Let me take you to an average monthly board meeting of the Leaside Residents Association. What’s on the agenda?
Our business is divided under headings such as Planning, Local Planning Tribunal Appeals, Construction, and Traffic/Transportation. Each heading contains both continuing and new applications or developments, which we follow up on.
Bayview Avenue, Laird Drive, and Eglinton Avenue have all caught the attention and interest of developers for mid-rise and high-rise buildings, with major implications for adjacent residential streets, if not for all of Leaside. We also solicit comments from nearby residents regarding applications to the Committee of Adjustment for alterations to single family homes.
We are resident-directed, taking our lead from you, Leasiders. This is where you come in. Your support, as members of the LRA, empowers us to be effective deputants for Leaside at the City.
What are you telling us?
For instance, you make it very clear that you oppose permitting high rises to be built on streets intended only for low- or mid-rise. We hear from you that we don’t receive sufficient traffic enforcement. You’ve told us that speeding continues to be a problem on local streets, and that more speed cameras and photo radar need to be installed, and not just in school zones. You’ve expressed impatience with the slow speed (an oxymoron if ever there were one!) of action from City departments moving on citizen complaints regarding construction noise and debris.
You’ve noticed that – increasingly – decisions on important housing-related issues such as laneway housing, garden suites, and multiplexes are implemented on a “one size fits all” or “as of right” basis, regardless of suitability of individual locations. You don’t think that Leasiders deserve to be called “selfish fat cats” in the media for wanting to protect our community from bad planning and developers who routinely propose buildings larger than zoning allows.
You’ve also noticed that the province has asserted its authority over municipal planning, and passed Ministers Zoning Acts, which dispense with public consultation. You are worried that changing the character of Leaside is increasingly the focus of attention from developers.
When you communicate with and join the LRA, you help us to represent your municipal priorities and opinions at City Hall. You are our strength. And that is why the LRA encourages you to visit www.leasideresidents.ca, become an LRA member, or renew your membership, for just $30/year.
Our next LRA monthly board meeting is on Wed., Feb. 2nd, at 7:30 p.m., on Zoom. If you’d like to watch or participate, please let us know by that date and we’ll send you the Zoom access details.
