Karen Stintz
Karen Stintz has emerged from the darkest part of winter to write a kind of manifesto for the corner of Eglinton Ave. West and Yonge Street. The former mayoralty candidate, Ward 16 Councillor and TTC chair says the “forlorn wasteland” of TTC lands on Eglinton between Duplex Ave. and Yonge should ultimately become a park. Here is what she says about the choice property. “For the next few years, the site will be used as construction storage for the Eglinton Crosstown. Once the Eglinton Crosstown is up and running, there will no longer be a need to operate buses at that location. If the city wants to develop the area with some condos and office space, it needs to sort out the ownership of the site and consolidate all the pieces. This might be challenging because the TTC sold a portion of the air rights to a developer. The developer hasn’t done anything but could prevent the site from being put to its best use. The other issue is to determine what that is. Although everyone agrees something needs to be done, there are varying opinions on what should take the place of the eyesore: condos, commercial space or public space. The City of Toronto’s planning department conducted an extensive visioning exercise with the community and developed a plan that included high-rise condominiums, wide sidewalks, a new park and a new street to take some of the pressure off Duplex Avenue. The solution lies with a little bit of residential development, a little bit of commercial development and a park big enough to ease the feeling that we are being crowded out of our neighbourhood. It is well-known that North Toronto has a shortage of parks and green space, and the area is growing so rapidly that a new park needs to be part of any redevelopment plan. Eglinton Park is crowded, Toronto District School Board is selling off green space, and land in the area is too expensive for the city to buy in order to make a new park. Given that the city already owns the corner, it is a perfect location. The city won’t make as much money developing a park, but city building involves more than just trying to make a buck. I would also confidently say that, if there was a plan to create a beautiful green space, there would be another issue that would find unanimous agreement.”
