La Carnita isn’t the only business that has recently been accused of encroaching on a public plaza.

August 16, 2016

Jeffrey Vendeville

The Toronto Star

Andrea and Vince Frisina own a condo in front of La Carnita. Frisina says she was not allowed to sit in the space although she paid fees to have it built when she bought her condo. (MARCUS OLENIUK / TORONTO STAR)

A downtown Toronto restaurant owner feels he’s “been thrown under the bus” after the city gave him a permit for a patio on a public plaza — and then told him to remove it.

A public outcry led Andrew Richmond, the owner of the Mexican restaurant La Carnita, to agree to take down a fenced-in terrace along John St., south of Adelaide St. W.

Unpaving a parking lot to create paradise: It’s not easy

July 23, 2016

Jennifer Pagliaro

The Toronto Star

The city is attempting to buy this parking lot at 229 Richmond St. W., with plans to turn it into much-needed parkland in the fast-growing downtown core. (CHRIS SO / TORONTO STAR)

A Toronto councillor is looking to un-pave paradise and green over a parking lot to fill a void of parkland in the downtown core.

Councillor Joe Cressy’s move to expropriate a parking lot in the King-Spadina area highlights the challenge council faces to create livable communities in the midst of unprecedented development.

An ad hoc system sees the city negotiating with developers on a case-by-case basis while limited real estate in the core is being bought out and built up.

And with the constant threat of appeals at the Ontario Municipal Board, it has proven difficult to inject amenities such as parks into those areas without out-of-the-box solutions, councillors say.

July 19, 2016

Justin Skinner

City Centre Mirror

Manor Road United Church is in discussions with the City of Toronto to convert about half of its current property at the corner of Forman Avenue and Manor Road into park space.

Manor Road is quickly becoming a green oasis in the rapidly-intensifying North Toronto community.

City council recently approved a motion put forth by Ward 22 Councillor Josh Matlow (St. Paul’s) to purchase a parcel of land formerly occupied by the Glebe Manor Lawn Bowling Club, which had been sold to a developer.

The land, at 196 Manor Rd. E., was once slated to become the site of new townhouses, but through negotiations with the developer, the city was able to save roughly 80 per cent of the property – 1,138 square metres – with the aim of converting it into a public park. The developer will build one home on the remaining fifth of the site.

Three-storey school will also feature aquatic centre, community rooms and double gym

July 19, 2016

Justin Skinner

City Centre Mirror

Underground parking garage at new Davisville Junior Public means a Midtown Community Hub is coming to the area. Here, Councillor Josh Matlow at a coffee shop in Davisville. Photo: David Nickle

Years of hard work and determination have finally paid off with firm plans in place to build a community hub in the midtown neighbourhood.

Residents in the area, Ward 22 Councillor Josh Matlow (St. Paul’s) and Ward 11 TDSB Trustee Shelley Laskin have long been working to negotiate an agreement to build community space on the site occupied by Davisville Junior Public School.

July 15, 2016

Jennifer Pagliaro

The Toronto Star

July 13, 2016

680 News

The controversial one-stop extension of Line 2 will go ahead as planned after council voted 28-15 against reviving plans for a seven-stop light-rail transit (LRT) line in the east end on Wednesday.

The issue was being discussed as part of a broader transit plan for Toronto. However, the subway versus LRT debate dominated the council meeting.

Council critics say across-the-board reductions pushed by Tory will mean cuts to service for TTC riders and public housing tenants.

July 12, 2016

Jennifer Pagliaro

The Toronto Star

Former Toronto mayor Barbara Hall shares a laugh with current Mayor John Tory at a gathering of pre-amalgamation mayors at City Hall on Tuesday. Tory won a small victory later in the day with council's approval of his budgetary restriction proposals. (Richard Lautens / Toronto Star)

Council has backed a push from Mayor John Tory for all city departments and agencies to find 2.6 per cent worth of reductions in next year’s budget as the city faces a shortage of new revenue.

In a 32-10 vote, council also passed a resolution saying the 2017 budget should be based on a property tax increase at or below at inflation — a key promise from Tory’s mayoral campaign.

But critics on council warned those budget directions will lead to service cuts that will hurt transit users, Toronto Community Housing tenants and other vulnerable citizens.

The provincial government subsidized passengers on the troubled Union Pearson Express last year at a rate of $52.26 per ride.

June 30, 2016

Ben Spurr

The Toronto Star

Passengers enter a UPX train at Union Station. (Andrew Francis Wallace / Toronto Star)

The provincial government subsidized passengers on the troubled Union Pearson Express last year at a rate of $52.26 per ride.

The astounding sum, which far exceeds the subsidy received by other Toronto-area public transit projects, was revealed in an annual report that came before the Metrolinx board Tuesday.

The regional transit agency, which has faced fierce criticism over the $456-million air rail link, did not explicitly publish the per-ride subsidy. But calculations based on ridership numbers and operating expenditures that the agency did make public reveal the extent to which the UPX’s costs exceeded its revenues in its first 10 months of operation.

“It demonstrates a complete lack of competent planning,” said Councillor Josh Matlow (Ward 22, St. Paul’s), who in 2014 brought a motion to council asking Metrolinx to set the UPX fare at an “affordable” rate.

Chief planner Jennifer Keesmaat says city council now needs to make the tough decisions on an "optimized" plan.

June 21, 2016

Jennifer Pagliaro

The Toronto Star

Jennifer Keesmaat is Toronto's chief planner. (Steve Russell / Toronto Star)

The city’s chief planner says the question over how to build transit in Scarborough is one of “priorities” — a dilemma now facing council.

A report released Tuesday on a future transit network for the city recommends moving ahead with plans for both a one-stop subway extension and an LRT along Eglinton Ave., despite updated cost estimates showing the subway alone would eat up nearly all of the available funding.

“The question is one of competing priorities, and that really is a decision for city council to make,” Jennifer Keesmaat told reporters Tuesday night.

SmartTrack plan loses Scarborough stop as council prepares to debate what a future transit network will cost the city

June 20, 2016

Jennifer Pagliaro

The Toronto Star

While the future of transit in Scarborough remains an open question, the Scarborough RT continues its regular runs. (Carlos Osorio / Toronto Star)

A revised transit plan for Scarborough risks giving residents just one new rapid transit stop when 25 stops could be built at roughly the same cost, critics say.

Now that the estimate for a one-stop subway extension has ballooned to $2.9 billion, experts in city building and council critics say bad politics are trumping good planning. Two proposed LRT lines once championed by the city’s chief planner, Jennifer Keesmaat, could be built to create a network of 25 stops serving tens of thousands more people at the same cost.

The Star has also learned that Mayor John Tory’s signature SmartTrack plan has shed a station in Scarborough. Part of Tory’s pitch for 13 new local stations along existing GO Tracks — tied to the province’s plans to expand service — was that stations in Scarborough would serve residents looking to get downtown. But just five new “SmartTrack” stops have made the cut, reduced from an earlier seven-stop option. At least one Scarborough stop at Ellesmere Rd. will no longer be recommended. A station at Lawrence Ave. is part of the plan.

That’s the reality council now faces as city staff prepares to unveil recommendations for a future transit network on Tuesday. That debate, including what to build in Scarborough and at what cost, will begin anew at executive committee next week.