CityPlace school, community hub plans on the way Residents not unanimously opposed to casino

Kimberly Spice –

With so many changes happening in and around CityPlace in recent months, members of the CityPlace Residents’ Association (CPRA) were ready for the Jan. 7 standing-room-only meeting at the Renaissance Hotel.

First up was Karen Mills—founder of the consulting firm Public Art Management that works with CityPlace developer Concord—told residents about a major setback when the city park workers accidentally cut down $100,000 worth of perennials.

“I was walking back from the Island airport through the park and heard some machines and immediately stopped because I saw piles and piles of totally shredded roses and flowers from places, where that morning, I had seen gold finches building nests, which were now flattened out onto the ground,” Mills told residents. “I immediately contacted the parks department and asked what was going on and I was outraged. It was a bad situation.”

As the city had no plans to replace the perennials, a neighbourhood gardening committee was formed to plant and maintain gardens in the area.

Janice Solomon, executive director of the Entertainment District Business Improvement Area (BIA), told area residents that the BIA will be having a meeting on Feb. 6 from 2 to 7 p.m. at Metro Hall to discuss the district’s updated master plan.

“We think it’s really important that the residents and the business community look at development in this area together,” Solomon told the audience.

“You’re the ones who are going to have to live with it and our businesses are also dealing with the infrastructure and the other issues of getting people to work on time.”

Councillor Adam Vaughan noted that the Spadina streetcar will resume operation with increased service on March 30. North and south waterfront pedestrian access will improve and plans are underway to reconfigure the west side of Spadina that currently connects directly to the Gardiner Expressway. Also, the pedestrian bridge connecting Front St. and CityPlace has opened permanently.

The long-delayed development of Block 31 was also up for discussion.

A report to the city’s executive committee in October reported, “Block 31 is an approximately 2 acre parcel located south of Fort York Boulevard and west of Brunel Court, which has been assigned a municipal address of 20 Brunel Court.

The Official Plan and Zoning By-law for the Railway Lands West mandate the use of the site for a community centre, public and separate elementary schools, a day care centre and affordable housing. Market housing is permitted but not required.”

Vaughan confirmed that any residential condos built on Block 31 will have a maximum 20-storey limit and schools will be built separately from the housing as well as the community centre. The revised plan will be presented soon to the neighbourhood.

When Vaughan touched on the controversial application to locate a casino along the waterfront, one audience member forwarded a motion on behalf of the CPRA to submit a letter rejecting the plans. A vote was called: the motion carried with a majority but was not unanimous. Dean Maher, president of the CPRA and its Entertainment District BIA liaison, told the audience a letter would be written including a statement that the motion was passed through support from the people in attendance.

Deno Kanelopoulos, vice president of area business relations and promotions for CPRA, mentioned to residents that they are looking into creating a CityPlace BIA. Other initiatives will include the creation of a temporary skating rink and a community day with tobogganing and hot chocolate.