Some 900 Long Branch area residents have signed a petition calling for a halt of this major Lake Promenade development.
More than 900 area residents have signed an online petition demanding changes or a halt of a massive Long Branch condo development.
Five residential towers have been proposed to redevelop 220, 230 and 240 Lake Promenade and 21 and 31 Park Boulevard, across from the shores of Lake Ontario.
Signs have gone up around the large property warning residents that an application for the changes are before the hearings process.
The proposal would see some low rise apartments with 548 residential units being demolished to be replaced by two 12 storey buildings, two 14 and two 30 storey mixed use buildings.
Hundreds of residents have been living in these apartments that are slated to be demolished for new development.
The older low-rises being demolished are the home to many seniors who have lived here for decades, are older and being threatened with demolition and having to move.
“We have roots, friends, family, schools, doctors, and social lives are all based here and we love it,” according to the petition. “Most of us are in rent-controlled apartments … and we expected to live out our lives in this place, not having to fear major rent increases in our lifetime.”
The petition states that residents are being threatened with a five to 10 year construction zone that would uproot the tenants of two buildings, who would have to move away until the new rental buildings are finished.
Signs now warn residents that a new development is coming that will change the face of their quiet, lakeside community.
“Hundreds of people would have to put with living in a construction zone until we also get moved away from our beloved lakefront hundreds of feet away,” according to the petition. “There would be obscured views as there are no 30-storey skyscrapers, or buildings over 10 storeys in our neighbourhood,”
It said 30 storey towers are three times too high for the community.
The proposed buildings will have a total of 2,021 suites, 548 of which would be rental replacement, 29 of which would be market rental, and 1,444 of which would be market condo suites. The complete can take as long as 10-years to be completed.
Residents say many seniors have been living in the apartments to be demolished for decades and will now have to move.
The project calls for 1,307 new parking spaces for vehicles in three underground garages of two storeys each, with 101 of the spots meant for visitors. Located alongside the Waterfront Trail, there are 1,556 resident bicycle spaces planned across the site, or about .75 spaces per unit, with another 86 spots for visitors.
Residents said their streets are narrow, most have no sidewalks and not made for major traffic that would happen if density was increased never mind what the truck traffic would be like for years during construction.
They said the incoming condos area are not on a roadway or convenient for public transit.
“This kind of increased density would destroy many people’s long-time homes, darken the surrounding houses and completely change the character of this small community,” according to residents.
The petition can be accessed on change.org