residents, local Business Improvement Areas, churches and cyclists) and report to the meeting of the Public Works and Infrastructure Committee on October 10, 2008, on installing the missing section of the bike lane on Annette Street between Jane Street and Runnymede Road, consistent with the City of Toronto Bike Plan".

We were very encouraged to see the large number of people who agreed that both the process, and the flawed recommendation (reported as a "done deal" in The Villager) were unacceptable, and we were very happy that the PWIC saw this too.

world19 is continuing to work on this issue, together with the Toronto Cyclists Union, and other local residents. We have requested a copy of the original parking study and proposed parking plan developed by city staff to ensure that we're all working from the same page. We are sympathetic to and supportive of local businesses and hope to work with them and others to move forward. However, we also feel very strongly that in order to build an extensive, safe and efficient bike network through the city, streets like Annette must be part of that network.

We will continue to provide updates.

 

Additional note: the only notification from Councillor Saundercook that we are aware of regarding the bike lanes was an odd flyer, dated May 2 that apologized "for the poor notification delivery regarding a meeting held on April 17th". It stated that the bike route "will" use St. Johns Rd. There was no mention of the fact that the issue would be discussed and voted on at the Public Works Committee and later at City Council. We can only hope that the next public consultations which the Commitee directed him to hold on this issue are a little more public.  That notice is posted on our website http://world19.com/may2_bikenotice.doc. In addition, his website noted that this is bike month and encouraged people to cycle. The only mention of bike lanes is in the comments section, where a number of people urged him to support the full Annette Bike Lane.

LINKS:
 -- PWIC decision (PDF)

 -- City background document (PDF)
 -- world19 bike page: http://world19.com/bikes.htm
 

Another local issue which is also nearing a critical decision point, and which has also, in the eyes of many, suffered from a lack of proper consultation is the question about a potential redesign of the above interchange.

Built in the 1950's to accommodate the new Gardiner Expressway, its functional freeway ramp design now looms as a very non-urban -- and unfriendly -- interchange area that speaks more to the past than the future.

This sub-Queensway city stretch that was once industrial, and which later sat dormant as a vacant "brownfield" site, is now a vibrant residential community, and one which is still growing.  In addition to the Windermere by the Lake development, and the also-expanding condominium neighbourhood north and west of the site, there is a busy shopping complex just west of the Humber, which encourages short travel (often by foot or bike) from the SKQI area.

As the density of immediate and nearby neighbourhoods increases, and more people regularly need to negotiate the SK/Q interchange, its unsuitability as an urban intersection is becoming clearer. It is particularly unsafe for pedestrians and cyclists.

In 2007, with the planned repaving of the existing ramps on the city's schedule, the city proposed a redesign which would eliminate the ramps, replacing their functionality with a "link road". Some raised concerns about certain aspects of the proposal such as potential issues with turns from the South Kingsway to the link road, and impact to traffic flow. A campaign to oppose the new "link road" arose, named by its proponents, as the "Do Nothing" approach.

There were two heated public meetings held in the summer of 2007. The city held an open house in June, and the Swansea Area Ratepayers Association (SARA) held a meeting in July to oppose the link road, and support the "Do Nothing" approach. (Links below include the minutes to the June meeting, the SARA notice for the July meeting, and a Globe & Mail article on that meeting). Noting the loud opposition to the Link Road, Councillor Saundercook announced his support for "Do Nothing".

However, through this same period the community itself was rapidly changing as a large number of new residents were moving into the neighbourhood.  And a number of these residents were not pleased to learn that the consultation was over and the recommendation was to "do nothing". Many people living in the immediate neighbourhood of the SKQI have since signed a petition asking that the link road option be re-considered.  A new organization, Toronto Urban Renewal Network (TURN) has formed for this purpose.

A decision has not yet been made on the future of the SKQI. It will again be on the agenda of the July 7 Etobicoke-York Community Council meeting. Various local groups (SARA, TURN, some of the condominium executives in south Swansea) have been discussing the issue, and we hope, are coming closer to a common approach that will result in a safe design that is appropriate to the modern city. See below for a link about a similar intersection in Montreal that was redesigned as a "normal" at-grade intersection.

This item no doubt will also be discussed at SARA'S AGM July 18 (see above)

LINKS:
Letter from Toronto Pedestrian Committee, Oct. 2007, requesting re-opening of the Link Road option (PDF)

Minutes of June 7, 2007 city Open House (PDF)

SARA notice for the July 17, 2007 public meeting, supporting the "Do Nothing" approach (WORD document)

Globe & Mail article about that July 17 meeting (PDF)

TURN website, outlining details of the design and issues: http://www.torenewal.ca/?q=node/3

Etobicoke-York Community Council July 7 agenda will be linked here when ready: http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/2008/agendas/ey.htm
 

Toronto Star article (May 28, 2008), featuring an interview with Christopher Holcroft, who is active locally with a number of groups, including world19.

An Open Letter (June 16, 2008) to Councillor Saundercook from Christopher Holcroft (see above) on this issue (WORD)

The Montreal intersection redesign:
 

For world19,
John Leeson

Supporting citizen involvement in our community and its future

email: mail@world19.com
web: www.world19.com