Meeting regarding 596 Church Street Proposal
by Don Beelik
A well structured informational meeting was organized by residents of the affected properties on Thursday June 17th at the 519 Community Centre. Its purpose was to take questions from concerned neighbourhood residents and share information the organizers had on the proposed project. Organizers were thrilled with the turnout, which left for standing room only in the 519's second largest space, indicating considerable interest in this project. The City Planner, Developer and Councillor Kyle Rae were invited but were unable to attend as they were out of town, on vacation or didn't have enough notice.
From the outset the organizers made it clear that they are not anti-development, they simply want to present the concerns of residents to the developer to help \better integrate the proposed condominium into the street-scape and neighbourhood. Many concerns were raised such as height, shadows cast on both neighbouring properties and Cawthra Park, the design and scale of the the condo, and relocation of existing residents of the rental buildings to be torn down.
It was noted that although a proposal was being presented by the developer to the Church Street BIA on Friday June 18th for endorsement, there was very little information circulated to the residents of the affected properties and further, there are no public meetings scheduled to be held until after the fall elections.
One gentleman who has been involved with several other residents groups, including the organizers against the of the
Nicholas condominiums redevelopment at St. Nicholas & St. Mary Streets, gave the overflowing audience a chronology of how these projects typically move through City Hall. He also advised the group that many other properties have apparently been bought up in the Church-Wellesley Village area with plans to redevelop them in the future.
The organizers seemed very focused and driven to work with the City and Developer to come to an acceptable arrangment that would be in keeping with the feel of the neighbourhood. Unfortuatnely there was very little discussion about getting the affected historic properties designated. All buildings are on the City's list of historical properities but most have not been officially designated historical status therefore they are not protected against demolition. The organizers promised follow-ups to attendees by email, further gatherings and also talked of forming a Church-Wellesley Village Neighbourhood Residents Association.
