This week’s image: The new bike lanes on Bayview run between Rosedale Valley Road and River Street.
CABBAGETOWN NEIGHBOURHOOD
REVIEW
FEATURED LOCAL ARTIST
Betty White
Betty is a Cabbagetown artist who’s lived here since 1984. She’s our featured artist through August. Click on the image to enlarge it. Click here to visit Betty’s website. bettywhite.ca
MEMORIES OF RUSSIA, 47''X 35”, collage on canvas, gouache, paper, chalk
“My grandparents were from Russia. In ‘Memories of Russia’, history lives, heavy and rich with throbbing emotion while implacably transcendent of passing time. The memories are multi-layered, both powerful and gentle. darkness is punctuated by light, and both overlay and wed cushions of colour." Vera Ignatowitsch, poet and editor
A PERSONAL VIEW
Bill Morneau has left Parliament and Ottawa’s politics. A lot of reasons are being given - about various policy differences with the Prime Minister, about his connections to the WE charities and about his decision to leave before the next election. In the end, it’s also likely that he just decided that he didn’t want any more scheming and backstabbing.
It’s sad. We’ve lost a good man. He became a friendly, effective representative for our riding. He was originally parachuted in but he soon knew and enjoyed life in Cabbagetown. He responded to the City of Toronto by providing major support when the Mayor asked for more housing funds. And he was a good minister, piloting Canada’s finances during two extremely tough trials - the free trade negotiations and then the COVID-19 pandemic. He brought pension reforms for Canadian seniors, benefits for young families with kids and lower taxes for middle income earners.
Thanks Bill.
THE DAYCARE CENTRE
The daycare centre at Amelia and Sackville has received approval from the Toronto Local Appeal Body in a decision issued on Thursday August 13. The property owner, Robert Ulicki, was previously refused approval by the City’s Committee of Adjustment in April 2018. At that time, the issue divided the community and drew attention from media across Toronto. He appealed and TLAB member Stanley Makuch agreed with him.
This is an interim decision. Mr Ulicki now has until December 2021 to get an operating partner, devise a site plan and a parking plan and get a provincial license.
The TLAB decision
Stanley Makuch’s decision for the Toronto Local Appeal Body is based on four tests. Mr Makuch decided that the proposal meets these standards and he approved it with the provision that the decision will come into effect in December 2021.
Parking and traffic were big concerns at the hearings. He proposes that a range of 4, 5 or 6 parking spaces be reserved to drop-off and pick-up the kids, depending on the final enrolment numbers. These figures were acceptable to traffic experts representing all sides of the issue. He also found that pedestrian crossings on these small streets to get to the daycare would not be particularly risky. He does not directly address the question of traffic jams during these times.
He believes that the daycare can support the heritage quality of the neighbourhood. Daycares are described and accepted in the bylaw and the official plan. Furthermore, this proposal ensures that the entire historic facade of this property will be preserved.
The final approval is scheduled for December 10, 2021. This gives Mr Ulicki time to get a provincial license, to get City approval for the on-street parking and for the site plan, to get approval from heritage services and to negotiate a lease for boulevard parking. With these approvals, this decision will come into full force.
The decision is online here.
Neighbourhood reactions
Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam wants more daycare in her Ward but, “The problem with the application is that it doesn’t address how day to day operations of a daycare of the size being proposed could safely function given existing conditions.” The City Solicitor is now reviewing the decision with the possibility of pursuing more legal appeals - an approach that the Councillor supports.
Blaine Pearson, a neighbour across the street from the proposed daycare, says that she’s still trying to figure out what the decision means. She finds it convoluted.
Robert Ulicki, the building’s owner, is of course, really pleased. “It is”, he says, “a major hurdle that’s been overcome.”
Other neighbours acknowledge the need for some kind of child care facility here, especially as more young couples move into Cabbagetown. They are also anxious that the parking and traffic issues be solved.
Robert Ulicki’s plans
Mr Ulicki has set out several targets for his development of the new daycare centre. He needs to find a professional daycare operator. It’s an important decision for him since this operator will steer his proposals through the Ontario government procedures. Mr Ulicki plans to rent his buildings to the operator and let it sort out the standards and make the project viable. He also plans to supervise the final renovations for the property. It’s currently an empty shell, allowing him to meet government standards and to turn the building into an up-to-date facility.
LOCAL NEWS
New bike lanes
Cabbagetown Short Film Festival
Blair’s Run
In-studio classes
All-level Adult Modern is also offered this fall.
Please visit the website to learn more.
Cabbagetown Regent Park Museum Historical Tidbit
A blue moon isn’t blue. Nor is it always a sign of good luck as many sweet songs suggest. Folklore has sometimes deemed it to mean back luck. Are we in such a time? Maybe.
What is a blue moon? Two definitions have been proposed. The Farmer’s Almanac adopted the seasonal approach. Most three-month seasons have three full moons. Occasionally, however, a season has an extra full moon. The Almanac labelled the fourth full moon “blue.” Using this definition, there was a blue moon in 1937, as the Almanac predicted, and in 1918, as the records show.
Another interpretation is that the blue moon is a second full moon in one month. Using this definition, Toronto will experience a blue moon on October 31, 2020.
What kind of blue moon shone over Cabbagetown on August 22, 1918? It was definitely a bad moon rising. The Spanish flu hit the city about a month later, killing about 1,750 residents. What will this year’s blue moon on October 31 portend? Given our current COVID-19 pandemic, the signs are not good. But perhaps by Halloween, our luck will have changed a bit. And maybe by the time the next seasonal blue moon rises on August 22, 2021, we will be mask-free and filled with good luck.
COMING EVENTS
Under the Stars
We were. We are. We will be.
Local farmers markets
Taste of Regent Park
CityView Drive-in
IN THE MEDIA
Open streets in the post-pandemic future
WE charities divesting real estate
Daycare centre gets approval
Francine Kopun wrote a summary in The Star about the TLAB approval for the daycare project at Sackville and Amelia. Click here to read it.
BUSINESS NEWS
Children’s Book Bank
Yes, Kendall is Open
RESTAURANT NEWS
DOVA is coming
Your reviews
Headscratchers Trivia is back
Summer menu at The Irv
This week at Peartree
Cyril’s soups and juices
Email him to get all the details about each day’s menus.
CONTACT INFO
A comprehensive listing of our local food services is now available in our new Cabbagetown Directory.
The list includes bakeries, coffee shops, delis, restaurants and pubs. Each entry gives the name, address, phone number and a link to a Facebook page or website.
Click here to find your favourite.
