About 40 residents of North Leaside met on the lawn at 281 Bessborough Saturday morning to hear messages of both hope and harsh reality around the approaching OMB hearing on the plan for high-rise towers on the Sunnybrook Plaza site. John Burnside (Ward 26) said planning decisions already made have provided the plaza’s owner, RioCan, with a wedge of precedent at OMB. While Sunnybrook was designated mid-rise (8 storeys or so) the deeper property owned by Metro Inc across the street was called suitable for high-rise. It is enough for aggressive developers to argue their case.
15 STOREYS
Mr. Burnside mentioned 15 storeys as possibly the lowest height for the higher of the two towers, now loitering in the 12 and 19 storey range in the proposal. Resident Wayne S. Roberts said the community could forget about eight storeys. He seemed to feel that 15 storeys was the lowest anyone could expect. And as Burnside made clear, the decision to settle before the OMB hearing is in the hands of the City’s planning department. The Councillor said such a settlement would be very difficult to fight. “They (the planning department) are working on behalf of the City, not us,” said Burnside. Ed: a reminder again that the municipality to which we pay taxes is seldom really in the hands of the voters.
GARBAGE?
The Councillor spoke in frank but dispiriting terms about the effectiveness of the City’s planning. He called the Eglinton In Focus paper “largely garbage”. He suggested that planning frequently inspires visions which are not good planning and set off a development frenzy like the one now seen across Eglinton Ave. The discussion raised questions about why the Bloor Danforth transit line has been in place for 40 years but has not seen the high-rise fever witnessed in Leaside. The answer seemed to be that there is land here and, foot for foot, it is probably worth a good deal more money at market.
SCHOOLS AND TRAFFIC
There was concern about crowded schools. One mother said Northlea Public School is bursting. Once again, Mr. Burnside was quite candid. He said TDSB “planning” was based not on forward-looking expectation of population but on how many portables had been thrown up behind the school. This was policy. Bessborough residents and others north and east of Sunnybrook were warned about the traffic associated with the Sunnybrook changes. They will see traffic on Bessborough from the north seeking to avoid the corner of Bayview and Eglinton. Burnside also spoke about attempting to maintain a right hand turn westbound on Eglinton Ave at Bayview. Fund raising appeal to stop Sunnybrook towers
