Church Wellesley Update
News from the Church Wellesley Neighbourhood Association
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On May 2, BV Realty Partners proposed to demolish the houses from 2 to 12 Cawthra Square and to redevelop the site with a 45-storey residential tower, including a 3-storey podium. The proposal is for 488 residential units. The proposed building would tower over the northeastern corner of Barbara Hall Park. As proposed it is very dense, set close to the street, and would see mature trees fronting the existing houses removed. Significant new shadow would fall on Gloucester Street. There is no provision for on-site parkland dedication. The City has 90 days to respond to the application. If it does not the developer can appeal directly to the Ontario Land Tribunal. The City is moving to have 6-12 Cawthra Square listed on the Heritage Register. You can review the development application documentation, including the architectural plans, the block context plan and the shadow study by clicking "Supporting Documentation" at the Development Application Information Centre page for this application. On the same page, you can register to be notified of a community consultation and submit your comments on this project. The development proposal for the the southeast corner of Isabella and Yonge (619-637 Yonge; 7-9 Isabella) has been appealed to the Ontario Land Tribunal. In November 2021, Colliers Strategy and Consulting (on behalf of YI Developments Limited) submitted an application for a 57 storey tower at 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 Yonge Street Heritage Conservation District, which the City of Toronto designated in 2016 under the Ontario Heritage Act. 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 released a Preliminary Report with recommendations in January 2022. In July 2022, the Toronto Preservation Board recommended that City Council designate the existing buildings as heritage properties. In August 2022, the City issued a Notice of Intention to designate the buildings as heritage properties. In May 2023 the developer appealed the application to the Ontario Land Tribunal. A hearing has been set for August 2024.   Application Information Centre:
https://tinyurl.com/57rvbt6s Ontario Land Tribunal https://tinyurl.com/ycxcrym3Development Urban Toronto: https://tinyurl.com/yckr9fd2 The Beer Store site at 572 Church Street has been put up for sale for $13,250,000. There has been no activity on this site since an August 2019 Settlement Offer was agreed to that would have seen a 12 storey condominium built there. In mid-2017, the developer proposed a 16-storey condominium, replacing The Beer Store and its parking lot. The City rejected the proposal. The developer appealed to the Local Planning Appeals Tribunal. A Settlement Offer which would see a 12 storey building with a 44 degree viewing angle was agreed upon in August, 2019. The sales document provides details of the approved proposal, but there is still a possibility that a new owner may submit a new development proposal. For more information: City Staff Preliminary Report: https://tinyurl.com/ybepxspc Local Planning Appeal Tribunal: https://tinyurl.com/yader7a2 Urban Toronto: https://tinyurl.com/ycnbv97m The City hosted a virtual community consultation meeting on March 1, 2023 for residents to learn about the Upper Jarvis Neighbourhoods Study and to communicate what is valued about Neighbourhoods and Apartment Neighbourhood-designated lands in the Upper Jarvis Area and what changes may be desirable.
The meeting included a presentation, a Question & Answer session, a discussion of the physical elements that define the Upper Jarvis Area and priorities for its future. Further consultations will be taking place, with the goal of creating an Upper Jarvis Planning Framework. A new Board of Directors was elected by acclamation at the CWNA's Annual General Meeting on March 16.
Congratulations to the new directors: Luben Blagoev, Matti Charlton, Corina Death and Parker Gauld. Neil Gibb, Connie Langille and Robert Packham were re-elected to one-year terms. They join continuing directors Donald Altman and Tara Schorr. Trevor Hennig has retired from the Board. Date: Wednesday, March 1, 2023 Time: 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm To Register: On the City Planning Consultations page, find the "Upper Jarvis Neighbourhoods Study" by searching for "Jarvis" in the search box located to the right of "Upcoming Events." The City Planning Division of the City of Toronto is hosting a virtual information session at 6:00 pm on Wednesday, March 1, 2023, for those who wish to learn more about the Upper Jarvis Neighbourhoods Study and to participate in a meeting to help identify what spaces and attributes of the Upper Jarvis Area are valued and what conditions could be improved. The Upper Jarvis Neighbourhoods Study concerns lands that are designated Neighbourhoods and Apartment Neighbourhoods in the City of Toronto Official Plan in the Upper Jarvis Area Lands designated Neighbourhoods in the City of Toronto Official Plan are considered physically stable areas where new tall buildings are not permitted. The City has received applications to amend the Official Plan to change the Neighbourhoods designation on three sites in the Upper Jarvis Area to permit the development of tall buildings. In response to these applications, Toronto and East York Community Council directed Planning Staff to undertake a study of the Upper Jarvis Area to help evaluate these proposed developments and to develop a planning framework to help assess future development applications. The feedback received as part of this public meeting will be used to help inform the development of a planning framework which may outline key principles for evaluating current and future development applications in the area. This study area includes lands between Bloor Street to the north, Sherbourne Street to the east, Wellesley Street to the south, and Church Street to the west. How to participate: To register, on the City Planning Consultations page, find the "Upper Jarvis Neighbourhoods Study" by searching for "Jarvis" in the search box located to the right of "Upcoming Events." The City Planning Consultations Webpage will also provide you with the link and/or call-in number to join, once registered, and provide you with more information about how to join and participate in the meeting and our code of conduct. Attendees are encouraged to email the Planner questions prior to the meeting. (Abraham.plunkett-latimer@toronto.ca). The Planner will answer submitted questions as part of the Question and Answer portion of the agenda. Attendees will be able to submit questions through the Q&A feature in Webex Events and receive a response during the meeting. The ability to accommodate live verbal questions will be based on the number of participants.  Are you looking for a unique opportunity to make an impact in the Church Wellesley Neighbourhood? 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:
Our board maintains active relations and meets regularly with our elected officials, partner organizations (the Church Wellesley BIA, The 519, Progress Place, and other local agencies), the Community Crisis Response Network, and various city departments. 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 be by online ballot. 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 March 17, 2023 at 7 pm. 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. Email info@cwna.ca for a nomination form. Deadline for submission of nominations is March 13, 2023, 11:59 pm. You're invited to the Church Wellesley Neighbourhood Association's 2022/23 Annual General Meeting, March 16 at 7 pm. This will be a virtual meeting, via Zoom Webinar.
Take the opportunity to hear about important issues in our community, including Development, Community Safety, Placemaking (Parks and Public Spaces) and Heritage Conservation, as well as vote for open positions on the Board of Directors. The AGM is open to everyone in the community, but only CWNA members may vote. Register here. Kingsett Capital has submitted an application to develop a 75-storey tower with 558 residential units at 646 Yonge Street, north of Irwin. The City has not yet released a Preliminary Report on the proposal. For more information, see the application's page on City's Development Application Information Centre     Among the many pieces of regressive legislation being pushed through the provincial parliament by the Ford government, Bill 39, the so-called “Better Municipal Governance Act" is one of the more egregious.
The CWNA made the following submission to the Standing Committee on Heritage, Infrastructure and Cultural Policy during the comments period: CWNA Position on Bill 39 - Expanded Strong Mayor Powers The strong mayor powers about to be enacted by the Ontario legislature for the cities of Toronto and Ottawa deprive local communities of their full say in decisions affecting their lives. Bill 39 should be withdrawn. At the request of Toronto Mayor John Tory, the Doug Ford government is proposing legislation that would allow the mayor to pass bylaws with the support of just 8 of 25 city councillors. We at the Church Wellesley Neighbourhood Association deplore this move to concentrate so much power in one top elected official. We join former Toronto mayors David Crombie, Art Eggleton, Barbara Hall, David Miller and John Sewell in their warning that the newly proposed powers eliminate “any meaningful role of city councillors and therefore the voice of the local residents who elect them.” Mayor Tory has pledged that he will only use the powers sparingly. That is to say he will only ignore the wishes of the majority of council when he deems it necessary. This is too much discretion for any one elected official to wield. What is even more worrying is that these powers, once in place, can be abused by any future mayors to bypass the majority of council. The province has already passed legislation granting the mayor power to veto council decisions believed to “potentially intervene with provincial priorities,” which makes the mayor first and foremost accountable to the province rather than the people of Toronto. Bill 39’s proposed expanded power to pass bylaws with only one-third of council is extreme and unacceptable. Local quality of life issues will suffer. Decisions about such matters as development, housing, transit, and the environment - all of which are or could be declared provincial priorities - will now be subject to mayoral fiat. The province will have yet another tool to override local representatives. We urge the province to drop this ill-considered and profoundly undemocratic legislation and demand that Mayor Tory take back his request for these autocratic powers. |
