At the same time a group that included nuns from the Women's Religious Project, officials from Habitat for Humanity and developer Daniels Corporation were taking part in a blessing ceremony for an affordable housing development site on Manse Road, Scarborough Community Council voted unanimously to reject another affordable housing project on Birchmount Road known as Birchmount Woods.
Time will tell if the decision on the Birchmount plan ends similarly to the Manse Road project, which was also originally rejected by local councillors.
It was also telling that no Scarborough councillors attended the blessing ceremony last week. Instead, Ward 21 (St. Paul's) Councillor Joe Mihevc, a member of the city's affordable housing committee, was on hand to praise the perseverance of the plan's supporters.
"I know you have struggled with NIMBYism (Not in My Back Yard) in developing this project," Mihevc said of the strong community opposition to the project and its location in an area of land which many local residents considered to be environmentally significant. They said they were not against affordable housing, it was just that particular site was the wrong place for it.
Toronto Council's approval of the project, the cutting of trees in the area and the plans for 60 housing units, 54 of which will be affordable, left bad feelings in the neighbourhood and a sense that the wishes of Scarborough residents and councillors were steam-rolled by downtown politicians.
Meanwhile, the decision on a plan for 153 affordable housing units in a 10-storey apartment in the parking lot of an existing apartment building at 544 Birchmount Rd. in the Danforth Road and Birchmount area, also creates a situation worth watching closely.
The local councillor, Ward 35's (Scarborough Southwest) Adrian Heaps, is also a member of the city's affordable housing committee though he voted against this plan.
He and the rest of Scarborough Community Council opposed the Birchmount Woods plan for what was basically the same reason as in the Manse Road area - it's the wrong location.
Heaps told The Mirror that building an apartment building in the parking lot of another one would not provide the residents with a very good quality of life given the distances they will be from services such as the local community centre.
As in the case of Manse Road, it's a reasonable observation and should not be viewed as being against affordable housing or as NIMBYism. It would seem extremely difficult to paint a member of the city's affordable housing committee as being against affordable housing.
However, we shall see if the desire to build affordable housing practically anywhere it is proposed will continue in the City of Toronto, or if there is a willingness to listen to the good advice being provided by local residents and councillors.