Category: Tenant Concerns

Dear fellow TTA members and tenants,

As you know, there is a major construction project across the street from us on the west side of Dunfield Avenue. The developer, Plazacorp, is constructing 2 new apartment buildings there, one on the Holly Street side (27 stories) and one on the Dunfield Avenue side (34 stories).

Plazacorp applied to the City for approval to set up a Construction Staging Area across from our front driveway for 40 months. The Toronto and East York Community Council (TEYCC) considered the request on June 18.

Owing to protests from the Torontonian Tenants’ Association (TTA) and individual tenants of 45 Dunfield and with the support of our local Councillor, Josh Matlow, the proposal was NOT approved as submitted.

The TEYCC re-considered the request on July 16 and this time it was approved for one year with a number of amendments, the most important ones being:

c. Amend Recommendation 19 as follows:
“19. Toronto and East York Community Council direct the applicant to clearly consult and communicate all construction, parking and road occupancy impacts with the local ward Councillor, local business improvement areas and resident associations in advance of any physical road modifications.”

d. And the following new recommendation:
“Toronto and East York Community Council direct the applicant to review options with the Construction Hub Coordinator to decrease the construction staging area as it is being approved through this decision, and present a new proposal to Community Council upon the 12 month approval expiry.”

For more details and the actual City documents please click on the link below.
http://app.toronto.ca/tmmis/viewAgendaItemHistory.do?item=2020.TE16.69

After the TEYCC turned down Plazacorp’s initial request, an informal meeting was arranged by Slavisa Mijatovic, one of Josh Matlow’s staff, with various parties involved. Attached is a list of the participants and the series of questions the TTA provided and the answers (with some minor grammatical edits) provided by the Plazacorp VP of Construction, Mike Saliba.

Webex Meeting, Wednesday, July 8, 2020
Subject: Construction Staging Area – Dunfield Avenue

Attendees
Slavisa Mijatovic – Councillor Matlow’s Office – Meeting Coordinator
Stuart McGhie – Construction Hub Coordinator (City of Toronto)
Anne Hayes – Torontonian Tenants’ Association
Jim McCarthy – Torontonian Tenants’ Association
Robyn Rabinowitz – PlazaCorp’s VP of Development
Mike Saliba – PlazaCorp’s VP of Construction

Our Concerns/Questions – Answers supplied by Mike Saliba

a. How many & what type of trucks and machinery will use this site & when during the project?

The staging area will be used differently through 3 phases:
• 1st phase is below-grade forming. Activities include delivery of concrete and rebar materials.
• 2nd phase is hoisting deliveries and delivery of precast/windows.
• 3rd phase is landscape and streetscape work.

b. Will vehicles be allowed to idle and if so, for how long?

• Generally, we ask drivers to turn off their vehicles. However, for certain activities idling is required. Also, during very hot or cold days drivers in their vehicles might need to keep their trucks running for heating or cooling.

c. What kind of materials will be stored there?

• Generally, there will not be many materials stored in the staging area. There may be times where a rebar or precast truck delivers materials in the afternoon to be unloaded the following day.

d. Where will all their workers park?

• We have secured many parking stalls in nearby underground garages for our workers. The rest are responsible for finding their own parking off site.

e. What will they do to minimize dust, keep the entrance clear of mud & other debris?

• Most of the activities that create dust and mud are complete. We have approximately 1 month left of excavation and then the dust and mud should be reduced significantly. During the excavation period we have street sweepers contracted to clean as required. After excavation the street sweepers will be engaged as required.

f. What days will they operate?

• Generally, our work hours are 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday to Friday, and two Saturdays a month, from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. There are times where we will work past 5:00 p.m. but we always work within the confines of the noise by-law implemented by the City of Toronto.

g. What will be the work hours?

• Addressed in previous question.

h. Will there be a traffic-control person there at all times?

• A traffic-control person will be at the gates at all times when deliveries/ coordination is required.

i. Why can’t they use the space at the south-west corner of Dunfield and Soudan?

• For the activities required, the space at the south-west corner of Dunfield and Soudan is too far away from the building site.

j. How will Plazacorp communicate with tenant/resident associations per Council direction?

• See link below to the Plazacorp website/portal for its current residents:
http://www.pureplaza.com/toronto-condos/plaza-midtown/community-portal

k. Will there be a number and/or email available to alert someone in authority if something is happening that shouldn’t be?

• Lauro Franz – Senior Site Superintendent and in control of all day-to-day site activity. Can call to discuss any issues which arise.
• Plaza Midtown
33 Holly Street & 44 Dunfield Avenue
m: 416-702-5111
e: LFranz@tmgbuilders.ca

A few extra points to note:

• Plazacorp have already secured at least 50 underground parking spots in the neighbourhood for workers, estimated at times to be around 200! [Q. d.].

• They do not intend to take advantage of the provincial regulation that would allow them to work from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. 7 days a week but will stick to the present schedule [Q.’s f & g].

• Their website/portal has very little detail on what is actually going on so we may ask that they “beef it up” a bit [Q. j]. There is also info on the size & costs of the new condo units. If you are interested be prepared for sticker shock!

• They provided numbers to call if we see any problems or if we get complaints, plus the City Construction Hub Coordinator seems keen to address any issues we have, especially with idling trucks.

If you have a complaint or an issue that you want to communicate to Plazacorp, please let the TTA know — torontoniancommunications@gmail.com — so we can compile information on issues that might affect more than one TTA member. Any questions can also be directed to the TTA’s email account.

Photo by Greyson Joralemon on Unsplash

The developer constructing the 2 new apartment buildings across the street from us on the west side of Dunfield Avenue has asked the City to approve a Construction Staging Area directly across from our front driveway on Dunfield Avenue. They want to set up this Staging Area for 40 months starting June 22.

A Construction Staging Area is a designated area where vehicles, supplies, and construction equipment are positioned for access and use to a construction site. It is where dump trucks, heavy equipment deliveries, and cement trucks will also be constantly coming and going.

This request will be reviewed on Thursday, June 18 by the Toronto and East York Community Council (a sub-committee of the main City Council but which has the authority to approve requests like this). Below is an extract of comments sent to the City at 311 asking that they be forwarded on to the Council.

“The tenants of 45 Dunfield, have been surrounded by and subjected to massive construction projects for the last 4 years (not counting the LRT work just up the street). Our building has been subjected to 3 Construction staging areas: 1 on the south-east corner of Dunfield & Soudan, 1 on the south-west corner of Lillian & Soudan (both for over 30 months) & currently 1 on the south-east corner of Lillian and Soudan. The amount of dirt, dust, idling trucks and the traffic congestion was not and still is not controlled adequately, either by the developers or the City. Whatever directions the City may have given to the developers (If any) have largely been ignored. Not infrequently, there were line-ups of dump trucks and/or cement trucks idling from early in the morning (prior to 7 a.m.) to late in the day.

The hope is that the request is not approved as is and that alternative options are explored. To that end, the following is suggested:

1. Use the area where the developer plans to convey 1,606 square metres of land for a park as the staging area (south-west corner of Dunfield and Soudan);

Failing that –

2. Restrict work to 5 p.m. Monday to Friday (excluding Holidays) and no work on Saturdays or Sundays;

3. Enforce/crackdown on idling trucks both for the time of day and duration.”

WE NEED TO VOICE OUR CONCERNS NOW!

Please take the time to send a message to the Toronto and East York Community Council that this is not acceptable. You can also copy your comments to Josh Matlow, our City Councillor, who also sits on this Committee – councillor_matlow@toronto.ca and to the Torontonian Tenants’ Association – torontoniancommunications@gmail.com

Below is a link to the City documents that provide specifics related to this request.

http://app.toronto.ca/tmmis/decisionBodyProfile.do?function=doPrepare&meetingId=18757

See Item 15.18. Click on the link & then open this Item. It shows the Tracking Status recap about what is going to be discussed at this Committee. Then go to the bottom & click on the link under Background Information to access the Report For Action.

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Photo by Guillaume TECHER on Unsplash