Community Council Approves 975 Units at Bridlewood Mall on August 17th

Dear Friends and Neighbours

I had originally sent out an e-mail to all my councillor colleagues last month to defer this item until the neighbourhood got a good deal. Not one councillor responded to my e-mail.

I was told point blank by a councillor that my position would not be supported. From this, it was evident that lobbying had occurred by the Developer.

Consulting with members of the Citizen's Advisory Group and Stand Up Bridletowne I embarked to get a visible benefit for our community.

Subject to both City Council and Library Board Approvals:

The Bridlewood Library which is the 3rd busiest Community Library in Toronto will expand. It will move next to Shoppers Drug Mart commencing October 1st. Funding of $2.4 million dollars will be dedicated to the Library with $300,000 coming from Councillor Kelly's ward.

It will temporarily occupy 8,000 square feet with a further 1,200 square feet to be occupied. The Library will sign a 20 year lease.

Further the Advisory Group will have one last opportunity for changes and comments on the Finch Warden Revitalization Report which will go to Council.

The 975 units will be in two phases. The first will be 475 however, the Developer indicated that he would start with a 200 unit building to see how well he can sell units. There is still discussion that the full development can take 2-15 years. In the short term, Any building would commence in 2012. One amendment was accepted by Community Council to provide 1 car spot instead of a .9 spot for all one bed room units. I do not want to see cars overflow onto side streets.

Along with you, I was shocked that any development would occur on a parking lot. Unfortunately the Official Plan allows for this and without any height restrictions. The original proposal asked for about 1400 units with included tall towers of up to 38 stories. The tallest under this plan will be 25.

We could not stop this development and in addition, with the support of the Planning Department we did not have the resources to hire Community Planners and fight this at OMB. With Councillors on side it was a done deal.

I am grateful to Mr. Adam Brown, who while doing his job for the Developer, acknowledged my push to have something of substance (the Library) for the Community. A last minute agreement prior to the Community Council was worked out with the Library Staff, Developer and Mall Management.

The anxiety is over and a conclusion while not popular was rendered. I will have to monitor the effects of Traffic, Sewers, Electric Power,TTC service, social and other issues that may arise from this decision. As always, I ask you to help be my eyes and ears to alert me to problems or potential problems that may arise.

Thank you for working with me to make the best out of a very unpopular situation.

Mosquitoes test positive for West Nile Virus

With the warm summer weather also comes mosquitoes. While mosquitoes have always been pests, this year they also post a threat to our health. City Staff have informed me that a mosquito bearing the West Nile Virus has been found near our own ward, in the Birchmount and Sheppard area.

We urge all residents to take extra precautions when going out:
- Apply mosquito repellant to exposed skin
- Wear light coloured clothing
- Avoid being outdoors past dusk if possible
- Drain standing water where mosquitos can breed

For more information, see City's news release concerning mosquitoes below.