Residents near historic downtown site want councillors to push back on Metrolinx plans to take over land for Ontario Line

Thestar.com
May 3, 2021

An Aug. 1 deadline Metrolinx has given to take possession of the First Parliament site downtown -- property that is 75 per cent publicly owned -- has local residents angry and demanding city council push back against the plans.

The site, in the Parliament and Front Sts. area, is where Upper Canada’s first purpose-built parliament buildings were erected. An ongoing 20-year master plan led by city and community input, recognizes the site’s historical significance and calls for the area to be turned into an “animated, multi-functional community hub.”

The master plan envisions midrise buildings with a public space that could include a 25,000-square-foot library, a new park, seniors housing and possibly a water park that pays tribute to Lake Ontario’s shoreline.

The site is also designated by the city as an archaeologically sensitive area.

The province has indicated it supports commemorating the heritage elements. But as part of the recently announced plans for Corktown Station, an Ontario Line subway hub, the province has told the city it wants to acquire three parcels of city-owned property at the First Parliament location (a fourth parcel on the site is provincial property) by the first of August and that given this “aggressive schedule, it would initiate expropriation” while negotiating with the city at the same time, reads a staff report to the city’s executive committee by Tracey Cook, deputy city manager, infrastructure and development services.

Metrolinx has valued the property at $156 million.

As the Star recently reported, the province is proposing five towers for the area that includes a parcel across the street from First Parliament -- three 46-storey residential towers, one 25-storey residential building and one 24-storey office building.

Through provincial agencies Infrastructure Ontario and Metrolinx, the province wants to enter into agreements with third parties to mix transit infrastructure with housing and commercial developments.

These agreements are aimed at getting third parties to make investments that offset the capital costs of these mega projects and bring transit, new jobs and housing closer together.

It’s part of the province’s transit-oriented communities (TOC) program and applies to subway construction, GO Transit expansion and SmartTrack station projects.

The city entered a memorandum of understanding (MOU) Feb. 14 last year that stated shared objectives on the TOC program.

But community members who participated in an online meeting of the city’s executive committee meeting on the matter Thursday said the city may have given too much power to the province by signing the MOU.

“We are concerned that the intention of the province to acquire and develop the First Parliament site as a funding source for the Ontario Line threatens every element of the shared city-community that has been developed over two decades,” John Wilson, co-chair of the West Don Lands committee, told the executive committee Thursday.

The Ontario Line is the planned 16-kilometre subway that would run from near the Exhibition grounds to near the Ontario Science Centre at Don Mills Rd. and Eglinton Ave. E.

“The rush to maximize provincial revenues will compromise the long-term city building and heritage conservation opportunities of this site,” Wilson told the meeting.

He went on to say the city needs to insist that at least 30 per cent of the residential development on the publicly owned portion of the land be set aside for affordable rental housing and that the site remain in public ownership.

Community member Julie Beddoes asked the councillors on the committee to “look for all possible means to take action” so the site stays in the city’s hands.

City staff also want the site to continue to be publicly owned.

West Don Lands committee members are strong advocates of public transit and support the current work to improve the city’s transit network, Wilson told the executive committee.

But the community needs to be at the table now with the province and city, not after the terms of any transfer of land or long-term use of that land have been negotiated, Wilson said.

During the committee meeting there was talk of the province turning the First Parliament land over to a private sector “master developer,” but Wilson said the community is “in the dark” about which developers the province is engaging with.

Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam, who represents the Corktown area but is not a member of the executive, told the meeting the city needs to take action before the province’s Aug. 1 deadline to take over the land.

“By Aug. 1 the province intends to own it. Where does that leave the city and community -- as guests at the table,” Wong-Tam said.

“None of us want to be invited to the meeting after the land has been taken,” she said.

She promised to bring forward a motion on the matter to an upcoming city council meeting.

Executive committee member Ana Bailao said she’s a “big fan” of transit-oriented development and added that complete communities around transit is a smart way to go.

But the process with the province has to be “up front” with the city and the local communities surrounding the hubs.

“What we truly want in this process is a partnership … not to be sidelined,” Bailao said

In a recent statement the province said a “future Corktown transit-oriented community proposal is at the conceptual stage, and still requires review and input by the city.

“Once municipal engagement is complete, a refined development concept will be shared with the public for further input,” Ministry of Transportation spokesperson Katherine Green said at the time of the announcement of the Corktown station and a simil