Toronto city council has overwhelmingly approved a dramatic makeover of Lawrence Heights, the North York public-housing complex often derided as "The Jungle."
Council voted 41 to 3 in favour of the main proposal, despite the objections of mayoral candidate Rob Ford and dozens of opponents who packed council chambers Tuesday.
"Put yourself in their shoes for a minute," Mr. Ford said of the upset homeowners, most from the Orthodox Jewish communities that abut Lawrence Heights. "They're not being listened to, it's getting rammed down their throat(s) ... This has to come back to the new council. With the new council, the new mayor, things will change."
Mr. Ford was the only councillor to demand the revitalization be halted before a spade goes into the ground. The rest of council gave Howard Moscoe, the project's champion, a rare standing ovation after the vote.
"What's happening in Lawrence Heights is a remarkable piece of city building that we should all be proud of," Mayor David Miller said.
Lawrence Heights is a 60-hectare, 1,208-unit housing complex bisected by the Allen expressway, north of Lawrence Avenue West. Built between 1955 and 1959, the project is hemmed in by a looping road with few through-streets, which leaves a community of new immigrants cut off from the nearby post-war suburbs.
"[Lawrence Heights]carries with it the stigma of being 'The Jungle' because this community, this ghetto, has been created and walled off from the rest of the world. It's a public disgrace," Mr. Moscoe said. "If you just simply repaired all the housing you wouldn't be repairing anything."
The city and Toronto Community Housing Corporation proposed bulldozing Lawrence Heights over 20 years and rebuilding it as a mixed-income community blending affordable housing with as many as 6,300 market-priced units in new condos, adding 16,000 residents.Council passed a motion Tuesday that would limit the number of new market units to 5,500, a sop to opponents who feared the population influx would overwhelm sewers, roads and other infrastructure.
But Jack Goldhar, who lives southeast of the revitalization site and belongs to a new coalition calling itself Save Our Streets, said the reduction in density doesn't go far enough.
"[Our opposition]is about pushing so many vehicles through an area that's supposed to be a residential area. It's just horrible," he said. "They [councillors]talk about concerns about Lawrence Heights individuals, how about the people who are directly adjacent to it? How about their feelings?"
While City Hall and TCHC have been working on the redevelopment proposal for two years, significant opposition outside Lawrence Heights cropped up only recently. Save our Streets held a rally June 20 at which Mr. Ford vowed to kill the plan; he presented a petition with more than 1,800 signatures to council Tuesday.
Tension reached its zenith at North York Community Council last month, where the committee backed the proposal unanimously, but only after chair Maria Augimeri riled community opponents by calling them racist.
Council provided directions for the 10-hectare first phase, where 233 dilapidated townhouses would be torn down and replaced with new affordable units, and 1,046 market-priced units. It also approved the complete project in principle.
City staff estimate the revitalization will cost $240.6-million, including upgrades to sewers and other infrastructure, much of it paid for by private-sector development of the site.
Kelly Grant