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By Bill Curran (anonymous) | Posted March 06, 2013 at 01:52:20
Jason,
With all due respect, as the architect on Good Shepherd Square from its inception in 2001 to completion, the vision that I crafted always included the central trees being retained as a parkette and the publically accessible walkways, and the many other features of the design that you speak so positively added.
None were added as a result of public consultation, I was there and crafted the design.
And sorry, but some of the neighbours in your 'hood showed a particularly virulent form of NIMBYISM including the worst personal attacks, the dumbest most ill-informed comments and breathtaking discriminatory things about living next to 'those people'. It was shameful.
Your neighbours took the project to the OMB delaying it and wasting vast sums of taxpayer dollars and offering only platitudes that the OMB wholly rejected.
This was NIMBY at its worst.
The OMB Decision is available on line and speaks to neighbour issues, a fine read and a
balanced analysis of infill issues.
Some neighbours would simply would not accept it in any way, the radial separation rule being but one thing they clung to as justification.
You see the same thing today playing in the equally shameful NIMBY driven Charlton Hall saga
in the Corktown neighbourhood, worth watching since the Human Rights Commission is not involved. I hope you are watching this one and you should be weighing in to support this project.
The great news is that GS Square is built and we've had so many fabulous comments and some apologies from those involved. Many good people supported it and were shouted down by those
driven by ignorance, hate and fear. The OMB did its job, weighing fact over feelings. The impacts have been proven as very positive. All in all, it is a benchmark for low impact infill and intensification. FYI, a further 3 storey apartment building is allowed on the NE surface parking lot but remains unfunded, but it needs to be built to complete the project and replace the missing tooth of urban fabric.
Similarly we need to fix York Boulevard, which has remained a total disaster for some 40 years.
Gary Buttrum is exactly right.
We do not need vegetable plots, we need built fabric buildings.
The neighbourhood, as with most of our urban neighbourhoods, has plenty of greenspace now.
We need more intensification and the investment of the injection of capital that comes with
this, bringing new people to invigorate the 'hood and support flagging neighbourhood commercial uses.
Same problem with Sanford School, we don't need a new park, we need investment and development that will be appropriate and improve the neighbourhood. Like GS Square we can have it all if it is designed properly.
The flaw with the 1970's redev of York Boulevard was that the lots rezoned to medium density were too small and extended too shallow along York, and need to extend further into the neighbourhoods north and south. A few more houses need to go, and I agree this is unfortunate.
This dumb rezoning to save a few houses is why we have the silly small commercial buildings with surface parking that have been built since.
This is essential to fix York Boulevard which is a major entrance to our city, an important element of our community's image and an embarrassment.
If you do not create large enough lots based on sensible underground parking garage sizes and economical, efficient apartment/condo floorplates this area simply will not change.
Especially since living on York Boulevard is not exactly a prime location due to excessive traffic volume and speed, which also makes the quality of streescape less enjoyable for walking. Few people walk on York Boulevard.
The loss of some houses near York Boulevard, although long overdue, will net their owners a significant financial windfall (150% value is normal) as compensation for the displacement.
And of course they don't have to move or sell, but an incentive will be there.
This zoning proposal just allows York Boulvard to be fixed. We desperately need that.
So please get behind it.
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