Tag: Shane Baghai

A meeting Wednesday night in the William Lea Room aired concerns about the proposal to build an eight storey “condominium-apartment” on the old Canada Catering site as well as on the small warehouse next door occupied by Gallery Sixtyeight Auctions. The two pieces of land are now known as 3&5 Southvale Drive. The property sits immediately beside the Leaside Memorial Gardens and at the end of uninterrupted row of two-storey and bungalow homes which stretch all the way to Mallory Crescent.  The Southvale site is zoned in the same way as the homes — Neighborhood. The limit is four storeys. 3&5 Southvale will require Council to approve a change to Neighbourhood-Apartment.

JON BURNSIDE

Councillor Jon Burnside made a few opening remarks. He acknowledged the presence of developer Shane Baghai and his wife. Burnside said that the scale of the project was the smallest of the many proposed for Leaside in recent months but he had concerns about this project which went beyond the actual proposed size of 3&5 Southvale. It is planned for 98 units. The sense of some concern present was that the project might set a precedent which placed that long line of homes in jeopardy. (In past decades the technique of so-called blockbusting has been employed by developers. It involved the buying up of homes, letting them run down to make the purchase of others easier, and then applying for redevelopment — Ed)

ANDREW BIGAUSKAS

On behalf of the developer, architect Andrew Bigauskas spoke in warm terms of the design and amenities of 3&5 Southvale. He noted the five-storey seniors’ residence across Southvale on Millwood Rd. and suggested that it and his own proposal formed a suitable boundary for taller structures to the east of residential Leaside.  A contentious issue for those who attend Leaside arena was the proposed use of the arena laneway as access to the condo parking garage. The plans call for a garage entrance at the rear of the building which would enclose the ramp to the 97-car garage. Many fear congestion as unit owners and arena patrons create gridlock in the narrow exit. A traffic consultant for the developer told the meeting studies suggested that a 98-unit building would generate cars leaving in the morning peak of about 35 cars an hour. These would be vehicles making a left hand turn onto the arena drive across two lanes of traffic. In the afternoon, it was estimated cars coming home might peak at 17. These vehicles would be making a right hand turn into the garage.

As noted in previous posts, there will a meeting tonight (Wednesday, December 2, 2015) beginning at 7 p.m. at the Leaside Arena to provide community consultation about a planned condominium at 3&5 Southvale Drive. The address is immediately to the west of the entrance to the arena and includes two low-rise business properties which were purchased by the developer Shane Baghai. A known issue exists around the developer’s intention to use the driveway into the arena as the main entrance to the condominium underground garage. The scheme appears to represent an overloading of the driveway, which is City property, and a bottleneck for people entering and leaving the arena at busy times.  History

There will be a Community Consultation Meeting  Wednesday, December 2, 2015 in the William Lea Room at the Leaside Arena to discuss the proposal to build an eight storey, 98-unit condominium at the address known as 3 & 5 Southvale Dr. This land is immediately beside the area and has been the subject of discussion about where the main entry to the condo garage should be located. 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 

Builder Shane Baghai has proposed an eight storey residential development on Southvale Drive at Millwood Rd. The properties are well-known commercial structures at numbers five and three Southvale, right beside the Leaside Memorial Gardens Arena facility. A City of Toronto sign posted on the Canada Catering lawn stipulates a public meeting, yet to be called. The sign says the development would have eight floors, and would contain 98 bicycle spaces and 97 car spaces in a two-level garage. The File is #15 150340 NNY 26 OZ and the man to talk to is Chief Planner Steve Forrest.