Monday, October 17, 2005

No Go on Nordheimer

To be discussed at the Toronto and East York Committee meeting on Tuesday Oct. 18 is a little development plan on Russell Hill Road which borders on the Nordheimer Ravine, one of our nicer restoration areas. The developer is proposing to knock down one house and build two apartment buildings, a 4-storey and a 5-storey. There are currently 150 trees on site. The developer wants to chop down 86, 22 of these are mature, measuring >30 cm in trunk diameter. This violates the zoning bylaw, the ravine bylaw, the private tree bylaw, and the bylaw that says the city can't be so stupid as to approve a plan like this (OK, I made up the last one). City staff have quite rightly recommended that this proposal be turned down.

Look for this one to be appealed to the OMB. For your information, here is the city's report on the matter.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Once again, I am the steward team leader for the Nordheimer sites.
Well, community council approved the city planners "refusal report", the report that said no to all the proposed overriding of city by-laws and the designations of restoration and low density residence areas. So far so good.

Councillor Walker spoke in the community about the changes being proposed to the OMB in parliament this winter. He advised all to speak to their mpp about supporting changes to prevent it from going against existing city by-laws and plans. I am not expert on the issue but the councillor's office might be helpful.

Donwatcher said...

Thanks for the info. Unfortunately it looks like the province is only going to tweak the OMB, not get rid of it. If you hear anything further, let me know.

DW

Anonymous said...

Hi

I am the property owner on the south side of nordheimer ravine immediately above the glen edyth pond. I am interested in talking to the steward about how I can help out.

Eric Bushell

Donwatcher said...

Hi Eric,

Thanks for your interest. The stewardship leader for the Nordheimer site is Susan Aaron. She can be reached at susan.aaron @ utoronto.ca. She will be glad to have a community volunteer.

Regards,
DW