Mo West mayor unhappy with response to proposed Westminster Ave. rezoning

During the Mar. 26 town council meeting, Rene Johnskareng, a Ballantyne South homeowner who said he was speaking on behalf of a group of fellow residents, tabled a letter in which they said they were concerned about proposed zoning changes made by the Town Planning Commission, that would allow four-storey mixed use buildings on Westminster.

“We find it incredible that the TPC could not provide us with any specifics,” said the letter, referring to setbacks in the zone. Other issues of contention were parking and the question of disturbing potentially contaminated soil in John A. Simms Park at the corner of Westminster and Avon Road, which was once the site of a gas station.

“These concerns, which we are sure the TPC and Town Council must have anticipated to some extent, and the fact the mayor and the TPC are vague about specifics, leave us feeling that there is a lack of transparency on behalf of the Town and that the Town is proceeding in order to have a ‘carte blanche’ on zoning and development in (zone) MA1 with little regard to the consequences for surrounding neighbourhoods,” they said.

According to the letter, the residents are not completely opposed to development on Westminster, but “it has to be done in a manner that is consistent with the character of the surrounding neighbourhoods and without excessively encroaching on people’s privacy, safety and quality of life … We are thus showing willingness to compromise and expect the mayor and TPC to show similar good faith.”

Stuart said he was especially disappointed with a leaflet the group had circulated which contained a statement claiming homes could be demolished. “There is no plan to demolish, there is no provision for expropriation,” Stuart said. “No one is losing any rights that they have whatsoever in their homes … and I find it really unfortunate that someone would put this together and circulate it without even bothering to ask.”

As to consulting the residents, he said, “A great deal of consultation was done, but we didn’t go to individual houses and say would you mind if we did this on your street. And the reason we didn’t do that was for the very same reason that we told everybody that we don’t have any developer involved. We haven’t consulted with any builders. We are not in the business of selling out anybody to anything for any purpose.”

However, Stuart didn’t deny there has been secrecy in the planning procedures, but justified its use. “If we had proposed to go and make public what we were considering to do, the first thing that would happen is that people and developers would take advantage of the situation,” he said. “So secrecy in this sort of thing is actually quite important.”

Regarding a claim made in the letter that the residents are being denied their “democratic right to referendum,” Stuart replied, “I’m afraid there is no democratic right to a referendum on this. The law doesn’t provide for it and the law certainly does not provide for individuals in certain sectors to veto different parts of the plan. If there was to be a referendum, it would be the whole town voting on it. But there’s not going to be that anyway.”