Toronto Local Appeal Body hearing regarding 9 Thirty Eighth St. is on Nov. 13, 2017

At a previous post entitled Conserving Long Branch Aug 2017, David Godley has written:

9 38th TLAB hearing, Help Save Long Branch. (See attached 9 38th save LB.) In order to convince TLAB that the community is reasonable and not a set of NIMBY’s we need groups and individuals to write in so we can break the cycle of OMB and COA approvals.

This first hearing is the place to do it. Let TLAB know there is an overall issue of crisis in character loss as well as in confidence. At the moment the OMB have a formula for taking the development planners evidence as sacrosanct and giving the Official Plan no real weight.

Planning is not black and white as is the OMB’s web site. It has greys and greens and the OMB’s superficial decisions never look to achieving both community and development objectives. Only one submission has reached the TLAB (from Garden Place) list.

Numerous people have offered to write, so thanks. Send to me by Aug 27th and I will make sure they get to the right place. Alternatively send to TLAB@toronto.ca with title 9 Thirty-Eighth Street – File Nos 17 165404 S53 06 TLAB, 17 165406 S45 06 TLAB, 17 165408 S45 06 TLAB.

There are about 100 entries on the TLAB AIC site already showing that Early Disclosure is a lot more work than the OMB pre-hearing process.

[End]

My own letter

My involvement with these matters is somewhat diminished; however, in this case, I have written a brief letter to the Toronto Local Appeal Board. For whatever value there may be in posting of the letter to this website, the text of my letter – sent as a signed PDF file – reads:

Aug.25,2017

Re: 9 Thirty Eighth St.

The proposal regarding 9 Thirty Eighth St. does not, in my view as a Long Branch resident, meet the requirements of Toronto’s Official Plan.

As the Official Plan notes, “The stability of our neighbourhoods’ physical character is one of the keys to Toronto’s success.”

The proposed severance and variances are not, in my view, in keeping with the physical character of Long Branch.

“While communities experience constant social and demographic change, the general physical character of Toronto’s residential neighbourhoods endures,” the Official Plan notes as well.

“Physical changes to established neighbourhoods,” the Official Plan adds, “must be sensitive, gradual, and generally fit within their existing physical character. A key objective of the Official Plan is to ensure that new development respects and reinforces the general physical patterns within a neighbourhood.”

I have lived in Long Branch for 20 years. An ongoing Long Branch “Guidelines” project has developed a draft overview of key features of the community. The following draft overview accords with my own understanding of what the physical character of the community entails.

The following list (below) related to the character of Long Branch is from page 3 of the SvN Long Branch Reference Material Guidelines (Feb. 7, 2016} draft document. The draft, which is for discussion purposes only, refers to the following character defining conditions:

a. Historic Long Branch houses dating back to original “villa” lots; predominantly corner lots of distinctive character

b. Houses with predominantly hipped and gabled roofs, often with front porches, and brick and siding clad

c. Generous front/sideyard setbacks buffered by trees and/or hedges on irregular lots or when adjacent to parkettes or other significant open spaces

d. Predominant 40-50′ lot frontage with generous sideyard setbacks which both provide access to the rear of the lot and establish a street rhythm

e. Significant rear yard open space and tree canopy

f. Isolated apartment blocks are setback generously from the street and adjacent properties, often fronting on to larger open spaces

g. Incrementally stepping setbacks following curvilinear street fabric surrounding Arcadian Circle

h. Consistent front yard setbacks and streetwalls along North-South streets which serve as important view corridors from the public realm to the waterfront.

i. Mature tree canopy frames the streetscape and provides shelter, a sense of enclosure as well as invaluable environmental benefits

[End of list]

In my view, the proposal in question does not accord with the physical character of Long Branch.

Jaan Pill