August General Members Meeting Highlights

St. Michael's College Catering

Chartwells Food Services is available at several University of Toronto sites, including St. Michael's College, Loretto College and Trinity College.  Anyone interested in gourmet catering, such as boxed lunches, bowls, hors d’oeuvres, should email Sharun Shaji at [email protected] for inquiries, at least 10 business days in advance.  Catering and food trucks are available from Food Dudes.
 
A variety of buffet style meal memberships are available at Brennan Hall, 81 St. Mary Street from August 31st to April 30th.  Purchase is available at www.dineoncampus.ca/stmikes.   You can choose breakfast, lunch or dinner individually, or enjoy a meal as a group.

The staff dining room is open to the public the first Tuesday of every month.

Queen's Park North

Both the Friends of Queen's Park and the Bay Cloverhill Community Association executive sent letters of concern regarding the City's proposed Queen's Park North renovation that would be funded by a $50M donation by the Weston Family Foundation. 

Over 100 responses have been received from the Bay Cloverhill Community Association survey that was launched May 1st.  Everyone is encouraged to give their opinions online at https://forms.gle/Xs3m7MFU9tQuxzEEA.  Just under half of the respondents are from the Bay Cloverhill neighbourhood, with the balance from 20 other areas/institutions.  The most popular activities currently in the park are ‘enjoy the trees, bushes, and grass‘ followed closely by ‘sit/relax’.  Most residents want to see increased greenspace, with about half of respondents choosing benches and washrooms.  About half of people would like to see charitable social events in the park, followed by group social events and educational events.  Over half are in support of occasional programming e.g. quarterly.  Scheduling of programming is most popular on weekends and holidays afternoons. There was no consensus about the formation of a private trust.  Over two thirds of respondents are interested in consultation as part of the “Friends of Queen’s Park”.  About half of respondents requested to be added to the Bay Cloverhill Community Association mailing list.  Updated results are available at www.baycloverhill.com/queens-park-north.html.

The City of Toronto release a survey in mid July that is open until August 31st.  Give your thoughts online at ca.mar.medallia.com/?e=460220&d=l&h=873D443D097F0ED&l=en.

The City's timeline for the project is aggressive.  The project initiated in Spring 2025.  Phase 1 of community engagement is ongoing from July to September 2025.  Phase 2 continues from October to December 2025.  A staff report to City Council will be issued in late 2025.  Phase 3 of community engagement is scheduled for January to February 2026.  Groundbreaking will happen in Summer 2026 with detailed design and hiring of a construction team in Winter 2026.

A coalition of residents’ associations met with Third Party Public on June 11th to outline consultation process with City, U of T, donor and community.  The consensus was that past projects, such as Grange Park and 2019 renovation, should be taken into account.  Concerns were expressed about tree protection, indigenous consultation, programming and mass events.  There is a future opportunity to combine with University Park.  Provincial interference is a possibility. 

The Friends of Queen's Park held a meeting on July 3rd and toured the park on July 17th.  Existing park features and improvements, as well as potential enhancements were explored.  Required maintenance was noted.  There was a suggestion to remove the Wellesley bridge to reclaim greenspace for the park.

The City hosted informational 'popups' in the park on July 19th, 23rd and 30th, with about 600 people giving their option on what the park should be used for.  Feedback was also given on the guiding principles for the project.

The first City community workshop was held on July 28th as part of the 8 month consultation process.  Various discussions were held.  There will be a staff report to City Council in late Fall 2025.  Design, bidding process and construction is planned for 2026.

A second coalition meeting was held on August 5th.  The feedback on draft vision was to add sustainability and openness,  plus concentrate on trees/landscaping.  There was concern about ‘programming and partnership’.  Feedback was given on the guiding principles to consider the affect on trees and reorder the principles to have the emphasis on trees first.  Openness of the park is important for personal security.  The use of public space needs to be clarified.  Accessibility and place keeping should be added, and 2019 priorities should be removed.  Other considerations raised include prioritizing trees, creating a mini-arboretum with the trees at Queen's Park North and the University of Toronto, having a long term maintenance endowment instead of a trust, restoring the fountain/creating a garden, removal of the Wellesley bridge, hosting an evening community popup to get feedback from night time park visitors, making the U of T lease available to the public and integrating adjacent hard surfaces for washroom locations.

Residents are encouraged to think about how they want the park to be used, fill out the surveys and attend community meetings.  Emails can be sent to the Mayor, Councillor Saxe and the Project Manager, as noted in the Public Realm section of the Bay Cloverhill website.  The City has provided information at 
www.toronto.ca/city-government/planning-development/construction-new-facilities/improvements-expansion-redevelopment/queens-park-north-revitalization/.

Previous Meeting Items

The City has not been able to provide details on the wooden animal sculptures in Clover Hill Park, other than they were ordered from a catalogue. 

A letter of concern was written about the proposed LED sign at 2 College.  However the Planning and Housing Committee would not accept the letter and advised to resubmit for the September 25th meeting if the item is on the agenda that will be released on September 18th. 

The Bar Volo street patio on St. Nicholas was granted via Community Council appeal process since it didn’t meet CafeTO requirements.  The City met with Councillor’s Office and Bar Volo to extend the patio area into the street, resulting in narrow access for cyclists.  Transportation Services will be conducting a traffic study since vehicular access has been restored from Wellesley due to the completion of the 8 Wellesley condo building.

Neighbourhood

The Bay Cloverhill Community Association is celebrating 30 years of community advocacy and service.  Everyone is encouraged to complete an online survey with their favourite things about the neighbourhood and memorable accomplishments at ​https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSebQf_njdkN3Ll1wbRdsliBR1UhJi-9UFPTq5XgNtH08pWjwg/viewform?usp=sharing&ouid=114024076701585003406. The results will be presented at this year's Annual General Meeting.

The traffic control box on the northwest corner of Bay Street and St. Joseph Street was recently covered with the work of a local artist by StreetARToronto as part of the Outside the Box program.  The traffic control box on the southeast corner of Queen's Park Crescent and St. Joseph Street also features a colourful mural.

Some new bike rings on St. Joseph Street and Wellesley Street West have been installed as part of the City's street furniture program.  

There are two new restaurants in the neighbourhood, Caphelia at 2 Irwin Avenue serves Vietnamese coffee and sandwiches at the former Republique site.  M Square Cake offers sweet treats at their second location at 652 Yonge Street.

A new heritage plaque commemorating the Bohemian Embassy has been installed on St. Nicholas Street, just north of Wellesley.

The bidding process is underway for the St. Joseph Street curb extensions with construction planned this year.  Tree surrounds and planter extensions are being designed for St. Nicholas Street and Irwin Street with implementation in Fall 2025.  Utility work will be started in fall 2025 for the resurfacing of Breadalbane Street with construction planned for 2026.

Information on electrification and energy efficiency in homes was circulated to member building property managers. Emily Sherret, Climate Action Associate, Large Buildings, Toronto Hydro Electric System [email protected] 647-922-5164 offers clients assistance with hydro service upgrade capacity if needed for heat pumps and EV charging; information on incentive opportunities for energy saving projects and assistance with the mandatory energy reporting and benchmarking for City and Province.

The new "Walk Your Bike" decals were installed on sidewalks in Toronto Centre in late July and early August.  This was initiated by the Sidewalk Safety Committee to remind cyclists that sidewalks are for pedestrians and implemented by Toronto Centre Councillor Chris Moise.  A request has been made to University Rosedale Councillor Saxe to install decals in Ward 11 as well.

There is a new interactive map of how neighbourhood projects are funded by development for Toronto Centre at https://cbc.chrismoise.ca/.  You can research how Section 37 and 45 funds or Community Benefit Charges from new buildings provide valuable improvements.

Two new laybys have been installed on Bay Street in front of the government buildings and on Grosvenor Street near Women's College Hospital.  This allows vehicles to drop off/pick up passengers without blocking traffic lanes.

Development Update

There was a meeting with the developers of 2G (a rental building with affordable apartments at 26 Grenville Street and 27 Grosvenor Street) on June 12th.  A minor variance was submitted in June for the change in separation of towers, increased setbacks, and a reduction in the number of parking spaces and total floors.  The suite mix was adjusted.  Preparation for demolition prep should be starting in the second quarter of 2026 and last 10 to 12 months. 

The sale of the development at 510 Yonge Street, on the south side of Breadalbane Street, to a new developer is expected to close this fall.  The building will consist of student housing instead of condominiums.

The developers of 530 Yonge Street, on the north side of Breadalbane Street, made a resubmission to the City in July 2025.

The proposed condominium building at 646 Yonge Street, on the north side of Irwin Avenue is on hold pending improvement in the housing market.

Just south of our neighbourhood, a rezoning application has been received by the City for 3 towers of 65, 75 and 96 storeys at College Park.  The redevelopment will have 2,334 residential units, a 250 room hotel, 46,000 m² commercial and retail as well as 530 m² parkland, plus daycare facilities.

Community Meetings

A meeting on the Emily Stowe pollinator garden was held on June 2nd.  As requested, a pollinator garden will be planted instead of sod after the construction to convert the right turn lane into greenspace.  There was a few minor design changes.  Irrigation will be provided by the University of Toronto.

The 52 Division Community Police Liaison Committee meeting was June 4th.  The results of the Community BBQ were positive.  An illegal SHROOMYZ mushroom dispensary on Yonge Street was reported.  On August 4th, there was an arson at the store and a car was crashed into the storefront on August 11th.  The business just ceased operations.  The Bay Cloverhill Community Association continues to advocate to save bicycle lanes.  Plans are underway to create a Neighbourhood Watch program with Constable Pankaj Kasturi.  Various police events were attended: Coffee with a Cop - April 3rd; Prayer Walk - May 8th; and Safety Conference - May 21st.

​A meeting on Development Funds was held June 10th with Councillor Moise's office.  A website detailing amounts of Section 37, Section 45 and Community Benefits Charges for developments in Toronto Centre is being developed.  It will show how allocated and committed funds are spent on neighbourhood projects.

A FoSTRA Activism and Advocacy meeting happened on June 12th.  The Billy Bishop runway expansion will be installed by July 2027.  There are lots of new initiatives at Planning and Housing Committee.  The City is running a pilot project on Avenues in Wards 9 and 11, but it doesn't affect Bay Cloverhill.  A social development program endorsement under consideration.  There are issues with a group called Downtown Concerned Citizens Organization claiming to represent 58,000 downtown residents with opinions different from Bay Cloverhill residents.  FoSTRA is joining the Federation of Urban Neighbourhoods.  There are issues with hovercraft noise and landing pad location near Billy Bishop Airport.  The City installed BikeShare stations on Toronto Island without any community feedback, causing traffic issues.  Phase 2 of Expanding Retail/Services into Neighbourhoods has been launched.

On June 13th, there was a meeting on the City's long term waste management strategy.  Some recommendations from 2016 Waste Strategy have been implemented, or being planned to achieve City’s aspirational goal of zero waste.  Education and participation critical. 60% of waste could be diverted.  The current City landfill will be full by 2035.  It appears that an incinerator is the best option to deal with waste.  There are two types of incinerators:  ‘mass burn’ creating steam/electricity or ‘gasification’ creating synthetic gas.  A report will be given to City Council in Fall 2025 as part of the process to update the 10 year Waste Strategy in 2026.  More information is available at https://www.toronto.ca/services-payments/recycling-organics-garbage/waste-management/waste-strategy/?accordion=public-consultation.

Finally a meeting on Phase 1 of yongeTOmorrow was held on June 24th.  The timeline for consultation and design is from June 2025 to mid 2027.  City Council adopted the design concept in 2021 and an Environmental Assessment was done in 2022.  The preferred design concept reduces vehicular traffic to one northbound and one southbound lane.  There will be furniture, plants, cafe zones and lay-bys from College Street to Queen Street.  Cycle tracks will be installed from College to Gerrard Street.  Construction will likely happen after 2030, because of the Ontario Line Queen station construction.

The items discussed at the Toronto Centre Ward Council meeting on July 16th were sidewalk safety decals, Clover Hill Park flooding, Phipps parking space removal for Bar Volo, St. Joseph pollinator gardens and the removal of a waste receptable at 11 St Joseph. ​

​Community Concerns

A waste receptable on Phipps Street was temporarily removed due to the construction closure on St. Nicholas was reported to the City and replaced in May.

There were encampments in Dr. Lillian McGregor Park and Clover Hill Park that have been cleared.  There is an ongoing encampment of a few tents and an indigenous Bill 5 protest site in Queen’s Park North.  Residents are asked to call 311 to report encampments so the specialized teams at the City can work with encampment occupants.

On June 22nd there was a single vehicle collision with personal injury on Queen's Park Crescent East.  Two trees were broken and there was damage to both the crosswalk light pole and a highway style sign.

A water leak in the children's splash pad at Clover Hill Park which is causing flooding in the lower portion of the park has been reported to the Parks Supervisor.
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Workers from the City's Cafe TO program installed signs on the traffic blocks by Bar Volo patio on Saturday July 12th from 3:30 to 4 am.  After a complaint to Councillor Moise's office, the Transportation Department explained that work is generally scheduled at night when there is less traffic.  Due to the large number of adjacent residents, the City will take this into account for future non-emergency maintenance.  Kathryn H. asked for volunteers to help with planting a pollinator garden at the newly reclaimed greenspace at Dr. Emily Stowe Way and Grenville Street, near Women’s College Hospital.  Construction is underway to convert the right turn lane into the pollinator garden, oak tree bioswale and a new BikeShare station.  Plants are expected to be delivered in the next week and any assistance is appreciated.

Nenke J. asked if the Bay Cloverhill neighbourhood would move to the University Rosedale district for all levels of government since the new federal ward boundary changes were in effect for the recent election.  Christine D. explained that Premier Ford has indicated he will not follow tradition and will keep the existing provincial districts.  The City has an option to follow either the federal or provincial districts, but will likely retain the existing boundaries since one district was eliminated in Toronto. 

Community and Special Events

Upcoming events were announced.  The Word on the Street Festival will not be at Queen's Park this year, but instead held at David Pecaut Square.  Details are available on www.baycloverhill.com/specialevents.html.