Leaside

[r937]

Anyone going to the Georgia Walsh fundraiser today?

was there around 11:00 this morning

 

[Therion]

Walter Gretzky is considered to be a celebrity?

 

[r937]

Walter Gretzky is considered to be a celebrity?

i know, eh?

i had to google christine simpson

here she is with roberto alomar (not my video) --

"don't take the drugs" -- robbie

 

[Roundabout]

Looks like they found another tenant for the store next to the beer store that Tim Horton's was originally going to occupy.

 

[Therion]

Interesting. Don't know anything about that brand. Could be worth a shot. Looks like they have one other location at Bay and College. The call themselves "fast-premium", I guess along the Chipotle vein. I guess they'll fit in nicely between the pizza chains on one end and Via Napoli on the other. I actually see them doing quite well.

 

[BikeRyder]

Looking at our first home and wanted to know if anyone in Leaside could offer input on purchasing property backing onto park that has ravine protection zoning?

Home is 103 Thursfield Crescent (mls# C3314024). Spoke with the gentlemen next door who had just added onto his home and he warned us about that the ravine protection line set by TRCA had been moved closer to the homes in the past few years and he had to decrease the depth of his addition after $20K and 10 months. Was basically told committee would be waste of time and money when ravine protection is in discussion.

Home is original semi-detached and needs to be completely renovated and added onto for our family. Would consider moving in while applications but it literally is original condition.

Has anyone dealt with City or TRCA for building permits in similar situation?

We're concerned about being denied the ability to add on enough depth to the home and/or huge expense in time and money trying to go through committee.

 

[acornman]

I was going down Overlea Blvd yesterday and noticed a development proposal sign outside of 36 Overlea blvd (which is currently some kind of factory/warehouse at the moment). I stopped and walked back to have a look and saw that it was for a retail/commercial development of three, three storey buildings.

I was looking at the site in Google Maps and realized that the land is quite big, so I'm guessing it might be some kind of big box store development considering Costco is going to be next door.

 

[Midtown Urbanist]

Repost from the Costco thread.

Received an email from Jon Burnside:

Dear Ward 26 Resident,

Yesterday at North York Community Council the Costco application for 42-46 Overlea Blvd. was rejected on a tie vote (3-3). Although The City Planning Department had recommended its approval, the application will now go to the entire Toronto City Council for consideration "Without Recommendation" on November 10.

There were a number of deputations regarding the application and of those opposed, traffic was a major concern. I share this concern and have serious misgivings not only with the methodology and quality of the traffic report, but our own Transportation Department's unreasonably high threshold for rejecting an application based on a projected increase in traffic volumes.

This is somewhat of an unusual situation in that opinions were strongly divided with a majority of Thorncliffe residents in favour of the application.

As I have mentioned previously, I believe the perfect solution would be a Costco without the gas bar but City Staff did not make this recommendation and thus it was not something Costco would agree to.

One of the biggest challenges we have in opposing developments based on traffic concerns is that the developer always has a favourable traffic study. While this situation has gone on for years, there seems to have been little effort to hold the traffic consultants accountable. This is exactly what I tried to do with one of the three amendments I proposed.

Recognizing that without our own City Staff's support a fight at the OMB is extremely difficult to win, I recommend the following additions/changes to the report:

1) Reduce the number of gas pumps from 18 to 12.
2) Costco conduct a follow up traffic study one year after store opening and pay for any mitigation efforts if their study underestimated traffic volumes.
3) Specify number of Thorncliffe residents hired by Costco.

Additionally, Costco had agreed to a voluntary payment of $650,000 to be used for community benefits in Thorncliffe.

I ultimately felt that this was the best deal possible under the circumstances and that the risk of losing these concessions by forcing the developer to the OMB was not the proper course of action -- especially since Ward 26 residents' opinions were mixed.

Please contact me if you have any questions or would like to voice your opinion.

Sincerely,
Jon Burnside

 

[salsa]

An update on the Whole Foods near Bayview & Eglinton:

 

[ChopstickHero]

COSTCO ON OVERLEA APPROVED.

Published on a condo message board:

Dear Ward 26 Resident,

The last item on Council's November agenda was the rezoning of 42 - 46 Overlea Blvd. which WOULD accommodate the construction of a Costco Warehouse store.

While opinions regarding a Costco store at this location are decidedly mixed, the most difficult obstacle I faced during negotiations was the City Planning Department's positive staff report -- including approval of an 18-pump gas bar. Reviewing the outcomes over the past five years, the city has never won a rezoning battle at the OMB when a positive staff report was issued.

Although Costco did agree to reduce the number of pumps from 18 to 12, I continued to negotiate until late last week. The gas bar has always been my major concern due to its consequence of increased traffic.

I am extremely happy to report that I negotiated a deferral of any decision regarding the gas bar so it will not be built at this time. If Costco wants to add a gas bar in the future, it would have to be considered by Council again.

Here is the summary of Council's approval (21 - 7) of the negotiated settlement:

1) Costco store approved.
2) Gas bar deferred. Future consideration would only be given after a new Traffic Impact Analysis (TIA) is completed. This new TIA would be a year-long study that can only commence a minimum of six months after store opening. This is an essential component as the new TIA would incorporate data of actual traffic generated by the Costco at THIS location as opposed to speculative numbers based on locations elsewhere.

There is a 20 day period of appeal whereby anyone can elect to go to the OMB. Once this period is over I will be able to provide a general estimate of timelines.

Sincerely,

Jon Burnside
City Councillor | Ward 26 - Don Valley West
Toronto City Hall | 100 Queen Street West Toronto, ON M5H 2N2
T: 416-392-0215

 

[Therion]

I'm not unhappy with the Costco decision. We go to Costco quite a bit, so it will be nice to have one close by, but we never used the gas station. It still baffles me that people are willing to idle their cars for 20 minutes in order to save $3 on gasoline.

 

[James]

I'm not unhappy with the Costco decision. We go to Costco quite a bit, so it will be nice to have one close by, but we never used the gas station. It still baffles me that people are willing to idle their cars for 20 minutes in order to save $3 on gasoline.

I agree. I reluctantly went to Costco earlier this year at the Warden & Ellesmere location to pick up some passport photos. I unknowingly got stuck in the huge lineup to the gas station that was so long, it snaked out into the regular parking area. I couldn't even get out because it was a single lane and parked cars lined either sides. It was frustrating, to say the least.

 

[Therion]

I noticed the Whole Foods being built now says Shoppers Drug Mart coming. Does that mean the one south of Eglinton is moving? Seems unnecessary to have two so close to each other, along with a Rexall at Sunnybrook Plaza and a Pharmaplus on Moore and a pharmacy in the Loblaws on Redway.

 

[Midtown Urbanist]

The Rexall at Sunnybrook Plaza will soon be gone with the redevelopment there. It's a fairly significant walk between the one coming to Broadway and the one that is on Bayview south of Eglinton. The other two you mentioned are not even in walking distance of Bayview-Eglinton.

 

[ChopstickHero]

I agree. The one on Bayview in the middle of the "village" is such a great location. I doubt they'd be willing to give up that location to move it north. They'll operate both of them to serve both neighbourhoods.