The English poet William Blake was prescient in summing up the current development challenges at the intersection of Yonge and Eglinton. In his collection of aphorisms titled “Proverbs of Hell,” Blake writes the classic words, “Enough! Or Too Much.”
Some people think there is not enough development around the Yonge-Eglinton intersection. City planners have given approval to a 24-storey tower at 90 Eglinton Ave. W., replacing a solid-looking six-storey structure. North York Community Council brushed aside strong local opposition, including from local councillors Josh Matlow, Jaye Robinson and Christin Carmichael Greb, and recommended the development to Toronto City Council at the next meeting.
I suspect any reasonable person wandering the sidewalks of Yonge and Eglinton would conclude the area has fallen into the Too Much category. The Eglinton Centre on the northwest corner has seen the open space in front of its two towers taken over by a new six- and seven-storey structure. A giant tower is being constructed on the northeast corner, and the two-storey shops to the north along Yonge will surely be replaced by a large development.
The southeast corner was developed in the last few years, and the two large Minto Towers to the south are now being outflanked by a larger structure being erected on the next block south, formerly home to the Art Shoppe. Across Yonge the mammoth Canada Square buildings loom, hiding the TTC bus yard — also up for redevelopment.
Only the south side of Eglinton west of Duplex seems reasonable: a four- or five-storey relatively new police station and then some modest four- and six-storey brick apartment buildings from the early 1950s. Turn your head and they might be under attack too.
It’s a fine time for developers who like the Too Much scenario. They can seize on the provincial policy that requires municipalities to intensify development around rapid transit nodes. With the Eglinton LRT construction well underway, this will be a big node.
The provincial policy doesn’t have any upper limit to the desirable degree of intensification. The Places to Grow plan estimates that Yonge-Eglinton in 2011 had more density than expected for 2031, and a lot has been added in the last six years. The sky is the limit, apparently.
And when it comes to the work of city planners, one comes away with the notion that there has been far Too Much planning. There’s the Employment Lands Study that says that to protect the balance of jobs/residents in the city that jobs should not be replaced by residents — a sound policy in a city like Toronto under such significant growth pressure.
The 90 Eglinton W. development only protects half the jobs now in the existing structure to be demolished, and the planners say that is close enough to be acceptable.
There’s the Eglinton Connects study that shows how everything will be better for everyone along the LRT line. And the Yonge Eglinton Secondary Plan that looks favourably at opportunities for change in the area. There’s the Midtown in Focus Study and the Tall Building Design Guidelines. All of this planning has resulted in Too Much development and Not Enough good thinking.
The planners have papered over the problems.
Even if city council takes the reasonable position of saying no to the 90 Eglinton W. development, one fears the Ontario Municipal Board, even in its new reformed clothes, will give it the green light. Recognizing when there’s Enough before it becomes Too Much requires modesty of the kind that Blake understood well but that many decision makers do not.
One fears too many people have swallowed another of Blake’s aphorisms, also found in “Proverbs of Hell”: “The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom.” The more we can pack into Yonge-Eglinton, the better it will be. Sure.
