May 21, 2012

Parkland sold and slated for townhouses

Two-hundred-unit complex proposed for former North York green space

Lana Hall

Residents of a North York neighbourhood are worried about a rare piece of parkland that has been sold and will be paved over to hold 200 new townhouses.

The land in question is a six-acre green space adjacent to the community of Westminster’s Antibes Park, formerly owned by the Toronto District School Board and recently sold to Menkes Antibes Holding Inc.

Menkes has proposed a 200-unit townhouse development for the site.

“This is a horrific development,” said resident Harold Raven, who has lived in the community for 20 years.

“We just don’t see why you would take a parkland in an already high-density area and put up 200 new homes.”

He said the main concerns are increased traffic, infrastructure and community resources.

Traffic on Antibes Drive will be “deadly,” he said, and added that the neighbourhood has only one main entrance and exit.

Raven said the area also struggles with flooding.

“Some apartment complexes have gone without water for up to a day at least twice this year, while their pipes were being repaired,” he said. “Imagine what will happen if that fertile soil that absorbs water gets turned into concrete.”

Local councillor James Pasternak said the Antibes Community Centre is “under enormous pressure” as it is, and added that Ward 10 ranks low on the list for community services in general.

Mark Karam, vice-president of Menkes, said they are in the process of submitting traffic study and infrastructure reports to the city planning department, and they will meet with the community in the next couple months to discuss the development.

“We’re happy to respond to these concerns,” he said. “We’re responsive.”

This article appears in the February 2011 issue of North York Post

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Reader Comments:
Mar 5, 2011 12:27 pm
 Posted by  cruttley

I just read Lana Halls article in the paper version of the North York Post.

I found the article interesting but I was also perplexed because no where in the article does it mention where the parkland is.

A gross oversight for a writer because the article is of little interest to anyone without a defined location.

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