Councillor Doug Ford tried to clarify his waterfront vision Tuesday, but ended up further confusing officials about the city's intentions for the Port Lands.
The uncertainty is in the geography.
Ford hopes to lure private investors to build a monorail system, world-class shopping mall and a gigantic Ferris wheel on a barren portion of land south of the Don Valley Parkway known as the Port Lands. Specially, these “very preliminary” projects are slated to be built south of the Ship Channel, below a section of land known as the Lower Don Lands.
The Lower Don Lands make up the northwest portion of the larger Port Lands and is where Waterfront Toronto has completed plans for a mixed-use community.
So is there room for both visions? It isn't clear.
Hinting no: Ford might be focusing on a different portion of land, but a city staff report on the Port Lands issue released last week included language about the lower Don.
Hinting yes: Ford said while his vision for a developed Port Lands was non-negotiable, he had no intention of going after Waterfront Toronto's other initiatives.
“You know something, Waterfront has their hands full over the next 10 years, especially over the next four to get ready for the Pan Am Games (the athletes village will be built in the West Don Lands),” said Ford.
This “wishy-washy” language that is typical with the Ford administration has left no one sure what's being proposed, said one individual involved with waterfront redevelopment.
Last year, Waterfront Toronto gave the Environment Ministry an environmental assessment for the Lower Don, which would see retail, residential and parkland space, as well as plans to address flood risk problems. Council signed off.
On Tuesday, Ford said the Port Lands is “land that tumbleweeds are going down and it's a garbage dump ... It's the most beautiful view of the entire city and we should develop it. Right now there is not a plan.”
Things will undoubtedly become clearer next week at the mayor's executive committee when councillors vote on whether the city should take back control of the Port Lands and give it to a revamped Toronto Port Lands Company.
And while the mayor's brother is no doubt a driving force behind this initiative, his specific plan — monorail, Ferris wheel, etc. — is not yet on the table for consideration.
In the meantime, here is a breakdown of the issue:
Where and what are the Toronto Port Lands?
The waterfront area on the downtown eastside is bordered by the Keating Channel, Don River and Lake Shore Blvd. E. to the north, the Inner Harbour to the west, Leslie St. to the east and Lake Ontario and Tommy Thompson Park to the south. The Port Lands includes about three-quarters of a region called the Lower Don Lands.
Once the largest marshy wetland on the Great Lakes, the Port Lands are man-made following decades of infilling in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Since World War I, the area has been used primarily for industrial purposes. Large portions of the land are highly contaminated.
Because the earth is reclaimed from Lake Ontario, the soil is difficult to build on. Around Front St., the bedrock is about 10 metres deep. By comparison, south of the Keating Channel the bedrock starts to drop dramatically. By the lower Port Lands, solid ground is 30 metres deep.
And as if there weren't enough problems, the region is also in the Don River flood plain.
Who owns this part of the waterfront?
According to Waterfront Toronto, the majority of the Port Lands' 1,161 acres is owned by the city — 650 acres. The rest is split between the province (59 acres), the federal government (47 acres) and Waterfront Toronto (2.5 acres). About 72 acres is privately owned. Tommy Thompson Park (328 acres) is owned by the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority and Natural Resources Ministry.
What is Waterfront Toronto?
In November 1999, then prime minister Jean Chrétien, premier Mike Harris and mayor Mel Lastman announced the formation of a waterfront revitalization task force headed by entrepreneur Robert Fung. The following year, each level of government vowed to put in $500 million to kick-start the project and in March 2001, the Toronto Waterfront Revitalization Corp. launched, with revitalizing the Port Lands as a priority.
About $800 million of that initial $1.5 billion in “seed capital” has been spent. More revenue to invest in waterfront development is earned when property is sold.
Waterfront Toronto is equally owned by the city, province and federal government. There is a board with four appointees from each level of government.
Mayor Rob Ford has called this marriage “the biggest boondoggle the feds, the province and the city has ever done.”
What has Waterfront Toronto done?
The initial goal was to transform the Port Lands into a mixed use community, with residential, commercial and park space.
An environmental assessment was completed and submitted to the Environment Ministry for approval last year. This research provided a detailed plan for the community, laying out everything from where the roads and housing will be to the location of a new library. It also provided a flood protection plan. Council signed off on this plan last summer. In total, $19 million has been spent over the last decade planning the Port Lands project.
A business case for the plan will go to the waterfront board in September. Like Councillor Ford's proposal, Waterfront Toronto would sell off the land to developers who agree to execute the organization's vision for the area.
Timelines for when shovels hit the dirt have not been set, only that the entire waterfront revitalization process will occur in phases over the next 25 years. The Port Lands are among the last to be addressed.
Origin
Source: Toronto Star
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