Email
Print
Feed
$200 million in savings in two easy steps- Funding for Leaside rink takes centre ice
A makeover for our green spaces 
Public opinion sought on video advertising
Dangerous drivers curbed in Thornhill
Creating a better Vaughan for the future
Creating civic pride in Richmond Hill
Plant a tree — with the town’s help
Reflecting on the past, looking to the future
Difficult summer for North York residents
Miller’s dance with developers?
Are Yonge and Eglinton bus lands the next casualty?
Michael Walker-Ward 22 Councillor
ARGUABLY, ONE OF the developments most vilified by local residents is the Minto Midtown project.
In response to this project, the city initiated a focused review of the official plan and zoning bylaw for the Yonge & Eglinton intersection. A working group was also created to work with city planners and the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) to create a new Official Plan specifically for this area.
Over many years, the working group agreed to a 40-storey height limit for the TTC bus terminal lands across the street from the Minto Towers, as well as development design guidelines to protect the adjacent residential neighbourhoods. Included was the use of a “strata plan” — essentially a horizontal division of land and air rights that enables the city to sell or lease lands to a developer up to a certain height limit, and retain ownership of the air rights above. This “strata plan” would preclude any appeal to the Ontario Municipal Board for lands sold by the city.
On October 8, 2008, Mayor David Miller announced the creation of Build Toronto, a corporation mandated to dispose of city-owned assets at their highest value. He cited the TTC bus terminal lands as a place where this corporation might do its dealing first.
On February 25, 2009, Mr. Miller swayed city council to all but kill the working group’s pivotal strata plan idea, opening the door once again to uncertainty in future development, and slamming the door shut on citizen respect for the planning process.
The neighbourhood is being set up to get shafted again. The mayor’s new corporation, Build Toronto, has unfettered hands to flog these public lands, putting its own financial gain ahead of good city planning, valued citizen input, and the protection of our neighbourhoods.
Advertisement
Home | Best of T.O. | Food & Drink | Fashion & Shopping | Deal Estate | News & Crime | Arts & Events | Kids | Classifieds | Archive
About Us | Contact Us | Advertise | My Account
Copyright 2012 Post City Magazines, Inc. All rights reserved.
Comments to the Post City Magazines website do not reflect the opinions of the company or the author of the article in question. We do not edit comments for grammar, length or clarity. Offensive comments will be removed at the discretion of Post City Magazines. To read all of our website policies, click here.