The community had its first formal opportunity to review Westbank Corp.’s plans for Mirvish Village at a public consultation at the Bickford Centre Cafeteria hosted by the City of Toronto on Oct. 7. The area includes Markham Street, Honest Ed’s, and the adjacent properties on Bathurst Street. Many of those in attendance expressed concerns about adding density to the neighbourhood, and the project’s lack of green space.

“I don’t see any green space around and I see the entire site covered by buildings,” said a Euclid Street resident. “We’ve got a few things here: we’re talking transportation, we’re talking massive density, and we’re talking lack of green space.”

Paul Unterman, who has been on Markham Street for over 30 years, believes the project is “way, way too dense for the neighbourhood”.

“I hope that some of the heritage properties, if not all of them, are kept,” he added. “And I’m very concerned about the parkland. We have so little in our area as it is, and to add a thousand units with God knows how many people is concerning for us.”

“The issue is not the fact that they are modernizing,” agreed Brunswick Avenue’s Kevin Lim. “The issue is this: you’re bringing congestion into an area that’s already congested.”

Other residents are trying to remain open to the proposal, even as they express their reservations.

“I don’t like how big it is. The size seems kind of out of place,” said Toni Papa of Spadina Road. “But I like the concept, and I like how it looks in the renderings. But renderings is one thing, what it actually is in reality is another.”

City Planning received Westbank’s proposal on July 10, and presented its preliminary report on the application at the Oct. 6 meeting of the Toronto and East York community council. It has developed a detailed website that includes the application and its accompanying materials: www.toronto.ca/planning/mirvishvillage.

—Annemarie Brissenden with files from Summer Reid/Gleaner News