LISA RAINFORD
• Apr 23, 2010 - 4:48 PM
• Inside Toronto article
For complete article go to the first "Page" posted opposite or to this link:
http://www.insidetoronto.com/news/local/article/805069--homeowner-allowed-to-demolish-baby-point-home
Homeowner allowed to demolish Baby Point home.
More than 150 people - 90 per cent of the neighbourhood - have registered their opposition against the project, saying its mass and density is greater than twice as large as the homes around it. The adjacent homes average 2,700 square feet. The Bozinoffs house would be two and a half times larger than the average, said neighbour Robert Galway, who has lived in the area for 40 years.
"I don't understand council's decision when you have a fact like that staring you in the face," he said.
Mary Anne De Monte-Whelan, a Baby Point resident for the past two decades, said most homes in the area have been restored to some extent or another.
"Are we against improving homes? No, lots of us have done it, but there is a certain way of respecting the neighbourhood when you do it," she said. "I've lived in two Robert Home Smith homes and they were extremely architecturally strong homes. It can be done if there's a desire. There are many, many places you can go if you want a monstrous home. This isn't one of those places, they're not in Baby Point."
The optimal approach to this project would be to restore the present property to its former glory, said Galway, while retaining its architectural authenticity and the integrity of the streetscape.
"The architectural foresight of Robert Home Smith, the developer of the Baby Point area, was ahead of his time
His principles of property layout are deserving of respect and should not give way to architectural largesse as is the case associated with this application.
Even though the majority of the neighbourhood opposes the project, dubbed a "McMansion," Saundercook said the "chances at the Ontario Municipal Board were not very favourable to the opposition."
Saundercook said he wanted to work with the owner/applicant and not against him.
Asked how he is dealing with his neighbour's disapproval of his proposed new home, Bozinoff said, "We're mulling over the comments."
Friday, April 23, 2010
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1 comment:
I am unable to understand why the Councillor made the choice to work with the applicant and not be guided by the well articulated legitimate concerns of his constituents.
To label them "the opposition" is both insensitive and insulting and speaks more about himself than it does his constituency.
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