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Neighborhood News
Harbourfront, Toronto, Ontario
December, 2007
Planning on the edge
Our city planner Al Rezoski is overwhelmed with projects and still takes time to inform YQNA and ask our opinions. Yet, even an outsider can tell that the City's Planning Department is in jeopardy.
YQNA members keep in touch with our city planner Al Rezoski (at the end of the table.)
Here a group is learning about the complex details on how to connect the waterfront to downtown,
so we can weigh in on the issues.
More than 200 large buildings are in the planning stages downtown and 39,000 homes - mostly condos - are in the pipeline. To shape and guide these developments, the downtown Planning Department has three planners and a temporary chief planner in place of Ted Tyndal, who is on sick leave. Three planning jobs are open, but even when they are eventually filled the department is a shadow of its former self.
YQNA's Planning and Development Committee has grave concerns about the many building projects in our area.
The new co-chairs, James Russell and Bob Rasmussen, wrote a letter to Mayor David Miller with copies to all City Councillors,
pleading with them to restore funding to the Planning Department to usher in the biggest building boom in Toronto's history.
We await their replies.
Pedestrians are crowded together on one of two islands that will be removed at York Street
on the north side of Lake Shore Boulevard. In the future,
wide zebra-striped crossings
will make a safer and shorter route for pedestrians.
York Street Pedestrian Promenade
A delegation of YQNA members attended East York and Toronto Community Council's meeting, Nov. 27 at City Hall. Three YQNA members spoke to councillors in support of the new York Street plans for a "pedestrian promenade." Two treacherous pedestrian islands will be removed at the north side of Lake Shore Boulevard and wide zebra-striped crossings will span the slightly narrower future roadway.
YQNA pleaded for removing the highway conditions on the Lake Shore - the guard rails, the unsightly billboards and the lack of enforcement of the speed limit, which is 50 kilometers. Community Council approved the staff plans, and councillors registered our concerns.
Our Police liaison
YQNA's two new police representatives, Allan Rivers and Cyndy De Los Santos, are being groomed for the Community Police Liaison Committee of the 52 Division downtown. After they passed their background checks and were accepted to this citizens' group, they had a private meeting on Nov. 23 with two police constables, George Maxwell and Adam Josephs.
Cyndy and Allan brought up the main issues that concern us: illegally parked buses and other vehicles, bicyclists not following rules, homeless people living in our parks, scalpers, loitering, condo breaking/entering problems, etc. The constables promised to focus on helping to remove the line of buses on Queens Quay during the summer.
YQNA has established excellent connections with 52 Division. They respond to our concerns and have attended our meetings. Constable Mark Williams spoke to us this year and went to individual condo towers to give safety instruction on preventing condo break-ins. Our previous liaison representative, Marie Blanchard, presented the station with a $500 cheque from our garage sale proceeds for their scholarship program.
Seeking Vaughan's support
Seven members of YQNA met Nov. 12 with the new Councillor Adam Vaughan. He covers the YQNA area west of York Street. We brought a menu of issues that are important to us, hoping he will work as well with us as councillor Pam McConnell does west of York Street.
Vaughan agreed to support our requests for bike lanes on Bremner Avenue and Simcoe Street.
The circular ramp at York Street and all other ramps will be a hot topic in an upcoming Gardiner taskforce report that's due in 2008. We requested that the ill-placed turn lane at Harbour Street be eliminated before pedestrians get hurt.
We told Vaughan about plans that are brewing for moving the city's bus station to Harbour and York Streets. It was news to him so we gave him the preliminary plans. YQNA has grave concerns about routing over 200 buses daily to the Waterfront, where we already are facing traffic gridlock and much pollution from the Gardiner and Lake Shore Boulevard.
Our efforts to get city by-laws enforced on the Waterfront did not gain definite support from Vaughan. He said that the illegally parked buses that line Queens Quay in the summer are necessary for Harbourfront Centre's business, and that it will be too expensive to include bus parking under the future Canada Square (around the Power Plant) which will have three levels of parking. Vaughan's opinion echoes Bill Boyle's, CEO of Harbourfront. However, we suggested that Harbourfront can charge buses for parking. They generate the tourist traffic - and good for them - but should take carriage of the solution.
The noise report that YQNA initiated with councillors and Municipal Licensing and Standards (MLS) to solve excessively noisy concerts at Harbourfront's open stage is completed. Vaughan will receive it, but he wasn't certain that we will be allowed to see it.
New meeting place
Shoeless Joe's on Queens Quay West in the Radisson Hotel is open and already a popular neighbourhood meeting place. It's a handsome and comfortable sports bar that will have outdoor facilities in the summer.
Future Visions
The parking lot on York Street at Bremner - among the last open spaces in our neighbourhood - will be the site of three towers. The proposal shows two 55 and 65 storey condo towers, and an office tower of unknown height. Stay tuned, because we are meeting with the developer.
Any reader can be added to YQNA's mailing list and receive a couple of newsy emails a months, or return to www.yqna.ca.
Ulla Colgrass
Chair, YQNA
News Archives:
September 2006
October 2006
December 2006
January 2007
March 2007
April 2007
May 2007
November 2007
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