Plans to build a $345 million light rail vehicle storage and repair facility at Ashbridges Bay are on track now that Toronto Council has approved a sweeping deal with the Toronto Port Authority.
Toronto Council voted to accept the deal the first week of December.
Effectively, the agreement between the city and the authority settles old scores regarding back property taxes and other fees, and in so doing allows the city to purchase lands at the Ashbridges Bay Sewage Treatment Plant in order to build the new Light Rail Vehicles (LRV) facility.
The site is one of two the Toronto Transit Commission had considered for the facility to store and service Toronto's fleet of light rail vehicles on order to replace the aging streetcar fleet.
The other site, on Eastern Avenue west of Leslie Street, was unpopular with both the community in Leslieville and the film industry.
The TTC has not yet officially decided on one or the other, but the Ashbridges Bay site seems to have the blessings of nearly everyone.
According to Beaches-East York Councillor Sandra Bussin, community meetings about the proposed site have shown if not enthusiastic consensus, then at least acceptance of the site.
"I gave them dire warnings of what was to come and surprisingly objections didn't materialize," Bussin joked.
But she said she's hoping to extract significant community benefits to go along with the facility, which will be serviced by a new set of tracks running down Leslie Street from Queen Street East.
"I've made my case and will again at the next TTC meeting, that since this is an expanse of greenspace that's enjoyed by the community as a gateway to the eastern beaches, there should be a community benefit," she said. "What I'm asking for is to complete the second phase of the skateboard park (at Coxwell Avenue and Lake Shore Boulevard)."
She said the building itself will be lowrise construction and the southeast corner of Leslie and Lake Shore should see a makeover.
"I think we will get a benefit out of it and a whole new park will go in there," she said.
The deal with the Toronto Port Authority cancels out claims the federal agency and the city have made against one another since 2003.
The port authority claims the city owes $11.7 million to the authority for the transfer of properties in 2003. The city claims the port authority owes payment in lieu of taxes to the tune of $6.42 million.
The settlement agreement sees both debts erased and the city paying the difference - about $5.66 million.