2-4 Neville Park Blvd. OMB Decision Important Win for the Beach
01/24/2010
This image dramatically demonstrates how important the win at the OMB against the Neville condo is for the community and the Beach waterfront. Many mature majestic trees and a portion of the priceless architectural and natural heritage of the Beach would have been lost. (Bottom image currently exists. Top image of proposed image.)I greet the recent Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) decision to dismiss the appeal of a developer to build a large and dense condominium complex at the bottom of Neville Park Boulevard on our Beach lakefront with considerable relief and satisfaction.
If this development had received approval at the OMB, it would have set a very negative precedent for the future of our lakefront and other neighbourhoods in the Beach that have restrictive low density, single family detached housing residential zoning. The R1residential zoning for the Neville Park neighbourhood is the most restrictive residential city zoning.
From the start, when this proposal came to my attention more than two years ago, I knew it must be defeated and began to work to ensure that the City Planning Department and City Council support my position and that of the Neville Park and Monroe Park residents.
There was great cohesion in the immediate neighbour in opposition to the proposal. Working in conjunction with City Legal and Planning expertise obtained through my motions won at City Council, the Beach Lakefront Neighbourhood Association (BLNA) and its own legal representation played an important role in this victory. I want to thank this great group of residents for their commitment to our Beach community and to the many other Beach residents, not in the immediate neighbourhood, for their support and well wishes in this endeavour.
It is always great when we have victories that vindicate our vision of how our community should develop. This victory will help us fend off the kind of overdevelopment that the failed 2-4 Neville Park development proposal represents. However, each new development proposal will be judged on its own. The pressure to redevelop residential properties will continue in the Beach because we live in a very desirable area and property values are high. I will continue to work closely with residents to ensure that this pressure does not threaten the very essence of what makes this community a great place.
Sandra Bussin,
City Councillor
