The emerging issue of increasing density in the fine family neighborhoods of South Bayview has come to the fore in Bennington Heights. The issue is also front of mind just across the ravine in Moore Park where demolition has started to replace 308 Rose Park Drive with two homes. In Bennington, a committed group of residents has started Save Our Bennington. The spur for this initiative was a spate of proposals to redevelop four properties at the east end of the neighborhood. In each case the concern of the residents is so-called densification (also called intensification) and not the simple replacement of existing homes. As the map (inset) shows, there is a proposed development on Evergreen Gardens as well as a townhouse development at the corner of Bayview Heights Drive and Evergreen. The residents say that at 21 Evergreen the city’s committee of adjustment has granted a land severance without reference to letters of opposition from all local residents. “Two identical cookie-cutter homes have been proposed for this land – and both homes would be 10 percent taller and have a larger footprint and square footage on the property than permitted by the city zoning bylaws. If this plan proceeds, several mature trees over 40 years old would also be lost,” the group says on its website SaveBennington.com. Another town home development may be built on Bayview Heights. Densification is easily seen as a conflict-of-interest for cash-strapped bureaucrats who know the bylaws are intended to prevent such changes but approve them anyway because governments are so desperate for the taxes. The issue seems to go to the heart of not just the integrity of neighborhoods but the nature of democracy.
