City
Morning Brew: Hot Dealz Coming, Ossington Restaurant Moratorium, Bike Parking
Photo: "In there?" by seanorr, member of the blogTO Flickr pool.
What's happening in the GTA (and sometimes beyond):
Metropass Hot Dealz are gonna make this summer a sizzla, yo! A cross-promotional effort between the TTC and a number of Toronto touristy businesses (like the CN Tower, Casa Loma, the Toronto Zoo, and more) means that Metropass holders will be get discounts when they visit certain city attractionz. Seems like a more appropriate promo to run on weekly passes to me. Tourists don't buy Metropasses, and people who buy Metropasses are generally residentz that have been-there-done-that. Yo.
Not so fast, Ossington. City council voted last night to impose a 1-year moratorium on the opening of new restaurants and bars on the too-trendy-for-its-own-good strip between Queen and Dundas because noise complaint issues amongst residents are on the rise.
Here come the toilets, people! City council also voted on a proposal to make it mandatory for large retail stores to provide the public with washroom facilities. The TTC was also pointed out for its lack of public facilities, and may be affected by the proposal as well.
The Ontario Provincial Police are reviewing their own protocols and conduct after it became clear that Victoria Stafford was abducted and murdered with no Amber Alert issued. An alert wasn't initially issued because police deemed that the case "didn't fit the criteria" which in hindsight was a serious error.
Someone, somewhere, wants to buy our old subway cars. The TTC plans to replace the aging fleet with newer, far more spiffy trains, and a buyer is interested in taking the old ones to use on another transit system (if contracts get approved). I wonder what percentage of the cost of the new trains will be mitigated by the sale of the old ones? Any guesses? I'll throw a number out there - 10%.
And Union Station has a new, secure parking facility for bike commuters, complete with a changing room, vending machines, and air pumps. Membership runs at $20/month (after an initial $25 setup fee) for 24h/day access, or you can opt to use it for just $2 per day as a non-member for 7am-7pm access. It'll be interesting to see if/when demand exceeds the 180 spaces currently available.
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Pessimistic much? Even if it is only 10% that is a lot better than 0!!! Not to mention the environmental 'reuse' benefits.
How about we try throwing a positive spin on something once in a while?
o rly
Ossington has a lot of restaurants and new business in a small area must be a New York thing they invented busyness.
Public Washrooms! It's a New York thing.
Amber Alerts. We all know where the colored alert thing came from don't we. It's a New York thing.
Selling old transit? Not sure where this originated but I'm sure New York has probably done this in the past.
Securing bikes! We all know about the Kryptonite New Yorker lock right.
These kind of incidents (thankfully the vast majority of "abductions") don't rate the activation of the emergency network and the mobilization of the OPP, RCMP and possibly Border Guards.
And once the police could be reasonably certain that this wasn't the case with Tori Stafford, it would have been too late anyway.
Too bad for this moratorium, I'd open a gallery bar there with no work on the walls where you just come to have a drink and some cheese. It's an opening everynight!! But then that's just a party isn't it.
http://torontoist.com/2009/05/this_bicycle_is_leaving_the_station.php
So the next time when a child gets abducted and isn't doomed to the same fate as Tori, I certainly hope the police pick up their heels when deciding on calling an Amber alert. In future cases it might make the difference between life and death for the child.
Either way my point is it's a good idea. Most ideas a shared, its called benchmarking, check it out!!
One of the Toronto City Councilors rides his bike from the middle of Scarborough to City Hall, roughly the same distance, regularly for work.
ALSO you can sign out a free pass to some of Torontos Attractions at the library
http://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/spe_ser_museum_arts_pass.jsp
Our city council punishes legal business and supports criminals. That is truly horrible city building, not the revitalization of formerly lost districts, no matter what the NIMBYs and hippies say.
As to galleries breaking liquor license laws, just highlights why we need to get rid of the LLBO and LCBO. Too much oportunity for malicious pricks like the above commenter to get someone shut down while basically no one ever gets a special occasion license. The idiotic rules as to whats allowable don't help either - we have liquor laws that assume everyone's Mormon.
This doesn't excuse the OPP from the mistakes they've made in this case, but Amber Alerts were designed to be issued only in very specific cases. That's why you only hear of them a few times a year.
Details from Councilor Pantalone`s office:
OSSINGTON AVENUE COMMUNITY MEETING
Thursday, May 28, 2009
6:00 p.m.
St. Christopher House
248 Ossington Avenue (at Dundas)
Community Hall
Dear Neighbours,
As your Toronto City Councillor, I am writing to invite you to a
meeting on May 28, 2009 to discuss issues relating to changes on
Ossington Avenue, between Dundas Street West and Queen Street West.
Over the past five years there have been enormous changes to Ossington Avenue and I think we all agree that they have been generally positive for the neighbourhood. Recently, both residents and business owners have raised concerns that this section is in danger of becoming over-saturated with *lounges and bars* and that bigger *entertainment facilities* will move into the area. Some of these establishments have generated complaints to the City related to noise, vandalism, garbage and congestion problems, amongst other concerns. Still, the business owners are currently meeting to discuss ways to beautify and strengthen
the neighbourhood and many are also residents of this community.
On May 26, 2009, I proposed a motion, which was approved, in support of a Planning report (see attached) at Toronto City Council recommending an Interim Control By-law affecting this portion of Ossington Avenue. Interim Control By-laws enable Council to temporarily restrict a land use for a period of time not exceeding one year while the City reviews the land use policies for the affected properties. The uses *frozen*
are: restaurant, take-out restaurant, patio, bake-shop, place of
amusement, and place of assembly or club. Other uses, such as art
galleries, gift stores, clothing stores and grocery stores, are not affected by this by-law.
This temporary restriction will allow the Planning department to
conduct a review or study with respect to land use policies along this area of Ossington Avenue between May 26, 2009 and May 26, 2010. It will give Planning, myself, and the community an opportunity to understand and address the neighbourhood's needs.
The meeting is an opportunity for business owners and residents to
jointly discuss concerns about the changes to this neighbourhood. In addition, City of Toronto Planning staff will be in attendance to discuss current zoning by-laws and future Planning exercises.
If you have any questions about this or other municipal matters, please let me know. I hope to see you at the May 28 meeting!
Sincerely,
Joe Pantalone
Deputy Mayor
City of Toronto
Details from Councilor Pantalone`s office:
OSSINGTON AVENUE COMMUNITY MEETING
Thursday, May 28, 2009
6:00 p.m.
St. Christopher House
248 Ossington Avenue (at Dundas)
Community Hall
Dear Neighbours,
As your Toronto City Councillor, I am writing to invite you to a
meeting on May 28, 2009 to discuss issues relating to changes on
Ossington Avenue, between Dundas Street West and Queen Street West.
Over the past five years there have been enormous changes to Ossington Avenue and I think we all agree that they have been generally positive for the neighbourhood. Recently, both residents and business owners have raised concerns that this section is in danger of becoming over-saturated with *lounges and bars* and that bigger *entertainment facilities* will move into the area. Some of these establishments have generated complaints to the City related to noise, vandalism, garbage and congestion problems, amongst other concerns. Still, the business owners are currently meeting to discuss ways to beautify and strengthen
the neighbourhood and many are also residents of this community.
On May 26, 2009, I proposed a motion, which was approved, in support of a Planning report (see attached) at Toronto City Council recommending an Interim Control By-law affecting this portion of Ossington Avenue. Interim Control By-laws enable Council to temporarily restrict a land use for a period of time not exceeding one year while the City reviews the land use policies for the affected properties. The uses *frozen*
are: restaurant, take-out restaurant, patio, bake-shop, place of
amusement, and place of assembly or club. Other uses, such as art
galleries, gift stores, clothing stores and grocery stores, are not affected by this by-law.
This temporary restriction will allow the Planning department to
conduct a review or study with respect to land use policies along this area of Ossington Avenue between May 26, 2009 and May 26, 2010. It will give Planning, myself, and the community an opportunity to understand and address the neighbourhood's needs.
The meeting is an opportunity for business owners and residents to
jointly discuss concerns about the changes to this neighbourhood. In addition, City of Toronto Planning staff will be in attendance to discuss current zoning by-laws and future Planning exercises.
If you have any questions about this or other municipal matters, please let me know. I hope to see you at the May 28 meeting!
Sincerely,
Joe Pantalone
Deputy Mayor
City of Toronto