As part of the Galleria Mall site redevelopment process, I have been working to expand the size of Wallace Emerson Park by more than 25% and double the size of the Wallace Emerson Community Centre, which will include a new child care facility for our community. The expanded park and new community centre will be an exciting project that will enhance our community for generations to come.

As the City begins the design process for the new community centre, childcare facility and Park Master Plan, we need your input! Given the level of community interest, a second open house is being held together with City staff and the Reimagine Galleria project team for a Visioning Session and Open House on Tuesday, May 22nd at 6:30 p.m. at the Galleria Mall (1245 Dupont Street) so you can share your ideas and feedback. An optional walking tour of Wallace Emerson Park will be held starting promptly at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday May 22. The walking tour will start at the Reimagine Galleria storefront (between the Happy Bakery and LCBO at the Galleria Mall).

On April 3, the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB), the quasi-judicial body that handles development proposal appeals became the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal (LPAT).

One of the most important changes is the introduction of a legal test the tribunal will now use to decide whether a development proposal can proceed. The LPAT will answer a simple "yes or no" legal test — ie. does the proposal follow the city's official planning rules? If not, the matter will be sent back to municipal councils to issue another decision. The tribunal will not make planning decisions itself, but under the LPAT's new guideline, community development decisions will better reflect the desires of the people within a respective community.

Before, due to lacking supports for citizens, many voiced their concern regarding the costs of participation as the OMB regulatory body was limiting. Now, with the establishment of the Local Planning Appeal Support Centre both legal and planning help for citizens and community associations will become more accessible. 

The new tribunal will offer help to community associations trying to navigate the appeals process through the Local Planning Appeal Support Centre (LPASC). The center, with a budget of $1.5 million, will offer planning and legal assistance for those who wish to participate in matters before the tribunal.

More weight is also being given to local councils. All hearings will consider only the decision made by local councils. There will be more accountability, as there will be no appeal if the city council decision adheres to its own planning rules. Thus, City councils will bear more responsibility under this model.

Following community meetings in June and October 2017, City Council has endorsed the Bloor Street West Planning Study Guiding Principles and have directed City Planning staff to review all current and future development applications for consistency with the Guiding Principles within the Planning Study Area from St. Helens Ave to Palmerson Ave. The Guiding Principles were developed with resident input and will inform the review of development applications and further work on the Bloor Street West Planning Study.

The Guiding Principles focus on five general themes: Supporting and Growing the Local Economy; Social Cohesion and a Strong Community; Form and Scale of Development; Heritage and Street Character: and Public Spaces, Connections and Sustainability. I encourage you to review the Guiding Principles and City staff report by clicking here.

Earlier this month, the City of Toronto Planning Division held an open house community meeting to discuss and gather residents' feedback on the revised Galleria Mall development proposal.

The revised application proposes the construction of 8 towers (reduced from 11), with a maximum height of 35-storeys (reduced from 42), an increase in the proportion of family sized units to 50% and the elimination of bachelor suites, the integration of 150 affordable housing units on site, a new Wallace Emerson Community Centre (double the current size), and an enlarged Wallace Emerson Park. The applicant has also included 2 new bus bays on Dufferin St to provide dedicated spaces for TTC bus loading.

The applicants also presented a construction phasing plan which seeks to ensure that access to the community centre is maintained at all times, with the new community centre to be constructed as part of Phase 1. City staff would undertake a separate design and community consultation process for the proposed new community centre and park space to ensure that the functional requirements and the community's priorities are wholly integrated into the design.

Residents at the meeting provided feedback on the revised proposal and raised concerns regarding traffic congestion, local transit services, and the amount of density proposed in the revised application. The applicant will be working together with City staff to incorporate this feedback into their proposal and I will continue to advocate for our community's priorities and keep you informed as this review process continues.

The revised proposal will go before the City's Design Review Panel for additional comments and City Planning staff expect to present a final report in Spring 2018 to the Toronto and East York Community Council.

City Planning staff have posted the associated documents with this proposal online at www.aic.to/GalleriaMall and you can continue to share your comments by contacting the City Planner, David Driedger, at David.Driedger@toronto.ca and by emailing me at councillor_bailao@toronto.ca.

The City of Toronto has established an independent local appeal body to provide quick and efficient hearings on appeals of land use decisions made by the Committee of Adjustment.

On May 3, the Toronto Local Appeal Body (TLAB) will replace the function of the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) pertaining to minor variance and consent applications. TLAB is an independent, quasi-judicial tribunal established by authority of the City of Toronto Act and provincial government legislation.

Most TLAB meetings and hearings will be held in the Toronto Public Library building located at 40 Orchardview Boulevard off Yonge Street just north of Eglinton Avenue. Hearings may be held in person, by telephone or video conferencing, or in written form.

Minor variance applications fall under Section 45 of the Planning Act. For example, a homeowner may request a minor variance to allow for the installation of a garden shed that does not meet the minimum setback requirements from a property boundary.

Consent applications fall under Section 53 of the Planning Act. Typically, they involve requests to divide a property into separate lots or to add adjacent land to an existing lot. For more information about the Toronto Local Appeal Body please visit http://www.toronto.ca/tlab

On November 30, 2016 I held a community meeting to discuss with you the possibilities and our community's priorities for the redevelopment of the vacant TTC lands at 640 Lansdowne Ave. This site was put forward as one of 15 sites across the city through Toronto's Open Door Program which seeks to partner with non-profit and private developers to construct affordable housing in our city.

The development of the lands a 640 Lansdowne is an important opportunity to address some of the needs in our community. At the meeting, many of you indicated the importance of including housing for seniors who want to continue living in the community where they have made their lives and have created friendships and support networks. In addition I heard from many of you that you would like to see community services on the site, artist spaces and greenspace for our community to utilize. 

Thank you to the many of you who took the time to participate in this important discussion. All of the comments and feedback you provided will help to inform the next steps for this important site. I look forward to continuing this conversation with you as we work towards a community-led vision and plan for the redevelopment of this site.

The Urban Land Institute (ULI Toronto) is launching a unique mid-career leadership program for professionals working in the broader land use/city building realm. Led by former Toronto Chief Planner, Paul Bedford, 30 professionals spanning from architecture, urban planning and design, civil engineering and public infrastructure, law, finance, marketing and development will explore the precinct of the city centered by the intersection of Bloor and Dundas streets.

The area of study will straddle Wards 14 & 18, north to Dupont & Annette, east to Landsdowne, west to Parkside & Keele, and south to Howard Park and Dundas St. W. While the outputs of this educational endeavor are theoretical, the exercise presents a real world opportunity for local communities to interact with city builders to consider the future of our local neighbourhoods - how to protect, enhance and shape the development and infrastructure pressures that will define their futures.

The owners of the Galleria Mall have recently submitted their formal development application to the City of Toronto. This is the start of a long process and there will be many opportunities to engage our community in the consultations and review of this application in the coming months.

The redevelopment of the Galleria Mall represents a generational city-building opportunity which must also deliver benefits to our community. The application has some good features including a larger and renewed community center, a bigger Wallace Emerson Park and complete streets. However, there are serious issues with the density, height, traffic and transit impacts that need attention, to name a few. I will continue to advocate for more affordable housing to be included on this site and for a development which fits with the scale and needs of our community.

The owners of the Galleria Mall will be hosting their 3rd Open House this Saturday October 15, 2016 from 11:30am to 3:30pm at the Galleria Mall (in the space located between the LCBO and bakery) and I encourage you to attend. It is important that the developers hear from you and that the priorities and concerns of our community are heard. You can click the photo to the left for a closer view of the meeting notice.

With the formal application now submitted, the City's formal and extensive application review process will begin in the near future, which will provide several further opportunities to provide input and feedback on this proposal. I will continue to keep you informed with updates about this important matter and encourage you to review previous updates regarding Galleria Mall, please click here.

Bloor Dufferin TDSB Lands Update

As many of you know, the Toronto Lands Corporation (TLC), the real estate arm of the Toronto District School Board (TDSB), is proceeding with the sale of the Bloor Dufferin TDSB Lands. The open bidding period in the Request for Proposals has now closed and the TLC is beginning its review of submitted proposals.

Throughout the sale process I have fought for the priorities set out by our community. Recently, a coalition of residents and community stakeholders have come together with a petition advocating for the priorities of our community in addition to the community building goals that I have been advocating for. These city-building priorities include the need for affordable housing; child care spaces; the preservation of green space; community events spaces; heritage preservation; reinvestment in the school uses on site, and a comprehensive community hub for service and arts organizations. The petition echoes what many residents and community members have said during consultations spanning the last three years, and I fully support it.

I have also written to Daryl Sage, CEO of the Toronto Lands Corporation and made clear that there is a big and important difference between the highest and best use of the site and the speculative value of the site. Any redevelopment of the Bloor Dufferin School Lands must take into consideration the character and heritage of our community. I am also in the process of reaching out to the Province to echo our community's concerns and the importance of having them contribute funding to our community hub.

I will continue to keep you updated on this important matter and will continue to advocate for the voice of our community as the sale process moves forward. You can review my previous updates regarding the Bloor Dufferin TDSB Lands by clicking here.

Last week you may have seen in the media that the 640 Lansdowne Ave site has been designated by the City of Toronto to be developed for affordable housing. You might be familiar with this from some of my previous updates included in my e-newsletters and my latest paper newsletter.

This site is one of fifteen pieces of surplus City owned land, worth just over $100 million dollars that has been identified for affordable housing development through the Open Door Program. This program is designed to ensure that our City builds more affordable housing faster and it utilizes City land and incentives to help accomplish this.

Each Open Door site is different and involves putting out a Request for Proposals (RFP) to private and not-for-profit sector developers and partners. The RFP could include criteria such as maximum rental/ownership costs per unit, the amount of units, the incorporation of not-for-profit community spaces, and other criteria which will vary depending on the site. Two successful RFPs on other sites have already been issued under this program.

Open Door sites are targeted towards members of our society including seniors, youth, working families, and many others. Rents through this program range on average from $934 to $1,166 for households with an average annual income of $37,000 to $47,000.

Our city is growing at a fast pace and our area is gentrifying, bringing with it challenges and opportunities. The rising costs of home ownership and rental accommodations are definitely one of those challenges. Rental vacancy rates are at an all-time low and prices are at an all-time high. We must do everything within our power to address the very basic need of affordable housing in our city.

What I hear more and more in our community is that people's parents can't afford to rent an apartment in the area or that their children can't afford to buy or rent anything. I've heard from seniors who want to live and stay in the community that they love and have lived in for so long. This program is about building housing for our seniors, ourselves and our children. This is about building an inclusive community where a family with an annual household income of $40,000 can continue to work, life and play our city.

Given the previous history and contamination of the site, any type of development would need to go through a rigorous environmental process regulated and overseen by the Province to ensure the health and safety of residents in the community and for the future occupants. In the case of this property, the 1/3 of the site closest to Lansdowne Ave is zoned mixed-use and any future development will involve community input. The remaining 2/3rds of the site is zoned as employment lands, which would provide a buffer with the train tracks and Nitta Gelatin facility to the located directly west. I would expect green space to be included in any future plans.

This community has come a long way in just 10 years. New families are moving in to the neighbourhood, our streets are much safer than before, new jobs are being created, and new rapid transit is being built right here in our community for the first time in decades. These are exciting times and we will need to learn and grow to capture what is taking place all around us and make our community even stronger.

I look forward to hosting a community meeting in November so that we can talk about some of these possibilities and to help feed the community's ideas into shaping a RFP. Once the meeting details have been confirmed, I will be sharing it with the community. In the meantime and as always, I look forward to continuing to keep you updated on this and other City of Toronto matters.

If you have any questions please free to contact my office at 416-392-7012 or via e-mail at councillor_bailão@toronto.ca.