Last Night Tough/Tomorrow Fun in the Sun

Last night was really tough. The Latest in a long series of community meetings on the Bloorview Site Development Application. Community members at large had a look at the new revisions after the working group process which included a range of community members reviewing the application for 7 meetings.

Tomorrow will be more fun, with Peanut Town Festival shaping up in the field behind Oriole Community Centre. Saturday, June 4th, 11:00 to 4:00 Lots of activities, displays, free lunch and some BONUS Door Prizes.We have had a whale of a time putting this one together with the Ward 33 office team, many kind community business partners Like Enbridge, Peanut Plaza,Ontario Early Years Centre and many volunteers from Vanier and the Working Womens Community Centre.

Scroll further down in this Blog to see the details on the poster. I'll be there with the whole Ward 33 Team all day from 11:00 to 4:00 so come and bend my ear over a free hot dog!!!!!!

Lots of calls and emails today to say that while they were hoping the buildings at Bloorview would be shorter, they read the paper today and understand what I was saying last night about being between a rock and a hard place with the OMB. Here is the article they were referring to:

OMB okays massive projectAlderwood residents shocked to see 990 condos get green lightCity council rejected the 4-building, highrise development last February

CATHERINE PORTER AND PAUL MOLONEYCITY HALL BUREAU
South Etobicoke residents responded with shock yesterday when a four-tower condominium development they thought they killed was given the go-ahead by the Ontario Municipal Board. The four "Sherway Gardens" condominiums will soon rise 19 to 32 storeys near the Sherway Gardens shopping mall at Highway 427 and the Queen Elizabeth Way, given the board's decision that it will have "no negative impact" on the nearby community.
"We're dumbfounded," said local resident Gregory Wowchuk. "The decision appears to have given the developer absolutely everything he asked for."

Toronto City Council voted against the 990-unit project last February, after vociferous protest from the residents of Alderwood, who live on the south side of the QEW from the proposed towers, which will be built on the northwest corner of Evans Ave. and Sherway Gate where a vacant Sheridan Nurseries building currently sits. Alderwood residents were worried the buildings would be an eyesore and bring more traffic into their neighbourhood. They also complained the buildings would crowd local schools, contribute to pollution and burden area grocery stores.

They had pushed for a smaller, less dense set of buildings, such as townhouses, a community centre or housing for seniors. "I'm very, very disappointed," said Councillor Mark Grimes (Ward 6, Etobicoke-Lakeshore), who fought against the buildings at council. "This is another case of the community getting screwed by the bogeymen at the OMB." However, Peter Milczyn (Ward 5, Etobicoke-Lakeshore) said the towers, together with 250 square metres of commercial space, will draw some much-needed new residents and businesses to the community, as well as new and improved parklands.

The developers agreed to spend an extra $500,000 in developing a local park, and committed $400,000 to improving the nearby Etobicoke Valley Trail. Sherway Gate will start marketing the condominiums immediately, said company lawyer Steve Diamond. "There's nothing further standing in the way," he said yesterday.