High Park ward joins downtown council

High Park is going downtown.

In a narrow 19-17 vote at the June 26 Toronto council meeting, the communities between the Humber River, Lake Ontario, Parkside Drive, Bloor Street West and the CNR/CPR tracks are now part of the Toronto and East York Community Council.

The communities had been part of the Etobicoke York Community Council.

For Sarah Doucette, the councillor for Ward 13 (ParkdaleHigh Park), the shift from west to east was a matter of local character and culture.

Ward 13 residents had been dealing with the Etobicoke York Community Council for local issues such as fence exemptions, local development and minor traffic rule changes. But Doucette said her constituents weren’t happy with the arrangement.

“Residents often believe that we are in the downtown community council, as apparently was the case before 2004,” she told city council.

“Their concerns are things like being with a similar ward to the east of us, where the street widths and parking rules are the same.”

The current 44-ward map is being expanded to include 47 wards, which will come into effect with the fall election. But because those wards shifted boundaries, some change was inevitable.

The eastward shift of High Park was the only change that Toronto council approved for the planned new community council boundaries.