BBBD newsletter Oct 26 2019

Hello BBBD supporters! It has been a dizzying few weeks, with some major new developments – including an anticipated date of November 5 for the City to make its settlement with the developer public, and the revelation of a December 31 expiry date for the purchase agreement between the developer and Toronto Lands Corporation*.

*Toronto Lands Corporation is the real estate arm of the Toronto District School Board, which sold this public land out from under our neighbourhood back in 2016. 

Negotiations continue – calculators or community?

On October 2, BBBD met with representatives from Bloor-Dufferin Development Limited Partnership and the City’s Planning, Affordable Housing, and Social Development and Finance divisions, in a formal mediation process with land-use planning mediator James McKenzie. The issues discussed in mediation must remain confidential, but we can tell you that it was a very long day, with much intense discussion, and many calculators.

Bloor-Dufferin residents and BBBD Steering Committee members Maggie Hutcheson, Sean Fitzpatrick, Lynn Cepin, and Sean Meagher acted as BBBD’s mediation team. We also had the benefit of some expert advisors from the neighbourhood: Andrea Adams of St. Clare’s Multifaith Housing Society, Maureen Fair of West Neighbourhood House, Jacquie Thomas of Theatre Gargantua, Joshua Benard of Habitat for Humanity, and urban studies professor Emily Paradis.  

Though no settlement has come out of it, the mediation was a productive process that moved the conversation forward significantly. And we sure learned a lot about how things happen behind closed doors in major developments in Toronto – something few residents ever get to see. 

Even though mediation didn’t lead to a plan that satisfies BBBD’s demands for affordable housing, community space, and park space on this public land, we are still working to get a better plan in place ahead of the upcoming November 25 pre-hearing at the Ontario Municipal Board. Failing that, BBBD will request a full hearing – a process that could take up to a year.

We know the developer and the City are eager to settle on November 25 – especially given the recent revelation that the purchase agreement with Toronto Lands Corporation expires December 31, 2019 (check out the opinion piece on the expiry). Let’s hope this motivates them to consider the community, not just their calculators.

City preparing to settle for 2.6% affordable housing and a basement daycare – have your say at Community Council 

The City says it intends to bring a report about this development to Community Council in November or December, after which the planning approvals will go to City Council. 

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The staff report will include recommendations about whether or not to approve the site as currently proposed, and details about the community benefits that the developer will be required to provide. In anticipation of the City report, the developer submitted a revised proposal just a few weeks ago, on Sept. 12 2019. Check the City’s Development Applications website for details. 

From BBBD’s meetings with the City in the weeks before mediation, we anticipate that the City is preparing to allow the development to go ahead with only 56 affordable units out of the 2124 luxury condos planned for the site. This is just 2.6% of the development for affordable housing, falling far short of the 20% BBBD has called for on this public land. To make matters worse, the few affordable units—all bachelors and one-bedrooms, unsuitable for families—will be grouped in a single small building across the street from the rest of the development. This flies in the face of all principles of inclusive community-building. 

It also looks like the City is planning to put the promised daycare in the basement of the former Kent School building, and limit the community hub space to the ground floor. Community space will total just 30,000 square feet, not the 70,000 square feet of services and arts space recommended by the Community Hub visioning group that consulted with hundreds of residents in 2017.

BBBD considers these minimal provisions for community benefits to be woefully inadequate – and from our summer survey results, we know that the neighbourhood agrees. [link to survey results] 

But in the immortal words of Yogi Berra, it ain’t over till it’s over! These plans will come to Toronto and East York Community Council on November 5 or December 3. We won’t know the date for sure until the agenda is published online the week before – you can see meeting dates and agendas here.  Community Council is the opportunity for all of us to have input on the plan by making deputations or sending written submissions. We will keep you posted. 

—The Build a Better Bloor Dufferin Team

Show your Neighbourhood love! BBBD Fundraiser 

Now that the federal election is over, does your front window or lawn seem empty without a sign? BBBD to the rescue! Our beautiful new signs are popping up all over the neighbourhood. Suitable for balconies, windows, or lawns, these signs send a message that neighbours of all political stripes can agree with – Dufferin and Bloor is for everyone! Suggested donation of $20. Proceeds will help to fund BBBD’s legal costs at the Ontario Municipal Board.