Quarry Lands group holds AGM

The Concerned Citizens of Quarry Lands Development (CCQLD) will meet for its 2013 Annual General Meeting, Wednesday, Jan. 23, at Birchcliff Bluffs United Church, 33 East Rd., starting at 7:30 p.m.

The CCQLD board will update the community on recent developments. These include a recent Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) appearance by Gerrard Clonmore Developments (GCD), where the OMB ruled in favour of GCD related to high rise zoning rights.

Build Toronto also unveiled plans several months ago for its roughly 22 acres of land on the western end of the site.

The plan calls for about half of the land to be developed as low-rise housing, meaning two- or three-storey homes. About a quarter of the land will be set aside for a park (despite the current unofficial use of most of the vacant land as park space, only about five acres are actually zoned as parkland). The remaining quarter, fronting onto Victoria Park on the site of the former Beach Golf Fairway, will be developed as retail.

Rumours of a secret deal with a large discount retailer have been circulating in the neighbourhood; however, officials with Build Toronto said no deal has been signed with any retailer or retail management company.

In an email, Bruce Logan said Build Toronto is still actively looking to complete a deal with a tenant or tenants who “would best support the development objectives discussed with the community, and that would enable the revitalization of the former quarry lands as a new mixed-use neighbourhood…To confirm, no deals have been completed.”

He said Build Toronto has spoken with a wide range of potential tenants, and those discussions are ongoing.

In the meantime, Build Toronto is focusing its efforts on environmental concerns.

“A key focus right now is on the environmental cleanup and sustainability management measures across the site,” said Logan.