Monday, December 7 at Annette Recreation Centre. 7pm.
Last summer there was a year-long moratorium placed on new day nurseries opening on 3/4 blocks of High Park Avenue for the purpose of evaluating the impact these small daycares would have on this residential street. Neighbourhood parents staged protests and I may have posted about it once or twice. (This interim by-law very nearly prevented The Teddy Bear Academy from opening it’s doors after one of those massive old homes had already been renovated to fit a daycare and dozens of children were already registered.)
The concern with this interim by-law is twofold. First, these enormous old houses on High Park are almost ideally suited for becoming re-purposed as daycares to serve the critically short-on-child-care neighbourhoods of Bloor West Village, the Junction and environs. Second, the findings of this investigation about the suitability of day nurseries in homes and on residential streets could very well become precedent-setting as the City continues to harmonize its bylaws. If daycares are relegated to institutional spaces with ample parking and appropriate zoning (as they are in the more suburban parts of town) inner city working parents are, in short, screwed. All such spaces are already operating at capacity and there is no space to build new ones. Also, part of what make city living so appealing is precisely the blend of commercial and institutional and residential, that’s why we live here. (And perhaps those city dwellers who demand a bylaw-enforced bubble of quiet and serenity be erected around their homes should consider those suburbs. I hear they’re quite lovely.)
I will have my chance to voice my opinion, though, and so will you. There will be a community consultation meeting next Monday and local parents need to make their voices heard. Let’s make sure our community is represented.
City Planning Division
Meeting Notice
Community Consultation Meeting
November 20, 2009
Meeting Date: December 7, 2009
Meeting Time: 7:00 p.m.
Meeting Location: Annette Recreation Centre Gym
333 Annette Street
Interim Control By-law Study for: High Park Avenue Day Nurseries
Day Nursery Interim Control Study Area
On May 27, 2009, City Council enacted an Interim Control By-law (By-law 616-2009), affecting Day Nursery uses on lands bounded by Glenlake Avenue to the south, Dundas Street West to the north, the rear lot lines of properties fronting the west side of High Park Avenue to the west, and the rear lot lines of properties fronting the east side of High Park Avenue to the east.
Purpose and Study
The purpose of the Interim Control By-law is to prohibit Day Nursery uses from establishing on these properties for an initial period of one year, in order to conduct a study to evaluate appropriate standards and regulations for this use in house form buildings within the study area.
Purpose of the Meeting
The meeting will provide an opportunity for the community to have input on this study, express opinions and ask questions. If you cannot attend the meeting, you can still make your views known by sending a fax (416) 394-6063 or by writing to Gregg Lintern, Director, Community Planning, Etobicoke York District, City Planning Division, 2 Civic Centre Crt Floor 3 Toronto On, M9C 5A3.
If you would like further information about the proposal, please contact Philip Carvalino, Senior Planner, at 416-394-8233.
You may also contact Councillor Bill Saundercook, Ward 13, at (416) 392-4072.
(Image courtesy of Keith Beaty/Toronto Star.)