York Centre Councillor James Pasternak is asking Toronto councillors to declare the Antibes Community Centre a "priority centre."
The request will be decided by councillors at the March 8 council meeting.If approved, fees would be waived for almost all city programs at the centre, located at 140 Antibes Dr., northwest of Finch Avenue and Bathurst Street.During last year's municipal election campaign, Pasternak promised the Westminster community he would do what he could to make programs at the centre affordable for all."Although Bathurst-Finch is one of the 13 priority neighbourhoods in Toronto, the Antibes Community Centre is not a priority centre," he said."This means that most programs have fees and these fees continue to go up. In addition, formerly free programs have had fees introduced in recent months and years affecting, in particular, programs for children and youth and lowering participating rates."The average family income in the neighbourhood is $65,772 a year, about two-thirds the $96,602 average for Toronto, Pasternak said. These figures are from the 2006 census. His motion to have the facility declared a priority centre comes in the wake of ongoing controversy over a proposed development in the neighbourhood.Just down the street from the centre, at 55 Antibes, developer Menkes hopes to build 197 townhouses on vacant land. The six-acre land is attached to Antibes Park to the east and residents have always thought of the property 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. When other government institutions weren't interested in buying the site, the board sold the land to Menkes. More than 1,000 residents have signed a petition opposing the development. They have a number of concerns including loss of green space, density, traffic congestion and the building of a new road to access the development.On the other hand, Menkes vice-president Mark Karam has argued other developers who wanted to buy the property had plans for several condo towers on the site. Pasternak has called the current townhouse proposal unacceptable, but warned Menkes could appeal the development to the Ontario Municipal Board, which could rule in favour of the townhouses without any community enhancements.As far as the community centre is concerned, he said a number of improvements are coming to the facility such as a weight room, an all-purpose area and a DJ sound system."It is important that everyone is given the opportunity to participate in some great free city programs," Pasternak added."The area is facing some considerable challenges and it is my responsibility to make sure that program fees are waived."