Councillor Josh Matlow's Community Update for July 30th, 2012

Dear Resident,

I hope that you've been enjoying this beautiful summer weather and taking good care of yourself in the heat. It's always a great pleasure for me to see you in our community when Melissa and I go for our weekly Ward 22 neighbourhoods walk, at our new farmers market, at my town hall meetings, community events or even when out shopping at one of our local businesses!

To keep you informed, I've prepared an update for you below about our community and upcoming public meetings and events. To learn more, please visit www.joshmatlow.ca

Best regards,

Josh Matlow
Toronto City Councillor
Ward 22-St.Paul's
www.joshmatlow.ca

Oriole Park Update

Good news, Ward 22. At long last, the corner of Oriole Park, at Oriole Pkway & Chaplin, is now restored and beautified with new turf and flowers. I am continuing to make improvements to this park including the newly paved entrance at the North East corner.

Hydro One and the Community Tree Committee

Earlier this spring many residents contacted my office with regards to Hydro One's planned removal of trees and brush along the hydro transmission corridor that runs adjacent to the CP rail tracks behind Cottingham Street. While it was understood that vegetation management to be carried out by Hydro One was needed to address safety concerns along the corridor, residents had also expressed concern about the impact that the loss of several trees will have on the area. I shared their concerns, and it is was important to me to ensure that local residents were engaged as much as possible in the decision making process regarding the proposed removal and replanting of trees along the transmission corridor.

We held a public meeting with Hydro One and local residents in May and subsequently formed a working group with my office, Hydro One and representatives from the community. I am pleased to report that the working group and Hydro One have agreed to a plan that will allow for the necessary pruning and in some cases removal of trees that on the Hydro corridor, while at the same time minimizing the impact this work would have on the community and the environment. Hydro One has agreed to a three year pruning cycle (as opposed to six years) for trees along the corridor, which will result in more frequent but less aggressive pruning at any given time.

Here is a summary of the resolution between Hydro One and the community working group:

• Hydro One has agreed to the three year pruning cycle of the 31 Norway Maples just north of the fence at the south end of Robertson Davies Park.
• Hydro One committed to landscaping at the top of the railway embankment, which will occur in the spring of 2013. This landscaping will include cleaning up debris (previously fallen trees and rubbish) on CP property.
• Six mature trees along Macpherson Ave., west of Avenue Rd., will require some pruning to meet electrical clearance requirements.
• Hydro One has agreed to cut the brush down to ground level just south of the Cottingham Tennis Club and a landscape plan will be implemented that could entail planting a coniferous buffer along the top of the CP embankment, which would minimize leaf litter on the clay courts.

Preservation of historic postal office in North Toronto

As some of you are surely aware, Postal Station K is an iconic building and still-functioning post office that sits on Yonge just north of Eglinton. Its long-standing service to the community, sitting on the site of the Upper Canada Rebellion's Montgomery Tavern, along with its Art Deco architecture and the rare Royal Cipher of Edward VIII make this a very valuable and historic building. I have therefore put my support behind the Eglinton Park Residents' Association's formal application to have the City grant Postal Station K heritage status. I invite anyone who wishes to find out more about the issue and get involved to take a look at their Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/YongeEglintonPostOfficeStationK.

Toronto Parks and Trees Foundation B.U.L.B. Program

The B.U.L.B. program – that is, the Better Urban Living with Bulbs Program – is a fantastic program run through the Toronto Parks and Trees Foundation. The program provides daffodil bulbs to groups across the city for planting in publicly accessible space. It provides this service free of charge. For more information as well as application forms, please see www.greenhere.ca/GREENHERE/TPTF_BULBS_Form.html.

Davisville Village Farmers' Market

The Davisville Village Farmers' Market continues throughout the summer on Tuesdays from 3:00 pm to 7:00 pm in June Rowlands Park, which is located at Davisville and Mount Pleasant. The Davisville Village Farmers' Market is operated by Appletree Markets, a local non-profit organization, and supports local farmers and food producers. The Farmers' Market runs until October 16th, 2012.

Congratulations to Olympian David Wright

Local athlete David Wright is competing in the Men's Laser sailing event in the London 2012 Olympic Games. David finished sixth in the World Championships for his event in 2009 and placed third in the Miami Olympic Classes Regatta earlier this year. David was Canadian Sailing Male athlete of the year in 2009.

David placed eighteenth in his first Olympic race and fifteenth in his second on July 30th. I would like to congratulate David for his performance and I wish him luck in his upcoming races. Your Ward 22 community is cheering for you David!

1331 Yonge Street Public Meeting

Date: Thursday, August 9th, 2012 7:00 to 9:00 pm
Location: Christ Church Deer Park, Elliott Hall, 1570 Yonge Street

I would like to invite you and your neighbours to an important community information meeting, regarding a development application for 1331 Yonge Street - the former CHUM site.  Keeping residents engaged and informed is a priority for me, and the purpose of this meeting is to review the new plans submitted by the applicants for the project.

In December of last year, approximately 150 of you attended a meeting hosted by City Planning to voice your concern with the initial proposal for this site. The original plan was for a 13 storey condo with 214 units and 184 parking spaces. The community was almost unanimously opposed to this proposal.

Subsequent to the winter meeting the applicant has submitted new plans for an 11 storey building with 149 units and 4 levels of below-grade parking. While certainly a step in the right direction, I have heard from many of you that there are still concerns with the traffic that will be come from the building along with the height, density, its relationship with adjacent properties and design of the building itself.

I have asked the applicant to present their revised plans to the community and for City Planning staff to attend. You will have an opportunity to ask questions of both parties.

Final Port Lands Acceleration Initiative Public Meeting

The final public consultation meeting for the Port Lands Acceleration Initiative is being held from 6:30 to 9:00 p.m. on August 8, 2012 at the Toronto Reference Library's Bram & Bluma Appel Salon (789 Yonge Street, 1 street north of Bloor Street). If you have any questions, please contact Christopher Dunn, Waterfront Secretariat, at (416) 395-1211 or [email protected].

Live Green Toronto Grants – Fall Round 2012

Starting September 4, the Toronto Environment Office will begin receiving applications for its Live Green Toronto grants. This represents an exciting opportunity for resident associations, community groups, not-for-profit organizations, and BIAs. Two grants are being offered:

• Community Investment Program Grants ($25,000): geared towards community-led projects addressing local issues such as food production, renewable energy, and transportation;
• Capital Projects Fund (up to $250,000): geared towards community improvement projects – building retrofits, tree planting, park restoration, and more.

For more information, please see http://www.toronto.ca/livegreen/greenneighbourhood_rebates.htm.

2nd Annual Toronto 5K Run

Get active and get running for a great cause! The 2nd Annual Toronto 5K Run will be happening on Saturday, September 15 at Winston Churchill Park. The race is in support of SickKids Foundation. Join Councillor Matlow at the starting line at 8:00 AM. For more information, please see www.toronto5k.com.

For more council and community information, please visit www.joshmatlow.ca.