On October 17th, the SKCA met with approximately 35 community residents at All Saints Anglican Church and received a presentation by Anne Anderson, President of the Humber Valley Village Residents Association, and Joanne Pickard, HVVRA VP, who spoke about their experience with the upcoming redevelopment of the Humbertown Shopping Centre and adjacent lands.

They emphasized the importance of SKCA focusing on fundraising to pay for the professional counsel required to make the best possible case to the OMB. In addition to the legal expert already retained (Bruce Ketcheson) they strongly advocated for a planning expert and urban designer (David Butler and Rick Merrill – see below.) Ms. Anderson’s comments also included the following:

“While it would be nice to avoid the cost of hiring an urban designer or architect and relying instead on the City’s experts, there are a few things to keep in mind. The developer’s urban design expert will outline all the reasons that the proposal ‘fits’ at this location and therefore represents good planning.  He/she will also present strong arguments against the 2004 Bloor Kingsway Urban Design Guidelines document to undermine its significance. Your urban designer/architect must refute its evidence by reinforcing the City’s expert testimony and offering different and potentially stronger evidence. Having two urban design witnesses in favour of 6 storeys is more compelling than one. At our January 2017 OMB hearing regarding the apartment buildings adjacent to Humbertown, our goals were not entirely the same as the City’s. At the end of the day, the OMB Chair ruled that the residents’ experts’ position was more reasonable and ruled accordingly.”