Toronto Star article on April 25 rally

Below is a copy of an article on our April 25 rally that appeared in the April 9 edition of the Toronto Star.

A few points:

The article reinforces what CCQLD has been saying all along: Our community is against the proposed development, our local representatives are against the proposed development, and the city planning department -- the people who have a responsibility to advocate for development of pieces of land just like this one -- is against the proposed development. How telling is that? Not even the planners with a mandate to build up the urban core can stomach this one.

We're hearing more and more every day from officials at the city, from politicians, from media and from people both inside and outside our community. In other words, we're getting noticed. We need to keep building momentum and to continue spreading the word.

If there was ever any doubt about the importance of this rally, the lawyer for the Conservatory Group is quoted as saying the developer wants to proceed "as quickly as possible" with the first building, and that the overall development is -- wait for it, it's a beauty -- "compatible with the neighbourhood." If you believe otherwise, the best way to show it is by forwarding this email to everyone in your address book and telling them why they absolutely need to be at the Quarry Lands at 2pm on April 25.

This city is not powerless to stop this development, and neither are we.



Quarry site condo plan too dense, residents say
Developer is proposing series of highrise towers
Donovan Vincent Staff Reporter



A community group in east Toronto is up in arms over a developer's plan to build a cluster of highrise condos next to a community of single-family homes.

The property, a long-vacant, 20-hectare parcel at Victoria Park Ave. and Gerrard St., known as the Quarry Lands, is where Sheldon (Shelly) Libfeld's Conservatory Group wants to construct four buildings – three of them featuring two towers each, of roughly 25 storeys. Local residents say his towers aren't compatible with the neighbourhood of single-family homes just to the south.

"We understand the need for urban intensification and understand this is a huge parcel of land in the heart of the city. Something special (could be) done with this land, but this proposal is not special, not visionary,'' says Mark Brender, president of Concerned Citizens of Quarry Lands Development.

For now, Libfeld wants to proceed "as quickly as possible'' with the first building, pending the outcome of an appeal before the Ontario Municipal Board, says his lawyer. The 370-unit building would be on 7.5 hectares the developer owns at the eastern side of the Quarry Lands.

A former president of the Greater Toronto Homebuilders' Association, Libfeld is a heavy hitter in the development industry.

Brender's group plans an April 25 rally on a city-owned part of the Quarry Lands and is petitioning Toronto politicians to take "immediate steps'' to keep the proposal from going forward.

"There are certainly examples of terrific eight-storey developments. Here they could be up to (27) storeys. You're putting in a density that's seven times greater than anything in the surrounding community,'' Brender said.

The rub is that the number of units planned – 1,455 – is permitted under zoning that dates back to 1968, so the developer has virtually unfettered freedom to build.

But city hall planners aren't happy with the proposed densities and heights, saying the zoning permissions are "outdated.''

"I think there's only room for improvement from what was approved back in the 1960s," says Allen Appleby, a director with the planning department.

He wants a review of the entire Quarry Lands property to determine what would work best.

But John Alati, a lawyer for Libfeld's company, says the buildings will fit in. "We think it's compatible with the neighbourhood. You don't have to look the same or be the same to be compatible,'' he said, adding that compatibility can be achieved with elements such as buffers or setbacks between existing and new development.

Local Councillor Brian Ashton has talked with the developer to see if a compromise can be worked out. The city owns property in the western section of the Quarry Lands.

One idea being floated is to spread the new buildings around the site, with higher towers closer to busy Victoria Park. The planning department supports the idea.