Church Wellesley Update
News from the Church Wellesley Neighbourhood Association
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The City of Toronto has completed a Municipal Class Environmental Assessment that evaluates improvements to the Yonge Street public right-of-way between Queen Street and College/Carlton Street. The project, known as Yonge TOmorrow, aims to increase pedestrian space and improve the way people move through and experience downtown Yonge Street. The Preferred Design Concept for Yonge Street, as documented in the Environmental Study Report (ESR), includes increasing sidewalk widths and providing other improvements to the public realm by reducing the existing four driving lanes cross-section to two lanes and introducing separated cycling facilities north of Gerrard Street to College Street. Yonge TOmorrow consultations commenced in 2018. By February 2021, the final report on YongeTOmorrow was adopted by City Council with an overwhelming majority of twenty-one to five in favour of the plan. The November 2021 environmental assessment is the next step to realizing the Yonge Street plan. Following provincial approval, the project will then develop a detailed design along with construction phasing and schedules. Construction is expected to start in 2023. Looking further forward, the redesign of Yonge Street north between College Street and Davenport Road, as well as the redesign of Church Street are another step closer. The environmental study report is available on the City's website.  Are you looking for a unique opportunity to make an impact in the Church Wellesley Neighbourhood? Well, look no further! The Church Wellesley Neighbourhood Association (CWNA) is looking for a leader like you to join our board of directors.
We are a non-profit, volunteer run organization dedicated to improving the quality of life of everyone who lives, works, and plays in our neighbourhood, bounded by Yonge Street east to Jarvis Street and Charles Street south to Carlton Street. The work of the CWNA is focused in the areas of:
You can learn more about CWNA by visiting our website which describes our work and includes minutes of monthly Board meetings. We are currently seeking applications for one open position on the CWNA Board. All candidates for the CWNA Board of Directors must live in our catchment area and be members in good standing. We encourage members of equity-deserving groups to apply so that our board may reflect the diversity of our neighbourhood and our community’s unique needs. We are particularly seeking someone who has knowledge and experience in any of the following areas: community outreach and engagement, urban development and planning, legal expertise. The CWNA Board normally meets once a month and board members are expected to attend these meetings regularly. In addition to the monthly board meeting, board members will be expected to sit on at least one committee and will be required to complete additional tasks between meetings, approximately 5-10 hours per month. The interested candidate will attend two monthly Board meetings (usually held at 10 am on the second Saturday of each month) before a decision is made on an appointment to the Board. The new board member will then stand for election at the next CWNA annual general meeting in November 2022. Contact us here. The CWNA Annual General Meeting took place on November 29, via Zoom webinar.
It was an opportunity to hear about important issues in our community, including Development, Community Safety, Placemaking (Parks and Public Spaces) and Heritage Conservation, and to welcome new Directors to the Board. There were four open positions on the Board of Directors and three candidates, so all candidates were elected by acclamation. The new directors are Jonathan Grimm and Ryan Carlsen; incumbent Connie Langille was re-elected. They join Donald Altman, Neil Gibb, Trevor Hennig Robert Packham and Tara Schorr. Here is a pdf of the AGM Slide Presentation. Revitalizations of George Hislop and Norman Jewison Parks will be forthcoming in 2022; however, Alexander Street Parkette improvements will be phased in.
In 2020 and 2021 the City hosted two public consultations and two stakeholder meetings on the redesign of the three parks. The detail design stage of work for George Hislop Park and Norman Jewison Park has now been completed and the consultant is preparing construction documents for tender. Among the improvements, George Hislop Park will feature an LGBTQ2S+ art installation; artist Catherine Tammaro has been engaged to create Indigenous placemaking elements in Norman Jewison Park. The anticipated schedule for these two parks is a construction start in summer of 2022, with completion by late 2022 or early 2023. Alexander Street Parkette improvements will likely be phased in because the underground garage roof for 25 Maitland Street, which sits below the parkette, is scheduled for renovation a few years from now. City staff anticipate that interim improvements can still be made to the parkette in 2022, including new benches and lighting, some new paving, pruning and clean-up of plantings to open site lines for safety, and a new asphalt path leading through the park toward the north west corner at Sky Gilbert Lane. The parkette would be closed during the underground garage work; once that is completed, the parkette will be fully renovated according to the design determined through the 2020/21 consultations. On November 10, Colliers Strategy and Consulting (on behalf of YI Developments Limited) submitted an application for a 57 storey tower at the southeast corner of Yonge and Isabella Streets (619-637 Yonge; 7-9 Isabella) that would bring 606 residential units to the site. The Yonge Street frontage would be retail space, with the residential entrance on Isabella Street, and servicing, parking and loading accessed via Gloucester Lane. The site is within the proposed Yonge Street Heritage Conservation District. However, a group of developers, including YI Developments, has appealed The Heritage Conservation District Plan to the Ontario Land Tribunal. The current development proposal calls for the demolition of the existing buildings. City staff are reviewing the proposal. A preliminary report with recommendations to Community Council will be released in early 2022. Notice of a community consultation meeting held by the City will be sent to property owners within 120 metres of the property. You can be notified of the consultation by clicking the "Community Consultation" tab on the Development Application Information page for the proposal. For more information: Development Application Information Centre: https://tinyurl.com/57rvbt6s Urban Toronto: https://tinyurl.com/yckr9fd2   EXISTING BUILDINGS (HIGHLIGHTED) WOULD BE DEMOLISHED    ONE Properties has submitted a proposal for a 28 storey tower on Wellesley Street and a seven storey midrise on Church Street, separated by Dapper Lane. This follows a June 8 decision of the Ontario Land Tribunal (formerly LPAT / OMB) which denied ONE Properties' proposal for a 36-storey tower on the site. The new proposal is much more in line with Official Plan Amendment 183, the City's planning framework for the area, and much more respectful of Village residents. The development application documents are here. A community consultation has not yet been scheduled. Related:    CHURCH WELLESLEY NEIGHBOURHOOD ASSOCIATION
Annual General Meeting November 18, 2020 7:00 PM– 9:00 via Zoom Meeting called to order at 7:03 pm Zoom tutorial – Tara Schorr Land Acknowledgement – Peter Small Chair’s Message – Connie Langille Challenges during pandemic; thanks to community partners and our elected representatives. Remarks by Ward 13 Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam – pre-recorded Congratulations to CWNA on 10 years of accomplishments. Introduction of Board Members – Connie Langille Paul Farrely, Robert Packman, Donald Altman, Neil Gibb, Tar Schorr, Trevor Hennig, Kyle Ianuzzi, Peter Small On November 12, community members joined artist Dereck Revington, TDSB Trustee Chris Moise and Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam to celebrate the unveiling of Nightshift, the much anticipated illuminated fence at the Church Street Junior Public School. Motion sensors at each end of the fence influence the multicolored lights creating a continuously changing flow of colours. It's a truly beautiful and inspiring work of art!  The 2021 Annual General Meeting of the Church Wellesley Neighbourhood Association is on Monday, November 29 at 7 pm, via Zoom. Register here.  Are you looking for a unique opportunity to make an impact in the Church Wellesley Neighbourhood? Well, look no further! The Church Wellesley Neighbourhood Association (CWNA) is looking for leaders like you to join our board of directors.
We are a non-profit, volunteer run organization dedicated to improving the quality of life of everyone who lives, works, and plays in our neighbourhood, bounded by Yonge Street east to Jarvis Street and Charles Street south to Carlton Street. The work of the CWNA is focused in the areas of:
The CWNA is currently accepting applications for open positions on the CWNA Board. All candidates for the CWNA Board of Directors must live in our catchment area and be members in good standing. We encourage members of equity-deserving groups to apply so that our board may reflect the diversity of our neighbourhood and our community’s unique needs. We are particularly seeking board members who have knowledge and experience in any of the following areas: community outreach and engagement, urban development and planning, legal expertise. As the Annual General Meeting (AGM) will be virtual, the election for open positions will take place immediately following the November 29, 2021 AGM. All members in good standing that are present at the AGM will be entitled to vote and will receive an online ballot via email following the AGM. Results will be announced on November 30, 2021 at 7 pm. There are 4 positions that will be open for candidates at the 2021 AGM. The CWNA Board normally meets once a month and board members are expected to attend these meetings regularly. In addition to the monthly board meeting, board members will be expected to sit on at least one committee and will be required to complete additional tasks between meetings, approximately 5-10 hours per month. Returning to the board to complete their terms are: Donald Altman, Neil Gibb, Trevor Hennig, Robert Packham and Tara Schorr Deadline for submission of nominations is NOVEMBER 26, 2021, 11:59 pm. To apply: download and print the Nomination Form; complete and sign; and email a scan or image of the form to info@cwna.ca |