Residents oppose plans for vacant lot
Community organization doesn’t want land to be sold, seeks parkland instead
Some residents are at odds with plans for a proposed meat packing plant on a vacant lot in the west end because they say it sits on a contaminated site that is flood prone.
St. Helen’s Meat Packers Limited wants to purchase 200 Rockcliffe Ct., near Jane St. and Alliance Ave., a piece of land that’s remained vacant for decades. Initial plans include building a freezer and packaging facility on roughly 50,000 square feet.
One local residents’ group, the Black Creek Alliance, wants the land to be turned into parkland instead.
“I’m very concerned if there’s going to be another flood while they’re in the midst of building, it washes all the chemicals out of the ground into the Black Creek,” said Cameron Watts, a member of the group.
“Everybody acknowledges it’s a toxic site.”
Laying down concrete will exacerbate the issue, said Tanya Connors, co-founder of the community group, because it will cause increased runoff.
“Putting pavement on a floodplain is counterintuitive, it doesn’t make sense — it can’t absorb the water,” she said. “You’re putting black space instead of green space.”
She said that when the Black Creek swelled in 2013 it caused significant home damage.
“People lost cars, basements, it was very dramatic.”
A spokesperson from St. Helen’s said there are conditions to be finalized to secure the sale.
“As part of the purchase agreement we have committed to addressing the environmental challenges and additional costs inherent to the development of this particular property,” the spokesperson said.
“We are also committed to making this land a functional part of the community and have agreed to maintain and clean a portion of the land which is often used as an unofficial dumping area directly in the flood plain.”
The site was a sewage treatment facility in the 1950s and later used for sand and gravel extraction, said Devin Tepleski, who’s completing his master’s degree in landscape architecture at the University of Toronto and has studied this particular lot.
“Eventually it went fallow and has just been sitting empty,” he said. “I think part of the reason why it’s been so hard to find a buyer is, one, it’s in a floodplain, and because of the contamination issue.”
CreateTO, a real estate affiliate of the city of Toronto, cur- rently owns the land.
“This development will secure a major Toronto employer and add 100 jobs to the city,” Don Logie, head of development, said in a written statement.
“The issue, right now, is not who’s purchasing the site but that the land should not be sold.” FRANCES NUNZIATA
“The City has a comprehensive process for declaring lands surplus for sale and all City divisions, including the City’s Park, Forestry & Recreation division, examine the property in detail to determine if they have any use for it. If not, as in the case of Rockcliffe, the land is declared surplus and transferred for sale.”
Completing the sale required working with the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority, Logie said, which will make a decision on an easement recommendation at a March 23 meeting.
“After two years of study and working with the (conservation authority) we have determined a plan for developing the site outside the 350 year floodplain, and without impacting any users in the floodplain,” Logie said, adding that the deal is to acquire eight acres, leaving out one acre that will be naturalized.
The role of the conservation authority is to ensure that flooding is mitigated if the site is to be developed, spokesperson Elizabeth Oakley said in a written statement to the Star.
Councillor Frances Nunziata (Ward 11, York South—Weston) will be at the meeting, presenting a deputation to retain the property as green space.
“The property was declared surplus many years ago,” she said. “There has been a for sale sign for the last 10 years. The issue, right now, is not who’s purchasing the site but that the land should not be sold, the eight acres. People in the community always assumed it was green space because it’s never been used in over 30 years,” she added, noting that most of the land has since been reclaimed by nature.
COUNCILLOR WARD 11