Volume 17 | Issue 1
Winter 2019|20

Winter is here!
That was fast.

Well it is time for our Fall/Winter North Rosedale Residents Newsletter for 2019/20
and your NRRA volunteer board members have been working to serve our community
with the goal of gradually and continually improving our delightful neighbourhood,
coined “A Village in the City”. We continue our work on priority heritage files, Glen
Road reconstruction issues, Rosedale Park improvements, and neighbourhood safety
through our Street Captain program, whilst working to keep our members abreast of
new developments at City Hall such as the proposed City-wide blanket permit parking
earlier this year. The NRRA has a strong and active working relationship with our
Councillor Mike Layton and his staff and meet regularly with them and surrounding
local residents’ associations in Ward 11 to discuss issues affecting our communities. We
also actively collaborate with neighbouring residents’ associations on such initiatives as
Heritage, Ravines, and the most recent Federal Candidates Debate in October.
Furthermore, the NRRA is active in broader reaching umbrella organizations such as
the Federation of North Toronto Residents’ Associations, Community of Resident and
Ratepayer Associations and the Community Police Liaison Committee. Our community
engagement committee is planning a number of events for the end of 2019 and into
2020, such as a December Skating Party, which provide a wonderful opportunity to
meet your neighbours, old and new. We welcome your feedback and encourage you to
share your ideas with us at info1@northrosedale.ca.

 

Finally, we are working to make it easier to sign up to be a member and to re-new your
membership. We are very grateful to all those who join and renew annually. If you have not
joined or renewed this year we’ve just made it is as easy as an Interac email transfer to
payments@northrosedale.ca or PayPal of $50 per year or $140 for 3 years. Cheques are also
accepted – Payable to North Rosedale Residents’ Association and pop it into the mail
addressed to Kathy Falconi, NRRA Treasurer, 60 Douglas Drive, Toronto, Ont. M4W 2B3.
We look forward to seeing you enjoy our Village in the City.
Jean Anderson & Karen Powell
Co-Presidents, North Rosedale Residents’ Association

 

 

Volume 15 | Issue 1

The Village in the City Issue

Heritage Designation Controversy

 

In the months ahead, City staff will need to decide whether to approve or block a luxury low-rise condo development on Dale Avenue in South Rosedale. The NRRA opposes this
development as an adverse precedent, potentially opening the door to future tear-down condo development in Rosedale. A public meeting held on November 6 attracted around 150 attendees, and the vast majority also expressed their disapproval to the Dale development.

As Heritage Districts, both South Rosedale and North Rosedale are protected. Heritage plans allow for demolition of lower grade houses, but the intent was not to pull down whole sections of streets as proposed by the Dale development. Rosedale’s heritage character is defined by its unique quality single family homes nestled in a garden landscape. It is not defined by a specific style of home, because there are many excellent examples of different styles from Toronto’s history.

The heritage plans were put in place to protect an important pocket of residential dwellings from overdevelopment and to stop the construction of apartment buildings in the area.

Despite protestations to the contrary, this will create a precedent. There are several locations in Rosedale where the opportunity to tear down homes on larger lots to increase development exist.

Furthermore, the development will have an adverse impact on the Rosedale Valley ravine, which if allowed would degrade the integrity of Toronto’s ravine protection rules that are more important today than ever. The NRRA has made its case to both the South Rosedale Residents Association, Councillor Wong-Tam and City planning staff.

 

 

 

Volume 16 | Issue 1
Spring 2019

 

Change is in the Air
Celebrating the season of change in our neighbourhood

 

Finally!

Spring is here and we can enjoy our beautiful neighbourhood, our “Village in the City” again in its full splendour. As you read this, the magnolia trees should already be in bloom, kids are playing soccer and dogs have shed their winter coats (and boots) and are getting their owners outdoors for longer walks. A perfect segue to thanking all the North Rosedale residents who participated in the 2019 Annual Community Clean Up Day on April 27th. We gathered at Chorley and Rosedale Parks and spread from there to other parks in the neighbourhood. We had a great turnout of volunteers who did a fantastic job of getting our parks ready for the summer. Everyone in the neighbourhood enjoys having great parks, but most people do not realize City Parks & Rec are not able to go the extra mile to get the parks cleaned up for the summer. It’s up to us. If you didn’t make it this year, please consider coming for the 2020 Clean Up Day for a couple of hours. Come alone, bring a friend or bring your family out for the fun!

We will be looking for you in 2020.

Sometimes change is good, sometimes not. Our ravines are changing for the worse. As you have read in previous issues, there is a growing awareness of the rapid deterioration of Toronto’s ravines.

The good news is there is momentum building to get something done citywide and within each of our communities. Recently, Councilor Mike Colle of Ward 8 put forward a motion to address feasibility of establishing a Conservancy to create a long-term sustainable plan to enable private funding to accelerate and expand work on GTA ravines. Council adopted the motion 25-1 for City staff to report back on possible advantages of putting this in action.

Our Councilor, Mike Layton, is also passionate about the ravines. He has toured some of the worst areas and his staff have been active in advocating for more City action on our ravine areas. He has been instrumental in reviving the Vale of Avoca Community working group which seeks to provide community input to the Toronto Water project that will address the serious deterioration (virtual collapse) of the infrastructure and lands abutting the water course and restoring a more natural habitat. We are pushing for more community input earlier in the planning of these projects and more coordination between various City departments to be able to leverage the infrastructure work to remediate the surrounding environment. This type of approach would help in avoiding the conflict experienced with the recent changes to Chorley Park.

In our community, the Residents Associations near us have teamed up as the Mid Town Ravine Group (the “MTG”) to identify demonstration projects that could be executed to supplement City work. So far 4 projects are under consideration near Yellow and Mud creek. The objective is to create small community-led and funded projects that will remediate and maintain targeted areas in our ravines. We have considered areas that are environmentally significant, realistic for a community-based organization and sustainable over the long term. This is a big change for the City in how they have operated in the last few years and we are looking to establish a successful model or pilot that can be expanded to a larger Conservancy model. We are currently exploring how best to pilot as a charitable organization that can issue tax receipts for funds raised.

 

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

The Fall 2016 newsletter focused on road safety in North Rosedale, and it has been an effective Public Relations tool producing
immediate results down at City Hall . . . speed limits have been reduced to 30 km/h and stop signs are to be installed along Glen
Road. In this issue, we highlight important residential property topics . . . prices going sky high (or not?), builders challenging
planning and heritage rules, and replacement trees for your garden.
Please mark your calendar for the evening of Thursday June 1st – the NRRA’s annual general meeting will be held at 7pm at
Rosedale United Church – where we will be hosting an open forum on any matters you would like to discuss. And email us with your
feedback at info1@northrosedale.ca

Sincerely,
Lewis Reford, President