Leslieville Wins OMB Ruling vs. Wal-Mart. Why Not Here?

OMB rejects big-box plans in Leslieville

Plans for a $220 million retail "power centre'' south of Eastern Ave. in Leslieville have been turned down by the Ontario Municipal Board, a decision that has city officials celebrating.

"This is a total victory for the city of Toronto," city lawyer Brendan O'Callaghan said yesterday.

"It's not every day that we're that happy with an OMB decision," exulted Paula Fletcher, the councillor for the area.

No kidding.

The property in question, in the heart of burgeoning Toronto' film district on what used to be the site of Toronto Film Studios, has been the subject of furious debate ever since Smart!Centres bought it and proposed a Big Box retail development. Local residents howled, local councillors took up the cause, and the OMB actually listened. Because any idiot could see that it was a bad idea.

In a 55-page ruling, OMB vice-chair James McKenzie sided with the city's experts, who in effect said the SmartCentres/Toronto Film Studio application didn't constitute good land use planning and would probably "destabilize" the designated employment district south of Eastern Ave.

Professional planning consultants and real estate advisers the city hired as experts had warned the OMB hearing that the application risked causing "retail contagion" in the area. Allowing the large centre would make it easier for subsequent retail applicants to get a foothold, argued real estate expert Jeffery Climans.

This would rapidly bid up the market value of the industrial and commercial properties in the district, leading to lease terminations and limiting the ability of existing businesses to renew their leases, Climans said. That would result in a general disruption of the area's business fabric.

Sound familiar? Contrast that with the attitude of Our Lord Mayor in this 2007 Toronto Star article on the demise of Milton's downtown core:

Mayor Gordon Krantz, a former small business owner, sees the downtown decline as a simple by-product of capitalism.

"Businesses locating on the outskirts could locate right downtown if they wanted – but they don't," he said. "That's called free enterprise.

"So businesses have to adapt. You have to continuously reinvent yourself. You can't survive on sentiment and emotions, that's for sure. It might sound hard-hearted, but that's the hard reality of it."

I will never, ever understand the affection people in this town seem to have for Gordon Krantz. I'm sure he's a nice guy and all, and maybe he did good things for Milton in years past. But whether it's greed, hubris or encroaching senility, his words and actions over the past ten years have been short-sighted, ill-informed, and ultimately destructive to this town and our way of life.

Time to retire, Gord.

How Walkable Is Your Neighbourhood?

This is very, very cool.

There's a website called Walk Score where you can actually find out your neighbourhood's "walkability rating", based on proximity to grocery stores, parks, shops, restaurants, libraries, etc.

It's not a perfect system, particularly for smaller Canadian places like Milton. For example, none of the three closest grocery stores to my house are listed, nor is the movie theatre, and they don't include things like banks, schools or the post office. Still, it's a neat way to get a quick idea of just how walkable any neighbourhood is.

For example, if you just enter "Milton, Ontario", it comes up as 70/100, or "Very Walkable". However, that's for a location corresponding to Town Hall, right in the heart of downtown. If I enter my address on Commercial St., it comes up as 62, or "Somewhat Walkable". I suspect it would do better if those grocery stores were in there.



My son's friend lives in one of the '70s developments in the NE quadrant of town - his house scores a 58, only slightly less than mine. However, a friend of mine in another older development in the SE quadrant only gets a 32, or "Car-Dependant", although that is definitely because there are things missing from the map.

As for the new developments, here`s a random sampling:

Dixon Drive: 30
Weller Cross: 13
Yates Blvd.: 10
Lancaster Blvd.: 10
Pettit Trail: 18
Ferguson Drive: 12

Just for fun, I also entered the Toronto addresses for my first home near Avenue Rd. & Lawrence (only 37, but still pretty), my second home near York Mills and Bayview (30 - ouch!), and my first apartment on Dovercourt (80!)

Of course, none of this takes into account things like street width and design, trees, sidewalks, bike accessibility, etc., but it's still a lot of fun. So you tell me - how walkable is your neighbourhood?

The 'Building Complete Communities' Post-Summit Report is Here!

I'm excited! Aren't you excited?

Esther Shaye (Garth Turner's right hand woman) attended this summit of urban planning experts and regional and municipal leaders back in June, and was so excited she couldn't wait to call and tell me about it when she got back. Today, one of the co-sponsors of the event (the Canadian Urban Institute) released its post-summit report, along with presentations by CUI President Glen Murray and others.

The focus of the summit was primarily on service and infrastructure funding challenges and solutions for municipalities (particularly in Halton and Peel), but at the same time summit presenters emphasized that designing that infrastructure around compact, complete, sustainable communities isn't just a good idea - it's a necessity.

Complete communities require a financially sustainable growth management strategy, but they also require that we design our communities in a new way. This presents new challenges to municipalities where suburban expansion into rural areas has been the norm. As such, these new communities can be more costly to develop and maintain to the standards GTAH residents currently enjoy.

Affording this type of development in the GTAH requires a commitment to fiscal reform and innovation as far-reaching as the commitment to developing in a completely new way to implement the vision for the Growth Plan.

To summarize the road-blocks that need to be addressed and overcome:

• Development Charges that are calibrated to “business as usual” growth and not the rapid, compact form of growth projected in the Growth Plan.
• Cash flow issues related to the partial/delayed payment of Development Charges.
• Long-term operating and maintenance costs of infrastructure not covered by Development Charges.
• A regressive property tax structure.
• Inadequate funding for growth-related provincial infrastructure and servicing (this includes not only the building of schools, community centres, and day care facilities but also their day to day operational funding).

Murray's presentation is particularly interesting as it cites several reasons why developing 'complete communities' based on New Urbanist principles is going to become even more vital in the future. These include:

- Climate change: both because of the necessity of reducing GHG emissions from transportation and housing, and because we will need to accomodate a new wave of 'climate refugees' very soon.

- Economic changes: "In the past, three out of every five jobs in Canada were in the manufacturing sector. Today, in Canada’s “New Economy” 80% of job growth is in knowledge-based industries, with the remaining 20% in service industries. This type of growth promotes the development of centres of innovation and is attracting a new and creative workforce to Canadian communities. This workforce has different needs and preferences than the one our communities were planned to accommodate. The creative workforce is attracted to urban centres where arts and culture are vibrant, recreational facilities are state-of-the-art, and lifestyle choices are wide-ranging. Communities that are able to attract and accommodate this new workforce often enjoy increased community assets."

- Demographic shift: because for a rapidly aging population, issues like walkability and easy access to health, social and cultural services are becoming increasingly essential. Also because our multicutural and multi-ethnic society has different needs and wants than those for whom the suburban model of development was designed.

Anyway, it's a great read for anyone interested in urban development issues, and does a great job of explaining exactly what kind of infrastructure funding challenges our municipalities face in a way that we lay people can understand.

The Farmers' Market as "Third Place"

One of my fellow bloggers over at "Canada's World" recently posted a fascinating piece on the concept of 'Third Places':

Ray Oldenburg coined the term “Third Places” in 1989 to distinguish between one’s home (first places) and work (second places). Third places are those public locales that make you feel safe, comfortable and happy. Where you are likely to bump into someone you know. These are the coffee shops, street corners and park benches where people of a certain stage of life tend to gravitate, therefore increasing the chances of chance encounters.

Unfortunately, as our cities suburbanized and our movements became encased in personal automobiles, the number of third places in our lives has diminished. The fear of the uncontrollable spaces outside our private property has taken away the apparent randomness of kids meeting other kids as they prowl the empty spaces the working class leave behind at night. Uncertain exchanges and tentative acts of bravado with the kids two-streets over have been replaced by play dates and organized entertainment. Surprising conversations at the corner pub are losing ground to packed coffee houses silently listening to headphones and typing on laptops. Walkabouts to the local shops are a quaint pastime, whereas one-stop-shopping big-box-store efficiency is an everyday reality.

I had this in mind on Saturday as I did my weekly rounds at the Farmers' Market. At one point I bought myself one of the Scholarship Cafe's famous peameal-on-a-bun sandwiches, and as I stood on the sidewalk eating it I watched for these sorts of 'chance encounters' between people.

I counted at least half a dozen within earshot just in the five minutes or so that I stood there. Just people smiling and waving and saying "Hi! Howareya?" and starting up conversations.

This is why I focused on people-watching with this week's video. As you play it, keep an eye out for the interactions between people, as well as the variety of ages and social groups represented.

Milton Farmers' Market: Week... oh, look, an MP!

A brief encounter with Garth Turner before he wandered off to do his requisite blah blah blah at the Milton Strawberry Festival at the Fairgrounds:



I still have a lot more questions about the Liberals' "Green Shift" plan, so I hope to have an opportunity to finish my "interview" in the weeks to come.

BTW, I can't help thinking that if we had a Conservative MP here in Halton (ok, other than Garth), that the second he saw some chick with a video camera sneaking up on him from around the corner he would have FLED.

Access. It's all about the access, man.

Milton Farmers' Market: Week 4 PLUS the Milton Street Festival

More with AnnK, Donna Danielli, street music, and puppies!!



(EDIT: better quality video this time)

Friends With Chickens, the Milton Street Festival... and a comment for Garth

I have a friend with chickens.

She doesn't have a farm, exactly. She just has chickens, and from those chickens, eggs. She sings with me in the Milton Choristers, and I found out last year that she was supplying one of the other sopranos.

This year, I got hooked up. Two bucks a dozen for the biggest, tastiest, most golden yolked eggs I have ever eaten. Behold and be amazed.



Ok, so the photo doesn't really do them justice. But trust me - store-bought eggs simply pale by comparison.

__________________________


After the Farmers' Market tomorrow is the Milton Street Festival. The event attracted over 15,000 people last year and may do even better this year. But more importantly, I will be wandering the streets all afternoon singing with Nero's Fiddle. You will recognize us by our dulcet tones, our Renaissance garb, and our sheen of sweat as we roast in bodices and full skirts.

C'mon down and say hi!

__________________________


I got a rather excited phone call this afternoon from a certain MP's office manager (who shall not be named to avoid further harassment). She had just attended an event entitled "BUILDING COMPLETE COMMUNITIES: A Summit to Explore New Ways to Afford Sustainable Growth", co-sponsored by the Canadian Urban Institute, and couldn't wait to tell me all about it as she knew it was right up my alley. It sounded fascinating. Garth Turner thought so too and mentioned it in his blog tonight.

Given that I'm well into reading 'The Transitions Handbook' right now, I gave the following response:

I wish I could have been at the meeting. It sounded really interesting. Unfortunately, nobody on Milton's Town Council or the Halton Regional Council appears to be paying attention.

Our municipal governments are our first line of defence against urban sprawl, and in Milton's case in particular they have failed us miserably. We knew there was going to big a big influx of people once the Big Pipe arrived, and all we asked of our elected representatives was this: don't let Milton turn into Brampton.

Instead, they succumbed to the siren song of development charges and property tax revenues, and rubber stamped every single agri-to-res re-zoning and big box retail proposal that crossed their desks.

They should all be run out of town on a rail.

But fear not, my friends. There is hope. There's a quiet but growing movement in England, Ireland and towns in several other countries called Transition Culture, aka 'Energy Descent Action Planning'. The idea is that the combined effects of climate change and peak oil have conspired to make it an absolute necessity for us to start adjusting to a life with much less power. And that, if we do it right, that can be a good thing.

It only took about a hundred years for cheap oil to become "essential" to our way of life. Using that same inginuity and drive, we can find our way back down again through initiatives like micro energy generation, diversification and re-localization of food sources and industry, and many more creative and pro-active ideas.

I'm excited! Are you excited?

Milton would make a perfect Transition Town. We still have enough remnants of what the town once was to re-localize and weather the coming storm. Hell, we still have a working blacksmith's shop!

Ok, so we might have to plow under some of those new developments. Something tells me they're going to have a hard time finding buyers pretty soon.

DBIA Follow-up

As promised, here is the response I received today from the Chairman of the Milton Downtown Business Improvement Area board:

Thank you Jennifer for your email. It has been a long standing agreement with the Chamber of Commerce to purchase these bump out spaces for merchants to come out into the market. Due to a tight budget for the 2008 year and very low business participation, the DBIA Board made the decision that the funds would be better spent elsewhere. It was a large expense that only two or three merchants took advantage of. Merchants are still able to put out tables against the storefront walls and windows if they wish. Or if you are friends with a store in the market area, people have been partnering up. You are right, we have a lot of completion [sic] to contend with now and we are trying new ways to attract people downtown. These decisions are made in the best interest of all the businesses downtown. Not just two or three.

I hope you continue to enjoy the market and the downtown shopping experience.

Sincerely,

Glenn English
DBIA Chairman

I have verified at least one part of this explanation: very few merchants were taking advantage of these spaces, possibly because so few were willing to get up at 6:30 in the morning to set up a table. However, I suspect that at least part of the problem may lie with the DBIA failing to actively promote and offer the spaces to merchants who aren't on that particular stretch of Main St.


I am far more suspicious of the claim of budgetary restrictions. I know several store owners on Main Street and one person who was actually on the DBIA board until a couple of years ago, and they all say the same thing: the DBIA is awash in cash. They collect well over $100,000 dollars a year and only spend a fraction of it, resulting in an enormous and growing surplus. It's possible that this situation has changed drastically since my friend was on the board, but somehow I doubt it.

I'm not sure how far to push all this given that I'm not a downtown business owner and I shouldn't really know what I know. However, what I would like to know is this: if the DBIA feels the money would be better spent elsewhere, what exactly are they planning to spend it on that will reverse the exodus of customers from the downtown core? And to whom is the board accountable for how it spends the money it collects from merchants? Are their accounts and practises open to public scrutiny or only to its members?

Is all this none of my business?

Milton Farmers' Market: Week 3

Mmmm... berries... and meat...



(UPDATED)

After speaking with Ann, I spoke to a couple of other people and now have a slightly better idea of what's going on with changes to the policy regarding spaces for stores at the Farmers' Market.

Essentially, we're talking about two different things. At one point in the market's history, store owners on Main Street were allowed to set up displays of their wares on the street to 'fill in' empty spots. That practice was discontinued a few years ago, and now stores are only allowed to put out tables on the sidewalk a maximum of four or five feet from their door.

The exception to this was the designation of a few specific spaces reserved for store owners to promote their business and sell their wares. As I mentioned, when my husband had a store on Mill Street (a block over), we were allowed to set up a table at the market for a few weeks out of the season. It did wonders for promoting a store that didn't otherwise get a lot of people walking by.

I wasn't sure originally who was responsible for these spaces, but after contacting the Market liaison for the Chamber I have found out that they were leased for a reduced fee by the DBIA from the Chamber for the use of DBIA members. This is apparently the program that is being discontinued. How or whether this applies to Ann painting out in front of Dorland-Haight I do not know, but I wouldn't want to be in the room when they send someone to tell Peter.

Given that the whole purpose of a Downtown Business Improvement Area is to promote downtown business, you would think it would be a no-brainer.

Here is the email I received from the Chamber. I will also email the DBIA and see if I can get an explanation from them.

Thank you for bringing this mis-information to our attention. The Milton Downtown BIA Board of Directors made the decision this year to not support the Milton Farmers' Market by purchasing the space at the market. Their financial contribution went to assist our advertising program to bring people into the Downtown to attend the market and learn about the downtown.

As you can see the decision to not allow the merchants space on the bumpout portions of the sidewalk was made by the BIA itself. Our policy has always been to partner with the BIA and we were surprised by their decision as well. Downtown businesses within the closed off portion of Main Street are able to set up tables within three feet of their storefront according to the town by-laws. However they cannot impede pedestrian movement and that is why it must be close to wall of the building.

The Farmers' Market brings farmers/producers/specialty vendors plus crafters and non-profits onto Main Street 22 weeks per year and attracts thousands of shoppers/visitors to our community. In order to inform thoses shoppers we must advertise the market on a continuous basis in a variety of ways.

If your husband has a business Downtown and he is upset by the decision of the BIA Board of Management perhaps he should speak to the Chair of the Board. To again clarify, the Chamber has never provided free spaces to the Downtown merchants - the BIA provided free spaces to them via a contribution to the Chamber.

Regards

Sandy Martin

A Chat with Peter Haight

There are few people in Milton more knowlegeable or passionate on the subject of Milton's sprawl problem than gallery owner and ex-council candidate Peter Haight. What he knows hasn't made him any happier, but it does make him fascinating to talk to. If a bit... discouraging.



For those of you who don't live here, Sargent Farms is a chicken processing plant located right beside Sixteen Mile Creek in the middle of downtown Milton. Next door to a pub. Every day, large trucks full of live chickens drive into town and truck loads of dead chickens drive out - all through the heart of our historic downtown.



By all accounts they are good corporate citizens and a fairly major employer, although most of their employees are from out of town. And I'm sure it was perfectly reasonable for them to be where they are when they first set up shop - back in the 1940s! Today, I'm sure even they would agree that it's ridiculous.

Trouble is, solving the problem would require two things that are in pitifully short supply with our town council:

1) money, and
2) the willingness to admit that there is a problem

A Chat With Artist Ann Kornuta

In addition to her work as a reporter for the Halton Compass, Ann Kornuta is pretty much the 'Official Artist of Milton'. She's a fixture at the Farmers' Market, where she can be found painting out in front of the Dorland-Haight Gallery - or in it, if it's raining. Ann is best known for her uniquely skewed vision of the streets and buildings of Milton, and many locals have commissioned 'portraits' of their own houses and stores from her (I want one too!).

We chatted about bicycle accessibility in town while she worked on her latest creation.



And in a hilarious example of blog-on-blog incest, Ann beat me to the punch and posted a video on her blog yesterday promoting THIS blog!