Major demo begins at Junction Options for Homes site today.

Village by the Park the Options for Homes development on an old industrial and then retail site in the Junction began major demo on the retail Canadian Tire and A&P stores. (The A&P occupied the top level of the building before CanTire took over the whole building.)
As you can see by the pictures is an easy take down compared with some of the industrial demo that has taken place in the Junction?
This development should prove interesting to watch as it is built, the  1st reason being, how the developers handle the side abutting the CPR tracks, As this is the second development built near the tracks that has the developer responsible for noise abatement, rather than a government body. And while most people who live in the Junction quickly learn they must live with the train noise the noise abatement protection will be most welcome by the purchases of the condos at this site.

Section 37 Community Benefits - Options for Homes

Get your opinion in on probably the largest

influx of public space cash coming into

the junction for the next few years.

Option for Homes is now consulting with the Junction Business improvement area (BIA) and the West Bend Residents Association about the use of the Section 37 funds the developer must contribute to the community. Hopefully the new Junction Residents Assoc. will quickly get it's foot in the door.

Section 37 of the Provincial planning act authorizes a municipality with appropriate Official Plan provisions to pass zoning by-laws involving increases in the height or density otherwise permitted by the Zoning By-law, in return for the provision by the owner of community benefits. The community benefits must be set out in the zoning by-law. The community benefits maybe secured in an agreement which may be registered on title.

Link to the cities section 37 info.

Protocol for Negotiating Section 37 Community Benefits (City of Toronto)

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In another issue related to the Options for Homes project, their seems to be a lot of Junction bashing on a purchasers discussion board. Scroll down after the reprint of the Toronto Star article for their comments, maybe these are just a few opinions, and the rest of the buyers are happy to move into the Junction. Lets remember the the Junction is a residential and industrial community, if you move here you must accept that.

Size and appearance of signs in Toronto

Its hard to measure how successful opinions registered at city public consultation meetings are at influencing the content of regulations.

Nevertheless, the opportunity has been presented in the form of three meetings this month (as advertised by the city in the Etobicoke Guardian) and it is certain that businesses who may be affected by any change in regulations will make their voices heard.

The legal and illegal proliferation, size and appearance of signs around the city has an enormous impact on the way Toronto's inhabitants and visitors experience the city and its specific neighbourhoods. The city was amalgamated ten years ago, why wait so long for a city wide sign by-law? The people of the city could be forgiven for wondering how many out-moded and self-serving by-laws still survive from the former municipalities and what was the point of amalgamation if not to bring some efficiency and cohesion to the giant horseshoe.

...The new Sign By-Law will update the standards for signs on private property, address current sign issues, and reflect the diverse character found in Toronto communities. The Sign By-Law project will also explore ways that signage will support the City's efforts in energy conservation, as well as the development of a billboard tax specifically for the purposes of raising revenue for sign by-law enforcement, city beautification, and arts and cultural initiatives.

A series of public consultation meetings are being held at this initial stage of the study to give residents and businesses an opportunity to provide their comments and ideas on signs in Toronto. This information will be used to develop appropriate measures in the new Sign By-Law to effectively regulate signs in Toronto. At a later stage of the project, a second series of public consultation meetings will be scheduled to receive comments on proposals for the new Sign By-Law. Another advertisement will be published at that time providing notice of the meetings.

The current series of consultation meetings will be held as follows:
Thursday, September 18, 2008
7:00 p.m.
North York Civic Centre
5100 Yonge St, 1st Floor
Council Chambers

Wednesday, September 24, 2008
7:00 p.m.
Scarborough Civic Centre
150Borough Drive
Council Chambers

Thursday, September 25, 2008
7:00 p.m.
Toronto City Hall
100 Queen Street West, 2nd Floor
Committee Room #2

for more information:

Sign By-Law Team
Tel: 416-392-8000
Fax: 416-393-7536
email: signbylawproject@toronto.ca
web site: www.toronto.ca/signbylawproject/

Posted By David

Dundas St West bridge crossing the Humber

Very little information is accessible (couldn't find any) about this major refurbishment of the Dundas St West bridge crossing the Humber between Scarlett Rd. and Royal York Rd. Unlike the Millwood Rd. bridge over the Don Valley which was primarily a resurfacing (and still took a couple years) this seems like a virtual rebuilding of the bridge.  The cost must be staggering.

Posted By David

Not just poor people get gentrified

On Dundas St West between Royal York Rd. and Islington Ave., various infil projects have been transforming this stretch of prime residential real estate over the past few years.

Perhaps when many of these 50's and 60's (?) homes were built on the cheaper main-street land of an older area they were the homes of middle class people in the first wave of those moving out of the busy part of growing city to what was then, the burbs. These properties now have taxes unaffordable for people in similar jobs or on fixed incomes.

First it appears that two neighbours with wide, ranch bungalo style lots got together and each sold enough of their adjacent yards to one buyer. That buyer then had enough room to build a deep, two storey ~4 bedroom home. This sporadic infil is normal for any in-demand area but now this short tree-lined stretch is the site of several more infil projects. Perhaps those original sellers didn't know how different it would feel in their much smaller back yard after a deeper and taller structure loomed beside them.

-last three pics of opposite (south) side of Dundas

Posted by David

PUBLIC MEETING ON ANNETTE BIKE LANES

PUBLIC MEETING ON ANNETTE BIKE LANES

really needs community input

& a Public Forum: "Bikes as a Public Good"

Monday, Sep. 15, 7pm
James Culnan Catholic School
605 Willard Ave. (between Annette & St. Johns Rd)

Those who followed this issue in the spring will recall the controversy over proposed bike lanes along the stretch of Annette St. between Runnymede and Jane. The reason the issue wasn't resolved initially was the lack of any meaningful community consultation, beginning with the almost-unpublicized public meeting in April.

A final decision will be made in October about continuing the already-approved Dupont/Annette lanes west of Runnymede, or diverting the route to St. Johns Rd, an alternative which we oppose, but one supported by Councillor Saundercook.

We encourage those interested in the issue to come to the above meeting, or if you can't, to contact Councillor Saundercook with your views.

We are concerned about how well this new meeting is being publicized, and ask that anyone who has received notice of this meeting at their home to let us know by email: mail@world19.com.

Please see our newsletter item on this issue: http://www.world19.com/newsletters/?p=40, which includes background, issues, links, and contact information for Councillor Saundercook. As with all the items on our new blog, we invite comments.

The newsletter also contains information on an upcoming Public Forum on the topic of "Bikes as a Public Good" on Sep. 18, sponsored by the Toronto Coalition for Active Transportation (TCAT):

Sep. 18, 7:30pm
Innis Town Hall, 2 Sussex Ave
(At St. George St., just south of Bloor)

Bloor West Village Festival this weekend

City news is reporting that Ukrainian Festival (Bloor West Village Festival) will have 350000 visitors

The biggest and the longest starts at 9am Friday and lasts right through Sunday. A swath of Bloor St. West from Jane to Runnymede will be closed for the annual Ukrainian Festival. The event features lots of dancing, lots of singing and of course, lots of food.

There will also be a parade led by, of all people, Canadian music icon Randy Bachman. That procession begins at 11am Saturday. Click here to find out more.

If you're driving in that direction, you should try and find an alternate route. The Festival is expected to attract some 350,000 people to Bloor West Village and getting around it won't be easy.

Vine parkette playground equipment removed

The playground equipment has been removed form Vine Ave Parkette today, many will remember the promise of Mr Bill Saundercook  and parks employee Helen Sousa to keep the community involved, The RA will meet tonight to put together a plan to find out whats happening.


They have a completed plan that was made without community input and they plan to start constructing it soon, people are saying.

The demo guys taking down the equipment were great.

The "bone yard" at 51 Vine Ave.

The "bone yard" as named by a reader is a large lot running off a right of way lane from 51 Vine Ave's south side; it is bounded by Keele St on the east Jackson Place on the west and the back of the Dundas St. retail buildings on the south side. Just under half the lot is a building with various units rented out, the majority of the lot is a pile of stuff, with a guy living in a trailer in one part and a home improvement company using part of the lot too. The rest is a mess; well the latter parts are two.

Now get ready for this... the lot has been in this condition from the late 60's when the then operating glass bottle factory burnt down. Why really that is an answer to find out.

Posted by Robert