YMVA Newsletter October 2003 YMVA Volume 63, Issue 3 Newsletter ___________________________ President’s Message By: Tim Bates Tel. (416) 487-8359 e-mail: [email protected] The day after Labour Day to many is the start of a new year. The summer is over, Inside this Issue: children are back to school and everyone gets back to their day jobs. YMVA is no President’s Message exception. Your Board met September 15, 2003, and we expect a busy Fall. Development Committee Update Many Valley residents however did not have Environment Committee Update the summer off from their duties undertaken on your behalf. I am referring to the Traffic Committee Update Development Committee, chaired by Pam Spence. She and her 45 York Mills team, consisting of Rupert Bramall, Patrick Daly, NAG Activities Fall/Winter Wayne Long, Morag McKenzie and Allan Strathdee, met on countless occasions, and Playground Committee Update ably directed the efforts of YMVA to deal with the redevelopment of the School Board Other Items of Interest site. These efforts included attending the Ontario Jobs Directory Municipal Board hearing to give evidence in Dessert & Wine Sign-Up Sheet support of the agreement negotiated by YMVA with the developer, providing for Fall Social Information traffic access off York Mills, rather than Campbell Crescent, and other improvements Committee of Adjustment Guidelines to the proposal. Community Alert Program The Board at its recent meeting expressed its thanks to all who contributed so much. This Fall, the Board will attempt to arrange an all candidates meeting in the Valley, where Editor: Daphne Strathdee residents can meet and question the candidates running to replace Joanne Flint, Tel.544-0943 Email:[email protected] who has accepted an appointment to the OMB. Stay tuned for details. On behalf of YMVA, I wrote to Joanne Flint, September 11, 2003 expressing our Continued on the next page…. 1 YMVA Newsletter collective thanks for her long and exempla ry service as our Councillor. Joanne will be Jolly Miller missed. As you must have Our goal this year is to communicate more noticed, great changes are frequently and more effectively with YMVA finally happening at the residents. To that end, the Directory was old Jolly Miller. The delivered in a timely manner, and you leasee, Pegasus Group, should look for announcements concerning along with their advisors the Fall Social on November 8, 2003 and a and consultants, reached further consultation meeting on the Storm an agreement with the Water Management project, to be held early City over the summer on the restoration of December and the Annual General Meeting, the Miller. It will have a two level dining Saturday, December 6, 2003. facility, exterior rear balcony and an outdoor patio on the south side shielded by a retaining wall and landscaped screening. DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE UPDATE The Development Committee has focused By: Pamela Spence on reducing intrusive noise and light and has Chair, Development Committee reviewed several access possibilities. The Tel. (416) 322-0037 E-mail: [email protected] end result will be a long awaited, much improved community asset with safeguards to prevent traffic and noise from impacting The mission of the Development Committee our neighbourhood. has been to preserve the special character of this area and to ensure that changes do not Notice should be posted very shortly, either have a negative impact on the on-site and/or in the newspaper, for a public neighbourhood and community feel. All hearing required prior to issuing a liquor members should be thanked for volunteering license. Final plans can be viewed at that their time to work towards these goals. The time and any comments expressed. We look issues being referred to the Development forward to a successful project and an Committee are not numerous but are opening hopefully before the end of 2003. important, time-consuming and represent great change to Hoggs Hollow. The first big change is that after many, many years of service to our neighbourhood, Joanne Flint has retired as our area councillor. She has been offered a position 45 York Mills on the Ontario Municipal Board and because of this her retirement took effect The townhouse development proposed on immediately. Therefore the upcoming the site of the former York Mills Public municipal election has an important School was heard at the Ontario Municipal implication for our neighbourhood. Please Board (OMB) during the first two weeks of take advantage of any opportunity to learn September. The developer was seeking about the candidates running in our Ward approval for 81 townhouses on the site in and exercise your right to vote in the accordance with plans the YMVA had upcoming municipal election. We wish actively reviewed, negotiated, modified and Joanne well and thank her and her staff for ultimately agreed. their service and attention to our neighbourhood. Continued on the next page…. 2 YMVA Newsletter We evaluated the proposal based on 4 currently in use, has had little or no history criteria: massing and density, urban design of problems and will generate slightly less features, setbacks and traffic access and traffic in the new proposal. We stand by the egress. The developer’s proposal presented conclusion that the project, as modified, will to the OMB satisfied many of these result in the least intrusive impact on Hoggs measures. It had access and egress off York Hollow overall. Mills with only curbside garbage/recycle pickup on Campbell Cres.; the front yard Due to the other ratepayer opposition, we setback similar for existing homes on had to unexpectedly present our position Campbell Cres. was applied to the clearly at the OMB through our legal firm. townhouse block on Campbell; the new At the hearing, parties asked for their wish townhouse closest to the existing homes had list of changes. It is now up to the reduced and recessed mass and height; and a adjudicator to decide on the planning, design grand staircase instead of a wall was the and traffic parameters of this project. The solution to transition the 18 foot grade end result is in his hands. The decision may change. take some time (6 weeks or more) but we will inform you once his report becomes The developer did not accept all of the available. modifications we pressed for and the City staff were not willing to enforce their This has been an incredibly intense and measures such as ravine by-law setbacks, time-consuming project for the several etc. The end product was, to us, a members involved: Rupert Bramall, Patrick reasonable improvement as it addressed the Daly, Morag Fitzgerald, Wayne Long and major concerns of design and traffic impact Allan Strathdee. All have acted on Campbell. The residents of Campbell professionally, wisely and in the best Cres. and Old Yonge were apprised of the interests of the residents in Hoggs Hollow. plan changes and while in initial agreement We all owe them a great deal of thanks for with the YMVA. At the time of the OMB their time and dedication. hearing some of them decided to focus more on opposing the size of the development and its massing versus the location of the vehicle Committee of Adjustment entrance or the impact of traffic on valley streets There were 5 Committee of Adjustment applications during the summer. All were However, our solutions caused variances for new home construction or dissatisfaction for abutting associations, modifications to existing homes. Three had namely, York Mills Mansions, Yonge Ridge been reviewed with surrounding neighbours Ratepayers and St. Andrews Ratepayers, prior to the hearing date to inform and who were opposed to the access being address, if any, neighbours’ concerns. The located on York Mills Road. They only other two were deferred at committee in made their concerns known in mid-June and order to inform and address neighbours’ we attempted to discuss matters with them concerns causing delays and extra expense through the summer. to the applicant. We believe their issues have more to do with As your neighbourhood Development the valley slope, existing conditions and the Guidelines state, it is your best interest to 401 problems and construction this area has have your designer or yourself discuss your experienced this summer rather than with proposal with your neighbours well in the impact this project will have. advance of submitting your plans for Furthermore, the proposed York Mills variance approval. We encourage you to do access and egress is in the general location so. It may save you time, headaches and Continued on the next page…. 3 YMVA Newsletter money in the long run. (A copy of the Dress for the weather. Any high school Guidelines is attached in this issue.) student involved will get credit for volunteer hours. Meet at the tennis courts south of the Jolly Miller. Any interested planters please Committee contact Pinky Franklin at 416-488-3226 or Members Sheila Sherwood at 416-482-1731. We have had a very Plant Your Yard With Trees interesting and active past year on our The Valley’s trees make a wonderful canapé small project list. The members have of protection, coolness in the summer and worked hard on your behalf to safeguard the beauty any time of year. Remember that we features that we all value namely, the trees, live in one of only two livable ravines in the open space, valley features and pride of City of Toronto. Please consider ordering community. However, it has been a taxing trees from the City Telephone LEAF 416- period for some members and others have 392-5323 for more information. gone on to enjoy their retirement. Therefore, I believe there will be a change Leaf Blowers of members in the near future.