Update regarding Character of Long Branch: Message from Ward 6 Councillor Mark Grimes

Message from David Godley

David Godley
416 255 0492
email: mhairig@pathcom.com

Good Evening,

I am delighted to receive the good news from Councillor Grimes (below).

Congratulations to him and his staff and to all those who have worked so hard on this issue.

We should also thank Chief Planner Ms Keesmaat for her co-operative and pro-active support as well as other planning staff.

Urban Design Guidelines by a consultant with support from the Planning Department will go a long way to achieve our goals.

Hopefully this involves both North and South Long Branch.

Curtailing the COA decisions will have to be supported by COA (I believe) but with staff, political and community support this should be easily achievable.

This is a great way to allow those that are impacted to be drawn in to the planning process at the beginning.

This is a breakthrough to celebrate but there is plenty of work ahead.

We are now in a position to have Brian Liberty form a Community Association.

Please feel free to contact me for clarifications or any other matters on your mind relating to Long Branch Character.

David

[End of text]

Message from Ward 6 Councillor Mark Grimes

Good Afternoon,

This is my second update on our efforts to preserve the historic character of Long Branch.

Area Specific Guidelines Regarding Neighbourhood Character

Following our community meeting, I met with the City’s Chief Planner, Jennifer Keesmaat. Ms. Keesmaat advised that the best way to protect our neighbourhood is by creating our own Long Branch Design Guidelines. This is a tactic that has been employed in a few other areas of the City in the past, and I believe it will go a long way towards ensuring any future developments are in keeping with our vision for the community.

While we do have a dedicated and active community already working on identifying the relevant issues, creating design guidelines from scratch can be a daunting task. That is why I am also pleased to announce that we were able to secure Long Branch as the pilot project area for a City-wide Design Guidelines project. The City will be issuing a Request for Proposals in the next few weeks, asking consultants to create a template and handbook for communities to use to develop area specific design guidelines regarding neighbourhood character. The Long Branch neighbourhood will then be used to test the template and handbook, which means we will be able to get started on this process right away, and we will have the full support of the Planning Dept., City-wide.

As I receive updates about this process I will send them out to everyone.

Upcoming Committee of Adjustment and Ontario Municipal Board Applications

I have submitted letters of opposition to the COA for the applications on July 2 for 97 Twenty Seventh St. and 69 Laburnham Ave.

I have submitted letters of opposition to the OMB for the appeals for 4 Twenty Seventh St. and 39 Thirty Third St., and I have directed City Planning and Legal staff to attend the hearings in defence of the City and community’s position.

After discussions with the Planning Dept., we feel that the most appropriate way to deal with any future severance applications made before the design guidelines are complete is to request deferral until the applicant holds a meeting with my office, City Planning, and the neighbours to discuss what the most appropriate development for the site is. This will have the dual effect of delaying any of the inevitable appeals to the OMB following a COA refusal, and will help form the basis for the elements we want to see in the Long Branch Design Guidelines.

If you have any questions or comments, or would like to be added to list of interested parties, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Thank you all for your interest and efforts.

Sincerely,

Mark

Councillor Mark Grimes

Ward 6, Etobicoke Lakeshore

City Hall
100 Queen Street West, Suite C48
Toronto, ON M5H 2N2

Tel: 416-397-9273 Fax: 416-397-9279
www.markgrimes.ca

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Previous message from David Godley

On 22/06/2015 6:30 PM, David Godley wrote:

Good Evening those residents with an interest in conserving Long Branch character.

Councillor Mark Grimes will shortly be sending results on his meetings with the Planning Department stemming from the May 4 Community Meeting.

In the meantime I have updated the draft issues with input from the community (attached). Thank you for your comments.
This is a comprehensive list not in any order of priority.

Those issues which remain after the Councillor’s report can then be discussed with the Head of Local Planning, Neil Cresswell and his staff as suggested by Chief Planner Jennifer Keesmaat.

If anyone would like to be involved in these discussions please let me know. I would expect these to take place next month.

As for current severance applications both 97 27 Street and 6 Laburnham are on the COA agenda for 2 July.

3 July is the OMB hearing for 4 27th Street and 30, 31 July is the same for 39 33rd Street.

The OMB refused 86 23rd St and we are waiting for the OMB to report on 18 Daisy and 48 35th St.

Enjoy the beautiful weather.

David Godley 416 255 0492

email: mhairig@pathcom.com