Burnside: No reason for condo traffic to use arena access

The little parking lot with the broken pavement at 3 Southvale doesn’t see traffic anymore. But the entry to the six or eight parking spaces there is off the grand new driveway into Leaside Arena. Shane Baghai, developer of a proposed eight storey condominium at 3-5 Southvale, thinks this modest approach should be the main access to the building and presumably to underground parking. Members of the arena board, which include Councillor Jon Burnside, are fighting to stop the additional traffic this would mean for cars entering and leaving the arena. The volume of vehicles created by the 98-unit residence has a potential to swamp the driveway, especially during the long red lights that bottle up cars trying to leave.  Mr. Burnside has been quoted as saying that there is no upside for the arena to provide an access point to an adjacent condominium. Mr. Baghai says the arena driveway is a public road which has always had an entrance onto the property he now owns. The condominium height is contentious too. The precedent (so described) of 2 Laird Dr. has returned to haunt Leasiders. At seven storeys 2 Laird was fiercely opposed. But residents lost the height battle because the OMB concluded that access to Laird Drive justified the size of the development. Southvale is a much less busy residential street. Shane Baghai proposes eight storeys at Southvale-Millwood