November 25, 2009

OMB Hearing on 51 Lake Shore Drive Adjourned

The OMB hearing on the application to build 6 semi-detached and one detached homes at 51 Lake Shore Drive got underway on Monday and was adjourned this morning. The adjournment was triggered by yesterday’s revelation that the lot size grew substantially between the 1909 survey and the 2006 survey. This raises the question of who actually owns the extra land created by the change in the shoreline.

The hearing is set to resume in March 2010. You can find more information about this issue on this site and at the 51 Lake Shore blog.

There was a strong showing of community concern at the OMB hearing. We couldn’t fit everyone in the room on Monday morning when nearly 50 community members showed up. One community member was give “party” status and 16 others (including a CCFEW representative) were given “participant” status at the hearing. The hearing was adjourned before most of the participants had an opportunity to speak, but they will maintain their status when the proceedings resume.

November 8, 2009

Toronto Becomes World’s First City to Mandate Bird-Friendly Buildings

In a historic move, Toronto City Council passed a motion late last month making parts of the Toronto Green Standard – which applies to all new construction in the city – mandatory. The standard, which has been voluntary until now, incorporates the Bird-Friendly Development Guidelines (BFDG) designed to eliminate migratory bird collisions with buildings both at night and in the daytime.

The Fatal Light Awareness Program (FLAP) has been the lead advocate on this issue for many years. Their efforts are paying off in Toronto!

You can read their news release here, or visit their website, FLAP.org for more information.

October 27, 2009

I am very pleased to announce that CCFEW has won a 2009 Urban Hero Award in the Environment category.  If you haven't heard of the awards, here is a description from the Urban Heroes website:
 

The Urban Hero Awards is an annual awards program that recognizes those community members and grassroots level ‘heroes’ whose personal efforts, sacrifice or contribution have made a significant impact to a cause, a person or a group in our local community.

A Toronto Community News initiative, the awards are for individuals who stand out in a crowd because they have made a difference here at home, in our neighbourhoods. The awards are for groups and businesses that are committed to making our community a better place to live.
 

I believe this award recognizes CCFEW's current and past work so it really belongs to all of our current and past members for their efforts in making our community a better place.  Thank you and congratulations to everyone who was a part of it!

These awards were organized by Toronto Community News, so you will be able to read all about it in this Friday's Etobicoke Guardian.

October 26, 2009

A computer crash in late September has meant that our website has gone without updates for over a month. That combined with some odd quirks in our web design software means that many links will now be non-functioning as well. I try to get most things working over the next couple of weeks, but some of the archived bird walk photo galleries are likely gone for good. (The photos aren’t lost, it will just be too much work to put them all back.)

August 30, 2009

Many cancelled events are getting rescheduled now the the City workers’ strike is behind us:

The final round of Biosolids Master Plan Public Information Sessions is now rescheduled for September 10.

The Ward 6 Environment Day is rescheduled for Saturday October 10th (Thanksgiving Weekend).

The 51 Lake Shore Drive application has bee deferred to the September 30th City Council Meeting as recommended in the last Staff Report.

We’re still waiting for a reschedule date for the Stormwater Management Public Meeting.

June 22, 2009

There is a long list of closures and cancellations resulting from the City workers’ strike that started today. Some events affected this week include:

Mimico Party in the Park, June 23 - moved to the field at John English School

Stormwater Management EA Consultation, June 24 - cancelled: to be rescheduled after the strike.

Mark Grimes Environment Day, June 27 - cancelled: to be rescheduled after the strike

A good, but well hidden, list of services affected by the labour disruption can be found on the City of Toronto Website: http://www.toronto.ca/labour-relations/index.htm

June 15, 2009

E-Mail List Problems

People with rogers.com and yahoo.com e-mail addresses are no longer receiving messages on our e-mail list. The problem just started this month. It is likely related to some spam filtering at Rogers/Yahoo, but the exact nature has not yet been determined.

June 1, 2009

51 Lake Shore Drive is back, and it’s headed to the OMB!

On June 9th, the Etobicoke-York Community Council will be considering the City’s response to the development proposed at 51 Lake Shore Drive. The developer is going straight to the OMB with a slightly modified version of the plan that was presented to the public last November.

Click here for the latest staff report

Click here for the Community Council agenda

Click here for more details on the last proposal.

Also check out the 51 Lake Shore Blog.

and this article in the Etobicoke Guardian

February 21, 2009

Many people have expressed concern lately about the marked trees north of the Power House at Sam Smith Park. Many trees have been marked with orange spray paint near the ground. Orange paint is often used to mark trees for removal, but not in this case. City officials have assured us that the route of the trail has not yet been established, and no trees are in imminent danger of removal for that reason. The trees appear to have been marked as part of the tree inventory conducted on the site. (You may have noticed all trees in the area now have small, numbered metal tags.)

The tree inventory is part of the arborist’s report being prepared for the City. Although we were told at a public meeting last June that such a report had been conducted, it later became clear that it had never been done. The completion of the report is one small victory from our EA application.

If you are concerned about what is happening there, it’s never too late to call or e-mail your Councillor and the Mayor. to express your concerns. In the current municipal and global financial situation, the skating trail looks even more ill-advised. (Those questions about operating costs have still never been answered.)

February 20, 2009

The Ontario Power Authority (OPA) is inviting proposals to build a new gas-fired power plant in the southwest GTA. The only proposal that we know of in the City of Toronto was withdrawn earlier this week. This is the letter sent to Toronto City Councillors:

Dear Councillors,

In mid January, a partnership between Ontario Power Generation and Trans Canada was one of four proponents selected by the Ontario Power Authority to respond to a Request for Proposals (RFP) for a new natural gas-fired power plant in the Southwest Greater Toronto Area.

At that point, we sent you correspondence introducing the proposed Etobicoke Energy Centre project -an 850 megawatt combined cycle power plant, to be built at 800 Kipling Avenue.

On Friday, February 6th, the Ontario Power Authority released its RFP. Since reviewing the RFP, the partnership has decided not to pursue the proposed project at 800 Kipling Avenue as we no longer believe this site would be successful in this competitive process.

TransCanada is still qualified and interested in this RFP. We remain committed to sharing information and gathering input related to potential projects as we assess other potential sites. 
We will once again proactively reach out to the community as we advance through this process.

We would like to thank you for your interest in this proposal and the time you have taken to provide input to our project team.

Thanks,

Chris Breen
Public Sector Relations
TransCanada Corporation
www.transcanada.com
416.605.3524

You can learn more about this process on the OPA website.

February 20, 2009

The TTC has agreed to re-open public consultation on this project. The following press release was sent out on Wednesday:

PRESS RELEASE
February 18, 2009

Announcement
Councillor Mark Grimes
Re: Ward 6 - Proposed Lake Shore Blvd LRT

Councillor Mark Grimes today requested the Toronto Transit Commission
to re-open the Light Rapid Transit Community Consultation process for
the Lake Shore Blvd portion of the proposed service. The TTC has agreed
to the request.
Following concerns raised by the local community regarding the timing
and poor weather conditions for the original community open houses,
Councillor Grimes requested the Toronto Transit Commission to direct
staff to hold two further community meetings in conjunction with the
Councillor’s office. The meetings will provide residents and other
stakeholders with the opportunity to review the proposed LRT and provide
input into the plan.
Councillor Grimes is a strong supporter of Public Transit and a supporter
of transit that meets the needs of the local community. To this end the
Councillor requested that no further action on the proposed Lake Shore
Blvd LRT be undertaken until community consultations are completed.
Councillor Grimes is very pleased with the support shown by the
Commissioners to the integrity of the community consultation process.

For more on this issue, visit our Waterfront West LRT page.

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