City
Opposition grows against Minto Freed condo project
Last night a frustrated group of about a hundred residents of the Wellington and Niagara neighbourhoods met with city councillor Adam Vaughan and two representatives from development company Minto Freed to discuss the proposal of a massive high-rise condominium complex in the area. The proposed building, at the corner of Bathurst and Niagara, will reach 81 metres in height and add an estimated 1,000 new vehicles to an area already battling serious traffic problems. Residents are concerned about this influx in traffic as well as the impact the building will have on the neighbourhood's historic character.
If I had to pinpoint the exact moment that Minto Freed's proposal fell apart, I would have to choose the moment where an older gentleman, to gales of laughter and applause, stated bluntly "Just because it's made of bricks doesn't mean it's Victorian."
From that point on, the meeting got away from Minto Freed's representatives, who spent the duration of the two-and-a-half hour session awkwardly dodging questions from irate residents and an increasingly frustrated Vaughan. Had Minto Freed accounted for delivery truck traffic to and from the planned Whole Foods on ground level? No. Had they considered potential bus loading zones for schoolchildren in the building? No. Had they realized that several units on the first fifteen floors of the proposed building wouldn't actually receive any sunlight? Yes, apparently, but that was deemed inconsequential.
Not surprisingly, this did nothing to endear Minto Freed to the residents in attendance, who remained unanimously opposed. Tempers began to flare as the meeting dragged on past the scheduled 9 p.m. end time. By the time Minto Freed announced that construction on the building would take approximately six years, people actually began to heckle. City Planner Sarah Phipps diplomatically ended the proceedings by saying that further meetings would have to be held.
The future of the proposal remains uncertain. Vaughan is now on record as wanting Minto Freed to withdraw their rezoning application, but acknowledged the company's legal right to pursue the plan further. As for the residents, they remain concerned that if the plan is approved by city council, it will set a precedent for other monolithic developments in the neighbourhood.
Has Toronto's condo boom finally gone too far? As these massive developments creep further and further north of Front Street, what impact will they have on the historic neighbourhoods and their unique aesthetic characteristics? Why does "regeneration" increasingly seem to mean "gentrification?" Most importantly, what effect will a mass influx of upper-middle class, car owning condo dwellers have on these mixed-income areas? And why must attracting them come at the expense of the residents who have to live with the consequences?
More info on the opposition to this project can be found at Stop Minto Freed Development.
Photo by charmgirl13 on Flickr
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There has been a spectacular lack of planning on the part of the City (including during the pre-Ford era that Vaughan champions) in prefacing intensive residential development with the 'bones' of a good transit system.
No single institution should have the power to build these entire-block single-use monoliths, and Toronto and its people *will* suffer for them in the years to come.
The reality is that major developers are larger and more powerful than any one level of government right now. They have been growing and conglomerating and consolidating faster than any other human enterprise, and our representatives have seemingly lost the ability to rein them in in any meaningful way. This is not how cities should be built.
Sorry, I'm on cold meds. But I'm still right.
Not in my back yard, no sir!
yeuch.
Where's the stepback? Podium? Peak? Public realm? Sidewalk?
But alas, Toronto has set the precedent long ago that to approve garbage. Planning and approvals is a negotiation, I'm sure this is just the beginning.
The rental tower at 545 Sherbourne has re-applied to now be 42 floors. Thirty eight wasn't enough. That's on top of the 5 towers planned for Sherbourne/Bloor with the shortest one being 38 floors!
I am tired of sounding like a broken record, but we are getting New York style density without their infrastructure! Stand at Richmond/Spadina around 5 pm and see what is in store for lower Bathurst.
It doesn't matter if Niagara/Bathurst is served by 10 streetcar lines, if those streetcars are stuck in traffic, too! How many thousand units are going up on Ft. York Blvd? How many are still slated for Bremner?
At every condo meeting we have, parking and traffic are on the agenda. It's getting tired. I'm just glad I only work in the area and don't own there.
I think that the density issues need to be looked at more closely, but don't go preaching about aesthetics of a neighborhood "after" without a consideration of what they were "before".
And why does the city have height/setback restrictions & rules, if they are never followed?
Toronto probably does need all these condos though, tons of people want to live in Toronto, urbanization is increasing all over the world. Cities need to grow.