City council to debate contentious Bloor tower

Dennis Hanagan —

Downtown Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam told community council that an 80-storey condo tower proposed for 1-11 Bloor W. has presented “a conundrum” for herself and the local community. At community council, nearby residents expressed worry about the tower, in particular about the amount of traffic a laneway off Balmuto St. would be expected to bear. TEYCC voted to let city council deal with the matter at its July meeting. Staff recommend the proposal be approved. A zoning amendment is required. Referring to the mayor’s office, Wong-Tam called the file “highly politicized.” She added the proposal, as presented, is “complicated and convoluted.” She said there’s is a lot of pressure on the community to respond to the plan “and that’s rather unfortunate.” She said 6 working group meetings have been held with the community about the plan. “They’re not light discussions … they’re about 3 hours long.”