Avenue Road & Lawrence – Community Consultation Meeting

Rendering of NE corner of Avenue Road & Lawrence, used with permission from First Capital.

The Community Consultation Meeting for First Capital’s proposed development at Avenue Road and Lawrence was held October 22.  It was run by the City over the internet which, it should be noted, was not an ideal platform.  But it’s COVID-19, and things are proceeding as best they can.  We have learned there were 126 attendees, and we hope many of you were among them.

The City provided an update on the status of the application, which was reviewed in detail by the City and the developer, First Capital.  The purpose of the Community Consultation Meeting was for the City and the developer to hear from individuals in the community.  Many of you voiced similar concerns to the ones we have raised.

BPRO submitted our objections in writing prior to the meeting – we sent them to our Councillor Mike Colle, to the specific City Planner handling this file, the developer and their community consultation and project management company.

We have also had several meetings with our neighbouring resident groups.  We all share the same concerns about the proposal:

  • pedestrian safety and traffic flow at an already busy intersection
  • building height and
  • inadequate upper level setbacks.

And needs:

  • the need for improvements to the Douglas Greenbelt ravine
  • increased parkland/ greenspace.

It is incumbent on the developer to review and evaluate their original proposal while taking into consideration the feedback they received from the City, from BPRO and our neighbouring resident groups, and from individuals in attendance at the Community Consultation Meeting.

Following the meeting, BPRO again wrote to all parties emphatically outlining our issues with traffic at this intersection.  We understand that there is a requirement for the City to own the internal streets that are proposed, and this will impact the dimensions and proposed traffic patterns.

At this point we’re waiting for revisions to the original plan that we hope will address our concerns and accommodate our needs.  Timing is difficult to predict but we anticipate this file will become more active in the next few months.  As soon as a report is tabled, we will analyze it and prepare for our next steps.   As always, we will keep you informed along the way.