Market meeting cannot be held until after election: McConnell

Eric Morse –

Planning for the North St Lawrence Market and the temporary market to the south of the South Market is re-surfacing after a delay of four years since the plans were first announced in 2011. However there will be another slight delay in announcements until after elections.

St Lawrence Neighbourhood Association (SLNA) had called a meeting with city staff briefers for Sept. 25 but were forced to postpone it at the last minute. It is now re-scheduled to 6:30 p.m. on Nov. 13 in St Lawrence Hall.

SLNA president Dwight Peters explained that SLNA felt that the community would be better served by holding the briefing after the municipal elections were over. In conversation with The Bulletin’s correspondent, councillor Pam McConnell elaborated that there had been a mis-step in the scheduling, and that the city staff involved had not understood that community consultations could not be scheduled in the run-up to an election. She noted in passing that this prohibition would also have applied to the public meeting about Anniversary Park in Cabbagetown (reported in last month’s The Bulletin) which the Cabbagetown BIA had mooted before recent changes in staffing.

“The purpose of the public meeting is to inform stakeholders about progress in North Market plans,” McConnell said, “but especially to bring everyone up to date and address some concerns that have been raised about the temporary Market building on the Esplanade site.”

“For instance, we’ve been fixing some concerns that have already been expressed about outdoor toilets (they’re gone), vendors’ stalld and in-and-outloading and we want to bring people up to date.”