LET'S STOP ROB FORD FROM
FU%$**%* UP OUR PORT LANDS
FU%$**%* UP OUR PORT LANDS
I received the below email from Paula Fletcher (my Ward30 Councillor) this afternoon and was saddened at the state of the land regarding Toronto's Portlands. Please sign the CodeBlue petition below:
September 20, 2011
Dear Friends
We have only one waterfront. It will only be done once. It must be done right. This was the sentiment of the 200 people jammed into the Ralph Thornton Centre last Sunday.
After years of smooth sailing, with a tri-partite public agency solidly at the helm, the redevelopment of Toronto’s waterfront has entered very stormy seas on the Port Lands.
As local Councillor for the Port Lands, my role is to ensure that the waterfront is planned in an open, comprehensive and public manner and that the process be held to the highest standards.
Sadly, out of the blue, right after Labour Day, Toronto’s Executive Committee voted to diminish the role of Waterfront Toronto and allow the Toronto Port Lands Company, a City owned property management company, to take over development of the entire Port Lands. In business terms this would be characterized as a hostile takeover. It certainly does not meet the test of transparency or accountability which Torontonians deservedly expect.
Allegedly this is being done because it is taking too long to develop the Port Lands. In reality, a multi-year effort has produced a new Official Plan for the Lower Don Lands and zoning for the Keating Channel Precinct is ready to go.
Many are concerned that this move is nothing more than an old fashioned land grab. Some Councillors have said that there are hundreds of millions of dollars in land in the Port Lands that could be sold to ease Toronto's budget pressures.
A fire sale would be dreadful. It would jeopardize the prospect of a seamless and spectacular waterfront in Toronto; something citizens have dreamed of for years and one which is now becoming a reality with projects in Queens Quay, West Donlands and East Bayfront.
The development of the Port Lands must benefit from the same rigorous process, high standards, expertise, beautiful design and public input that are evident on the rest of the waterfront.
I will not support removing Waterfront Toronto as the lead agency for Port Lands planning and development.
The redevelopment process has already started. Just over a year ago, after six years of required public discussion and expensive technical studies, City Council approved an Environmental Assessment (EA) for the award winning plan for the Lower Don Lands.
It naturalizes the mouth of the Don and ensures flood protection for the eastern waterfront and Riverdale. It is the probably most complicated EA the City has undertaken.
This plan was chosen because it provides flood protection at the lowest cost of all options considered in the EA. It will bring 19,000 residents and 13,000 workers into the Lower Don Lands and unlock billions of dollars of value in the rest of the Port Lands in an orderly and transparent way that all Torontonians can take pride in.
Literally thousands of Torontonians have been a part of shaping the future of Toronto's magnificent waterfront. Things are well underway on the Port Lands. Let’s not let them blow off course.
Code BlueTO is a community group actively trying to preserve the WaterfronToronto plan. You can get involved through CODE BLUE TORONTO PETITION
Working for you,
Paula Fletcher
Dear Friends
We have only one waterfront. It will only be done once. It must be done right. This was the sentiment of the 200 people jammed into the Ralph Thornton Centre last Sunday.
After years of smooth sailing, with a tri-partite public agency solidly at the helm, the redevelopment of Toronto’s waterfront has entered very stormy seas on the Port Lands.
As local Councillor for the Port Lands, my role is to ensure that the waterfront is planned in an open, comprehensive and public manner and that the process be held to the highest standards.
Sadly, out of the blue, right after Labour Day, Toronto’s Executive Committee voted to diminish the role of Waterfront Toronto and allow the Toronto Port Lands Company, a City owned property management company, to take over development of the entire Port Lands. In business terms this would be characterized as a hostile takeover. It certainly does not meet the test of transparency or accountability which Torontonians deservedly expect.
Allegedly this is being done because it is taking too long to develop the Port Lands. In reality, a multi-year effort has produced a new Official Plan for the Lower Don Lands and zoning for the Keating Channel Precinct is ready to go.
Many are concerned that this move is nothing more than an old fashioned land grab. Some Councillors have said that there are hundreds of millions of dollars in land in the Port Lands that could be sold to ease Toronto's budget pressures.
A fire sale would be dreadful. It would jeopardize the prospect of a seamless and spectacular waterfront in Toronto; something citizens have dreamed of for years and one which is now becoming a reality with projects in Queens Quay, West Donlands and East Bayfront.
The development of the Port Lands must benefit from the same rigorous process, high standards, expertise, beautiful design and public input that are evident on the rest of the waterfront.
I will not support removing Waterfront Toronto as the lead agency for Port Lands planning and development.
The redevelopment process has already started. Just over a year ago, after six years of required public discussion and expensive technical studies, City Council approved an Environmental Assessment (EA) for the award winning plan for the Lower Don Lands.
It naturalizes the mouth of the Don and ensures flood protection for the eastern waterfront and Riverdale. It is the probably most complicated EA the City has undertaken.
This plan was chosen because it provides flood protection at the lowest cost of all options considered in the EA. It will bring 19,000 residents and 13,000 workers into the Lower Don Lands and unlock billions of dollars of value in the rest of the Port Lands in an orderly and transparent way that all Torontonians can take pride in.
Literally thousands of Torontonians have been a part of shaping the future of Toronto's magnificent waterfront. Things are well underway on the Port Lands. Let’s not let them blow off course.
Code BlueTO is a community group actively trying to preserve the WaterfronToronto plan. You can get involved through CODE BLUE TORONTO PETITION
Working for you,
Paula Fletcher
No comments:
Post a Comment