ABC Residents Association has a long history of making positive contributions to the planning and development of our area. The Association encompasses one of the fastest growing areas in Toronto. Development pressures to increase heights and densities are enormous and planning and development issues take the most time of ABCRA Board members. Our focus is not to simply oppose new development but to work closely with City planners, Councillor Dianne Saxe, and developers to influence better planning and higher quality development of our area. Our efforts also include advocating and negotiating for more attention to the public space surrounding the buildings.
Check here regularly for information about area planning and development news.
Each Planning Report dealing with various building initiatives identifies the importance to preserve the neighbourhood tree canopy, yet the actual action to do so becomes weaker and weaker.
The shared public space in our neighbourhood — called the public realm — plays a large part in making our daily lives enjoyable and creating a sense of community. This includes parks, trees, plantings, seating, public art and other features that animate and enhance our streets and the public spots where we gather to socialize or play.
These kinds of public realm elements are a critical part of the policies we want to see outlined in the pending Bloor-Yorkville Secondary Plan.
In the coming months, you’ll be seeing and hearing more about what’s called a “secondary plan” that will guide development in our neighbourhood for the next 25 years. You have a right, and hopefully a desire, to participate in advocating for the kind of community that you want to see. That’s why this communication is the first of three or four we’ll be sending to explain the various elements of the plan.
Paris, after a flirtation with tall buildings that has led to two or three controversial projects scattered about the edge of its centre, last week reimposed old rules that ban buildings above 37 metres (121ft).
A rare climbdown by Premier Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservatives — on an ill-fated housing plan for prime agricultural land — left Housing Minister Steve Clark bruised and critics saying a government with MPPs across rural Ontario is “clueless” on a key farm issue.
The direction for regional planning implied in the draft Provincial Planning Statement represents a seminal change in the land use planning system in the GGH that together with recent and potential future governance changes pose risks to the widely recognized benefits of coordinated and integrated land use, resource and infrastructure planning and calls into question progress toward widely understood and desirable outcomes around climate adaptation, inclusion, economic and financial stability over the next decades.
ABCRA appreciates the opportunity to bring to your attention its concerns regarding the proposed Provincial Planning Statement (“PPS”) within the “streamlined: planning system, and wants to indicate our support for the Overall Conclusions raised by The Federation of North Toronto Residents’ Associations (“FoNTRA”) letter dated May 25, 2023.
We are writing to express our support for the 148-158 Avenue Road and 220-234 Davenport Road – Zoning By-law Amendment Application.
The ABCRA has worked closely with Tribute over the past 18 months. We are pleased with what we have been able to accomplish as it relates to an improved public realm and the addition of wider sidewalks.
pABCRA has a specific focus to ensure planning decisions in our community follow approved City Planning Policy and Guidelines, specifically as it relates to the completion of a Secondary Plan for Bloor-Yorkville/North Midtown. We are concerned with any planning steps that are taken in the absence of a Secondary Plan – a tool to ensure that thoughtful and prudent decisions can be made in the interests of Toronto residents.
ABCRA co-chaired the FoNTRA Garden Suite working group to review the proposal and recommended improvements to the proposed bylaw. The Garden Suites Working Group with a number of ABCRA board members was actively involved in consultations with City Planning staff while developing recommendations.