History
At SAHRA’s Annual General Meeting in April, 2015, we asked Councillor Carmichael Greb and the City to review the action/implementation plans for 14 outstanding Recommendations from the 2009 Study. The Councillor held a Public Meeting on Nov 12, 2015 at which time Planning presented their review. SAHRA prepared ‘Comments’ on this review – we felt that the City was not meeting its obligations to the agreements reached in the Study. We submitted a formal request to the Councillor and City on Mar 10, 2016 asking that they commit to a serious review of the 14 outstanding Recommendations to define action plans and funding; prepare estimates of costs and possible sources of funding; review Section 37 monies as potential funding sources; and that the findings/conclusions be reviewed with SAHRA and OOGRA prior to presentation to the North York Community Council.
Go to the Recommendations Review #1 page for details and links
Review Recommendations Report #2
The Councillor and the City agreed that a further Review would be done, co-ordinated by Planning. The results of that Review were presented at the May 2, 2017 meeting of the North York Community Council.
Staff Report ARAS Recommendations Review April 20 2017
A positive result of the Review was that the various City departments have completed some greening, park and streetscaping tasks that should have been on-going from 2009. Some work has been done on the trees lining Avenue Road, some improvements have been made in Brookdale Park, and additional street furniture has been added (TTC shelters, benches and bicycle rings).
SAHRA prepared a report giving their Comments on the Recommendations Review Report of April, 2017. The full version is available via this link; a summary of the results follows below.
Avenue Road Avenue Study Review SAHRA Comments May 2017
| The summary is follows with 9 recommendations implemented out of 21 | Recomm Count |
|
Implemented #1-6 Official Plan/Zoning By-law changes for development #15 Street furniture (TTC shelters, benches, bicycle rings) #18 Upper Avenue street signs ($19.5K of Section 37 monies) #21 Harmonized Sign By-law was implemented – no Billboards eliminated as yet of 22 |
9 |
| # Implemented | 9 |
|
Closed (now part of 250 Lawrence Ave West development negotiations) #7, 8 and 9 – Douglas Greenbelt Ravine |
3 |
|
Rejected by the City #11 – Closure of Dunblaine Avenue on the east side to create a village square park #13 – Closure of laneways to create parkettes #14 – Provide landscaped areas within the painted centre lane medians on Avenue Rd #20 – Undertake an Area Traffic Study |
4 |
| # Closed and Rejected | 7 |
|
May happen #10 – Roe Avenue Bus Loop conversion to parkette |
1 |
|
In SAHRA’s opinion, will likely NOT happen #12 – Landscape and improve spaces between curbs and rights-of-way (15 locations) #16 – Public art at ‘gateway’ locations #17 – Public art on utility boxes (2 done/4 recommended but no funding) #19 – New public parking lots and underground structures |
4 |
It is important to note that the Report also included a number of new recommendations regarding Parking. It suggested a Parking Working Group should be formed to report on opportunities to provide additional on-street parking on side streets in the Avenue Road Study area that could be located in close proximity to Avenue Road and to remove the existing mid-day parking prohibition on side streets along Avenue Road from between Brooke Avenue to Ridley Boulevard. There were also recommendations to add street parking on Bedford Park Avenue, Douglas Avenue and Dunblaine Avenue.
The Review Report states that Upper Avenue is tree canopy deficient (less than 10%) as well as park deficient (the lowest and second lowest levels of parkland – SAHRA’s area in fact has NO parks). Our Avenue is also disfigured by boulevard parking – 20 locations for over 69 parking spaces. SAHRA asked that Council direct the City to take action not only on the items listed under Recommendations but on ALL tree canopy and park tasks. This request was refused – the only Recommendations that the City has been directed to act on are:
1 (a) Paint murals on four traffic control boxes
1 (b) Explore conversion of commercial boulevard parking permits on 6 street corners
2 (a) Plant trees at 2175, 2177 and 2181 Avenue Road (apartments near the 401)
2 (b) Plant trees at 1997 Avenue Road (Comtech Fire Credit Union)
2 (c) On-going improvements to Cranbrooke Avenue entrance to Brookdale Park
2 (d) On-going improvements to Brookdale Park
The Recommendations implemented and to be acted on are underwhelming and disappointing!
A detailed summary of the status of each of the 14 outstanding recommendations:
ARAS Outstanding Recommendations Status
Visit the page Section 37 for more explanations on Section 37 monies
https://sahratoronto.com/sahra2017/development/section-37-monies/