A bicycle path and pedestrian walkway is needed that follows Black Creek itself, not Black Creek Drive, from Weston Road/Eglinton Avenue West to Jane Street/Maple Leaf Drive.

The paths should be permeable to allow rainwater to seep through into a dry well, and not to add to the flooding of Black Creek.


View attachment 342748From link.

Black Creek Drive did not make the cut for new trails, in the Toronto Trails Strategy, except for a small piece up by Pioneer Village.

So there's at least 36 projects in the queue ahead of it.

You can find the post w/the entire project list here:


But I'll copy the map part:

1629737612718.png


It not impossible to add additional projects, or try to reprioritize, but by and large, the TRCA will oppose that for now, as they have the Highland Creek Trail extension
that Councillor Ainslie wants along the Markham Branch of the creek, north-west to Markham Rd.
 
A bicycle path and pedestrian walkway is needed that follows Black Creek itself, not Black Creek Drive, from Weston Road/Eglinton Avenue West to Jane Street/Maple Leaf Drive.

The paths should be permeable to allow rainwater to seep through into a dry well, and not to add to the flooding of Black Creek.


View attachment 342748From link.

Good point about stormwater runoff. There should be an emphasis on the use of permeable paving, though cycling trails are best constructed using asphalt. The city should also generally stick with its green roof bylaw in this area. It often grants exemptions to the green roof requirements.

For instance, in the Stockyards, they allowed the Stockyards Village to be built without green roofs even after the green roof bylaw was passed. The property is across the street from the Lavender Creek ravine. Lavender Creek drains into Black Creek, which has become prone to flooding in the neighbourhood to the north, which is built around Black Creek.
 
Good point about stormwater runoff. There should be an emphasis on the use of permeable paving, though cycling trails are best constructed using asphalt. The city should also generally stick with its green roof bylaw in this area. It often grants exemptions to the green roof requirements.

For instance, in the Stockyards, they allowed the Stockyards Village to be built without green roofs even after the green roof bylaw was passed. The property is across the street from the Lavender Creek ravine. Lavender Creek drains into Black Creek, which has become prone to flooding in the neighbourhood to the north, which is built around Black Creek.

Not to wander too far off the topic at hand, but permeable paving is best suited to low volume traffic at this time, so side streets, laneways and sidewalks.

We know that, and we could do much better in this regard, unfortunately, we (The City) choose otherwise.
 
Black Creek Drive did not make the cut for new trails, in the Toronto Trails Strategy, except for a small piece up by Pioneer Village.

So there's at least 36 projects in the queue ahead of it.

You can find the post w/the entire project list here:


But I'll copy the map part:

View attachment 343445

It not impossible to add additional projects, or try to reprioritize, but by and large, the TRCA will oppose that for now, as they have the Highland Creek Trail extension
that Councillor Ainslie wants along the Markham Branch of the creek, north-west to Markham Rd.
The basic excuse is "money". For cycling, pedestrian, or recreational, there are no funds available. For the almighty automobile, they will find the funds.
 
According to the project data sheet, it seems this is all rental.... could that be true?
Could always change as plans progress.

There isn't as much of an incentive for a REIT like Choice Properties to sell their real estate assets for a quick profit compared to a conventional developer, so it is very possible (likely even) that they envision retaining this site in their portfolio long-term as a rental project.
 
Community engagement website:

 
A very strategic (and well designed) move to hopefully avoid the future incoming inclusionary zoning regime!
 
There's no way they're getting out of IZ here. You need to have RZA, SPA and potentially even Draft Plan in (though all of that is still not yet nailed down)...
 
There's no way they're getting out of IZ here. You need to have RZA, SPA and potentially even Draft Plan in (though all of that is still not yet nailed down)...
The requirement for either submitting ZBA or SPA are two separate items on the pending transition policy for being "grandfathered in".

i) OPA (if needed) and ZBA as well as either of: Plan of Condo or Plan of Subdivision.
OR ii) application made for SPA, BP, development permit

(Not legal advice)
 
Are there station provisions for underground pedestrian connections (i.e. knock-out panels for a future tunnel from this proposed development to the station)?
 
Are there station provisions for underground pedestrian connections (i.e. knock-out panels for a future tunnel from this proposed development to the station)?
They should make that a prerequisite for station designs. Provisions for future connections.
 

CROSSTOWN: Mount Dennis residents hope transit hub and LRT developments will boost low-income neighbourhood


Influx of homeowners will lead to 'thriving retail district': BIA co-ordinator

Sept 27, 2021

And there could be considerable development. In August, Choice Properties REIT submitted an application for the No Frills site on part of the old Kodak lands, for seven towers climbing between 20 and 49 storeys, with a new food store, and a total of 2,356 residential units.

That’s expected to be the first of many as Mount Dennis is not only the terminal station for the Eglinton Crosstown — it will also have a stop on the Union Pearson Express, and the GO Georgetown line, effectively transforming it into the city's second largest transit hub, after Union Station.

Laura Alderson is the co-ordinator of the Mount Dennis BIA. She said she took the job because she “saw tremendous potential for the development of a community that was almost utopian."

“I had a model mid-rise community in mind when I took the job — Mount Dennis was a blank canvas,” she said.

Alderson is not entirely comfortable with the prospect of 49-storey towers looking down on Mount Dennis. But with the level of higher-order transit coming in, she said it’s probably inevitable, particularly as the provincial government has loosened the restrictions around development near transit stations.

And she said an influx of new homeowners could spell a turnaround for the business district.

“The transit hub has given us a huge opportunity, because without density, we can’t have a thriving retail district,” she said.

York South Weston Coun. Frances Nunziata said the LRT and spinoff developments could lead to a number of changes in the area, including a possible post-secondary institution, a new community centre, daycare and other services.

“We have lots of industry along Industry Street looking at expanding, which would bring in hundreds of jobs,” she said.
But Nunziata said she also wants to see affordable housing included in new developments.

“We are going to have to be careful that we get good development and that we do get affordable housing — mixed housing — and that we can revitalize the retail strip that’s been dead for many years,” she said.

Rick Ciccarelli, who heads up the Mount Dennis EcoNeighbourhood Initiative, said it’s crucial to leverage not only affordable but also sustainable development.

“The neighbourhood is on the lower scale of affluence within the City of Toronto and this development intensification is geared to people who aren’t the Mount Dennis people — who aren’t living there right now,” he said.

“We have to find the way to guide development to create a sustainable neighbourhood, and an equitable participating community that’s got a range of opportunities for everybody,” Ciccarelli said.

 

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