Metrolinx slammed for ‘appalling’ bus station beside Mississauga homes
Mississauga councillors ripped Metrolinx apart Wednesday for building a new bus station way too close to homes.

thestar.com
March 9, 2016
By San Grewal

Mississauga councillors and Mayor Bonnie Crombie lashed out at provincial transit agency Metrolinx, calling its behaviour “appalling” and describing it as a “rogue” outfit after it recently constructed a bus station alongside residential properties.

“They operate with their own set of rules,” Crombie said during Wednesday’s council meeting, after pictures were shown illustrating how close the province’s new transit station near Highway 403 and Erin Mills Parkway is to homes.

One backyard now has a grey washroom that looms over its fence, with the ventilation exhaust aimed toward the swimming pool. Other pictures showed double-decker GO buses 15 feet from fences with views into backyards, and 12- to 15-metre-tall lights around the bus platforms and parking lots that shine brightly into the homes all night.

Metrolinx has committed to fixing some of the problems. “We want to be a good neighbour, and are committed to making this right,” stated an email response from the agency Wednesday.

“I can wave from my bathroom right at the GO passengers,” resident Beverley Riley told the Star. It’s her house that also has the station’s bathroom blowing its ventilation fumes over her pool.

“On Thanksgiving morning we served brunch to our grandchildren and watched a man urinate on the side of the bathroom building,” said Riley, adding that the bathroom sits on an elevation, so everyone going in and out can be seen from her yard and house.

Matt Mahoney, the ward’s councillor, called it “absolutely ridiculous.”

“You could imagine the real estate page, saying ‘2,800-square-foot beautiful house with a backyard and pool, perfectly manicured, that backs onto a Metrolinx outhouse,’” said Mahoney after the council meeting. “My constituents have not been consulted from day one...it makes Metrolinx a rogue organization. They don’t care what the residents feel, they don’t care how they affect their lives.”

“I’m shocked right now,” said Councillor Karen Ras.

“It’s crazy,” added Councillor Ron Starr.

“Metrolinx were completely oblivious as to what goes on around them,” said Councillor Nando Iannicca. “You have to come to the conclusion that they just don’t care.”

The tongue lashing during the council meeting continued for almost an hour, as some councillors singled out Metrolinx CEO Bruce McCuaig, claiming he failed to communicate the construction plan until it was too late. “There were design changes after the (public) consultation,” Crombie said.

In its statement to the Star Metrolinx said the design did not change after a September 2012 public meeting.

Resident Eva Berlin disputes this. “There were significant setbacks (from the properties) in those earlier designs,” she said.

City staff were asked by councillors how the construction of the station could have happened the way it did without approvals from the public and the municipality.

“It is provincial land that they’re on,” said Martin Powell, the city’s commissioner of transportation and works. He said, therefore, they do not need site plan approval from the city.

In a letter to Crombie, included in Wednesday’s council agenda, McCuaig addresses concerns raised when he visited the site in mid-January. Regarding the washroom, he states, “The cost of relocation is high.” He recommends the building be covered with “wood (screening)” and states that the bathroom exhaust will be moved.

Closed circuit security cameras nearest to the homes that can currently see into them will be removed, McCuaig states, and he also commits to turning off some of the nighttime lights if that “does not present a public health and safety concern.”

Homeowner Allan Hignell said the lights that are currently on until the sun comes up are so bright that, “You can read the Toronto Star in the middle of the night in my backyard. It’s like living in the middle of a baseball field.”

Berlin, who has taken the lead in representing affected homeowners, told the Star that Metrolinx is “acting as a bad corporate citizen” and that they are “stalling and stonewalling” residents seeking solutions.

Crombie, during council, described her visit to the site. “When I saw with my own eyes, I was shocked that this could happen.” She and the rest of council vowed to force Metrolinx to make changes.

Councillor Carolyn Parrish said, “I think it’s appalling...This is disgusting.”

She said the situation should be a cautionary example of what could happen when construction of the city’s $1.4 billion LRT system begins with its partner, Metrolinx, which is supposed to build the new rail line all the way from Mississauga’s lakeshore into Brampton.

“I don’t trust them. This is a warning bell.”