About 300 residents turned out for York Centre Councillor James Pasternak's meet-and-greet gathering at the Antibes Community Centre Tuesday night, where the hottest topic focused on a proposed controversial townhouse development in the Westminster community.
"It was the No. 1 issue," said Pasternak, adding residents also voiced other concerns such as transportation and tax woes."The sentiment is the density is too high and the traffic in the area entering on to Bathurst is already difficult and this development will just exacerbate it, which is a fair assessment."Residents will get another chance to share their concerns about the development at 55 Antibes Dr. when the city holds a formal public meeting, expected in March. Councillors will vote on the plan at a future meeting.Resident Les Resnick said more than 1,000 neighbours have signed a petition opposing the proposed development, which would see 197 townhouses built on vacant land on the south side of Antibes Drive northwest of Finch Avenue and Bathurst Street. "The concerns are (there are already) too many people in the area and, of course, too much congestion," Resnick said."We're very perturbed. It's just a lot of extra people and extra traffic."At the heart of the matter is the fact the six-acre vacant land is attached to Antibes Park to the east and residents have always thought of it as parkland.However, in reality, the greenspace had belonged to the Toronto District School Board, which had the site designated for a public elementary school since 1969.A couple of years ago, the board decided a school wasn't needed on the property. Trustees voted to declare the land surplus for sale at an in camera meeting in June 2009. Neither the city nor other governments or school boards subsequently expressed an interest in acquiring the property and it was therefore sold on the private market through the board's Toronto Lands Corporation to developer Menkes, which wants to build the townhouses on the site.While residents are upset about the proposed density, Menkes vice-president Mark Karam argued every other developer who bid for the land wanted to build several condo towers on the site. That would have created something like 800 new households on the property compared to the fraction of townhouses Menkes wants, he said."It could easily accommodate four or even five buildings," he said, adding the traffic generated by the townhouses is far less than if condo towers were built on the site."We're probably the only one (developer) that went in, we didn't see this as an apartment situation, we saw this as a medium density site."The townhouses would provide homes in the city for people who want a backyard for their families, said Karam, adding the development would provide significant parking."We view it as a plus, what we're trying to bring in to tie the community together and give people something they want to live in," he said."I'm a little surprised by the reaction (in the community)."Before the board's closed door meeting to sell the land, Pasternak, who was a school trustee at the time, said 5,000 households in the area were invited to a meeting to discuss the sale. About 35 people attended the meeting, he said.Pasternak said he introduced a motion to block the sale but it was approved anyway.He said there are a number of concerns with the proposed townhouses, such as the density and management of traffic in the congested area, including building a new road to access the development."The plan as it is before us is unacceptable and we have to work on that," Pasternak said. "I represent the community. I want to hear what they have to say (at the city's public meeting in March)."At the same time, Pasternak warned Menkes could appeal the development to the Ontario Municipal Board, which could rule in favour of the townhouses without any community enhancements.Pasternak also discounted a concern in the community that the adjacent Antibes Park will be developed."People have erroneously thought the whole property with the park will be developed. The eastern side is sill Antibes Park," he said. "Not one blade of grass (in Antibes Park) is to be touched."Konstantin Toubis, who ran against Pasternak and lost in last October's municipal election, wants the city to buy the land from Menkes and maintain it for public use."That is, in my opinion, that is the only way to change this unfair transaction for the neighbourhood," he said.