8/16/2019 2016-05-09 The Need for a Community Centre for the Humber Bay Shores Community (May 2016)

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COMMUNITY CT ION

THE NEED FOROMMUNITY CENTRE

FOR THE HUMBER BAY SHORES COMMUNITYY DON HENDER S ON I POSITION PPROVED Y HBSC

B CKGROUND

In the Winter 2014 issue of Humber

Happenings , residents may recall that

the Humber Bay Shores Condom inium

Association announced that Empire Com

munities Development had donated their

6,ooo square foot Presentation Centre to

HBSCA. Once decommissioned as a sa les

centre, the building would be re-d esigned

to function as a community centre. Coun

cillor Mark Grimes and then President jim

Reekie made this announcement in

Humber Happenings thoug h further meet

ings were nece ss ary to work out structura l

and functional details in orderto make this

conversion happen. It was hoped that as a

non-profit organization, the building's

operatio nal and maintenance costs cou ldbe ne go tiated in the same manner as other

non-profit, city-owned properties are sub

sidized e.g. leasing for r per an n um for an

X-term lease).

Sub seque nt to these di scussio ns with

Empir e Communities and Counci llor

Grimes, city staff raised a number of co n

ce rn s that wo uld crea te obstacles to

permanent use of the building by the

community; notwithstanding th e builder

agreeing to a number of st ructural re-fitmodifications (lowering the b uildin g

onto a new foundation and other

interio r alterations). City e ng ine er ing staff

appeared to be adama nt that future u se of

Empire's Presentation Centre as a Humber

Bay Com munity Ce nt r e would not be pos

sible w ith out renovation expenditures

amounting to over 4.4 million.

Discussions culmi nated at the Ward 6

Announcement of a Public Information

Meeting he ld on February r6, 2016 at the

~ E RB Y E

ONDOMINIUM SSOCI TION

r s n tation Centre AnnouncementHumber Happenings Winter 2 0 1 4

Mimico Centennia l Librar y. This public

co ns ultati o n meeting was ca lled to dis

cuss the Humber Bay Parks Project as part

of a construct ion master plan of a parks

pavilion or Com munity facility near the

ponds at Humber Bay Park East targeted

to open in 2018. Projected cost of th is

project would be about 7 million.

HBSCA in meetings with Counci ll or

Gr im e s and Empire Com munities had

hoped to direct funds to th e re-purpo se dPresentation Centre renovat io n s g iven

that a building opportunity was a lread y

available in a central lo catio n, albeit wit h

the need for recommended a lterations / re

positioning . Funding for the renovations

cou ld be, in part from t he benefactor, and

the City (Section 37 funds).

REQUISITES FOR CONSIDER TION

The HBSCA has maintained that an acces

sible and lo ca l co mmunity centre for its

cu rrent and future resident s was sorely

needed. It is expected by 2017 once cur

rent co ndo constr u ct ion is comp leted,

there wi ll be in excess of28,ooo resident s

living in 30 plus hi-rise condominiums

within a sm a ll commun it y footprint des

ignated as Humber Bay Shores . In

lo oking at principles that wou ld support

the need for a commu ni t y centre, a 2005

study concluded that the following

essent ial e lements sh o uld exist; popula

tion base and re so urce s support, a

community image or identity, area attrac

tions or events and location availability

as a ce nt r al hub of residential , business

and recreational ac t ivity.

What is lac k in g is a st ruct ur al fac ili ty or

gathering place for commu ni ty stakehold ers (pub lic meetings, police stop,

indoor events, and spec ial - in t erest func

tions, etc.); in essence a formal commun ity

manage ·m en t centre. With many public

cen tres, the muni cip ality pro vides essen

tial fundin g assistance in the way of

operational sub s idi es . Additionally ot her

local non-profit organizations pa y th e City

r /year for facility use with lease ass ur ance

of lon g-te rm 'proprietorship' .

PURPOSE OF COMMUNITY CENTRE

A community Ce ntre is a public location

where members of a comm unit y gather

for group activities , soc ial support, public

information or other soc io-re c reational

events. Not unlike a public park,

a community ce nt r e serves the local pop

ulation s need for a n educational,

recreational and socia l re so urce.

TheCommunityCentre could be co m

munit y-ow ned in partn e rship with the

8/16/2019 2016-05-09 The Need for a Community Centre for the Humber Bay Shores Community (May 2016)

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n . C i y o i T O I O I ' I I C I I I O i d f P i o t l l l e ~ • - W I Y t o ~ r - n 1 h e W . . o l . , _ o t yT _ . , _ o n J C M ~ d u l 8 1 ' 1 d . r : I D ' I L W f i W M ) " D U I O v - t ~

um ber a y

Parks Proj

ect

Publk: tnformaUon MHitng

~ l 0 1 6 . 1 1 4 C i l y o i T G I O I ' I I O w i l t l o t g l r l 1 h e p & I I Y W ' I g l l ' l d d e 5 9 " o i ~ I O..........B i o y P a t k E J I I a n d W e M . M a W l V ' M i h l h t ~ B a y P ~ M H J e r P J n - l l e

c : o n s r \ l l : l l o n o l l h e p w t s P t W i o n . t l ' l t W ~ 1 1 d i t y ~ J r t ~ N d 1 0 0 1 * ' 1... 2018 .

· ~ l h e p l o , e c : : l 5 a l p l l l l n d l l m e l i r l l l

• Olscul1CO'I'III'IO""r-nWdodMs..tnd· ~ P f i i i ' O n e l i i $ M p a .

Cii)'IIJII .... b e J ~ I O ~ J b o u llhellfOIK1 Courldllort.laflr.Gnrnet W¥dfi{ ~ w i l t b O b e.. .E _ . , a n t i i ~ I O ~

Date : Tuesday , February 16 2016

rwne : 6 t o l p .m .

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, . . . . . . ._, .. l o c : o l e c l e c l " f C D O I . - . r ; . - N ~ f - C I I r ' A o r m a i i O n . - . d , . . , . , . . , . o l... .Ace . w., . , . ,ocepl le lnal l l f i SOIIII . . . . . ._I I_ . . , ._I*Iat . , . l l ld t . -o

Publ ic nf ormati on Mee ting N ot iceon P ro pose d Pa vilion

municipality and operated by a desig

nated community group (vo lunteer

ratepayers, resident-business associa

tion). Funding for centres often come

from donations or benefactors (bui lders),

Development Charges for infrastructure

and Section 37 funds for community ben

efit, event-renta l and City fund i ng (orwaiv ing of rent and maintenance costs .).

In other jurisdictions re-purposed

schoo ls, churches or other large faci I t ies

are often acquired by the City to subs i

dize a community centre.

In the planning rationa le over many

years that crafted Humber Bay Shores,

there can be no d isp u te that t he City,

builders and Ontario Municipal Board are

the architects of our urban intens ifica

tio n ; t h e good or bad effects of th is

planning thrust u pon our residents and

to be ceremoniously ret u rned to the com

munity. A subsid ized HBS Community

Centre wou ld be an appreciated start.

Pre vio u s ly Propo sed Location of

The Ci ty s Pav ilion in Humber Bay ParkEas t (HBPE):

The HBSCA is not in favour of the natu

ra l ized HBPE site and wo u ld prefer the

cu rrent Empire Presentation Centre loca

tion for use as a Community Centre. The

Presentatio n Centre structure had been

gifted to t he commu n ity Association i n

20 4 . This bu ild ing is central and within

wa lking distance to the Condom iniums.

This site is of modest size, has a smallparking lot and is close to larger public

parking lots w ith in the Humber Park. If

this site is deemed to be unsuitable as a

Community Centre, there are other loca

tions t h at could be considered as

alternatives to the City-proposed

HBPE site; inc lud i ng Humber Bay Park

West and the e m p loyment -desig n ated

Christies parcel (negotiated with future

purchaser by City).

In consideration of the foregoin g ,Be It Re solved that:

In conc lusion, with the Emp ire Commu

nities gifting of a m u lti-mi ll ion dollar

(presentatio n) centre to the non-prof i t

Hu mber Bay Shores Condominium Asso

ciation and the availability of a small park

to ho u se s uch a fac il ity , it is the HBSCA s

position that t h e City commit to fu nding

t he renovation / re-posi t ioning and m a in

te n a n ce of t h e prese nt at ion ce n tre as

p u b licly announced in the winter of

businesses . Consistent wi t h the 2 0 0 5 2 0 r4 . Alternatively, if both the Humber

P laces to Grow Act of Ontario c ustomary Bay Shores co m mu n ity and m u nicipa li ty

tax-based services provided in urban

sprawl are w ithdrawn in areas of intense

co n do m in iu m growth, leaving t hi s

unique populous to double-down o n

m u nicipal serv ice fees. T h is mu n icipa l

tax gain, as we ll as taki n g in to account

Deve lopment Charges and Sectio n 37/ 45

contr ibu tions passed on to b uyers, oug ht

find t hat this is n ot a viable optio n , t h at

the needs of the Humber Bay Shores com

m u nity be identif ied a n d accommodated

within a HBS Pavilion, through an open

process coordi n ated in co ll aborat ion

w ith th e municipa lity and representa

t ives of the Humber Bay Sh ores

co m m u nity.

Both op t ions would result i n the

esta bli s h ment of a co m m u n i ty ce n t re

si m i lar to ot h er commu n ity -based ce n

tres in Toronto and cons istent wi t h th e

City of Toronto Parks and Facilities

Master Plan. 0

Don Henderson is

HBSC President,

having formerly

served as the board sVice President. He has

been actively involved

in the community for

almost two decades.