Room for discussion with community, developer says

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City planners tried last week to interest local residents in what may happen to Finch Avenue properties in Scarborough's L'Amoureaux neighbourhood.

But if there are development issues for the area besides the proposed addition of condominium towers to Bridlewood Mall, those who came for the meeting at L'Amoureaux Collegiate voiced no opinion on them.

Rather, residents lined up at a microphone to question or denounce the Bridlewood proposal, much as they did after the community first found out about it more than a year ago.

Malibu Investments Inc. formally applied in April to expand the mall south, closer to Finch, and to add eight residential buildings, from seven to 38 storeys, with a total of 1,370 apartments and 1,595 parking spaces.

Ward 39 (Scarborough-Agincourt) Councillor Mike Del Grande said he shares his constituents' frustration with the proposal, which he predicted will go to the Ontario Municipal Board for a hearing.

"This is what I call the Era of the Parking Lot," in which developers are "eyeing" parking areas as possible building sites, he said. "If you allow it here, they allow it (somewhere else)."

Terry Lustig, a Malibu director at the meeting, later said she agreed with residents' group Stand Up Bridletowne that the proposal is not a "done deal" and changes are possible.

"Which means there's room for discussion," Lustig added.

The shopping centre, between Finch Avenue, Bridletowne Circle and Warden Avenue is already a mixed-use property but would need re-zoning for the residences, the new buildings' height, density and the added commercial area.

There are other mixed-use sites in what the city calls its Finch and Warden Area Study, which will look at lands in Bridletowne Circle and along Finch from Victoria Park Avenue to Birchmount Road.

Planners say by forming a study working group and hosting more public meetings they can create a "vision document" for the area which will help the city judge development applications.

More on the study and the Bridlewood proposal is at www.toronto.ca/planning/finch_warden.htm

Meanwhile, Stand Up Bridletowne (www.standupbridletowne.org), which wants the proposal modified, is working on of its own development plan for the mall property, said Helen Jankul, one of the group's organizers.

Until Oct. 2, the mall continues to open an information centre for the proposal for four hours on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday afternoons on its lower level.

Visitors there are told the proposed development "aims to improve the outdated mall property by creating a vibrant environment where people can live, work and shop."

Last week, standing over a scale model in the centre of the room, architect Vladimir Losner said if the height of the proposed buildings is an issue, "you can go taller or you can go lower and fatter. In my opinion, this is better."

Tom Chan, a Stand Up Bridletowne member who lives in an apartment tower nearby, told Losner he's worried the density of the development is much higher than the area around it.

Losner said the small Christie Cemetery beside one of the Warden Avenue mall entrances will not be touched. Established in 1846, when Wesleyan Methodists built a church on the Christie farm, the burial ground has monuments dated even earlier. According to a plaque left by the Scarborough Historical Society, the church was closed in 1938 and later reconstructed in Buttonville as a community hall.