There’s will be a series of public presentations conducted within a single meeting at Leaside United Church on Wednesday, November 30, 2016. It is about the future of Laird Drive and the lands on the southeast corner of Eglinton East and Laird. That’s the RioCan Leaside Centre and property to the east. It is called Laird in Focus and it will begin at 4 p.m. in an “open house” context with presentations on the hour until 8 p.m. It seems this is less a chance to tell the City what you might like than simply be told what the planers are intending to do — within their power — the land is all privately owned. They say the intent is to “develop a planning framework to guide future development for the Laird Focus Area that also includes the Mixed Use Areas along the west side of Laird Drive.” Read it all here.
This is an important area of study. Homeowners, I think, tend to forget that Eglinton and Laird is a useful nexus for residents as far away as Yonge & Eg to use as a retail and services area. There are tens of thousands of apartment and condo residents geared up to spend even more time in that area post-crosstown construction. The area needs to be zoned appropriately to accommodate all those people, and the commerce it will provide.
I’m excited to see how the area will transform. 🙂