Item - 2020.IE11.20

The Infrastructure and Environment Committee recommends that:

1. City Council direct the General Manager, Solid Waste Management Services and the General Manager, Parks, Forestry and Recreation, to explore the feasibility of transforming "Parkland Location number 8" identified in Attachment 1 to the letter (January 6, 2020) from Councillor James Pasternak into public parkland and/or green space, and report back by the end of the third quarter of 2020 with the findings.

The Duke Heights BIA (DHBIA) in Ward 6 is home to over 2500 businesses, employs over 31,000 people and hosts one of the largest concentration of manufacturing enterprises in Toronto. Throughout the years the DHBIA has moved away from the old perceptions of the area and created a new and vibrant community that’s connected and committed to growth.

In August 2017 the DHBIA released a report highlighting parkland deficiencies within their boundaries. The report focuses on several pockets of land within employment areas that could be transformed into public parkland space. The BIA has then focused their initial efforts on transforming a piece of City owned land at the Dufferin Transfer Station, which they have labelled as "Parkland Location #8" (see Attachment #1).

Located in a central part of the southwest BIA quadrant, this piece of City owned land holds significant frontage along both Vanley Crescent and Chesswood Drive, one of the BIA’s main thoroughfares. Creating a park from the current mature green space and installing park amenities would create a valuable social node. With several sizeable trees already present, and because the Dufferin Transfer Station is already set back a great distance from the road, creating a comfortable parkette space could be a feasible endeavour. The parkland would also serve as the gateway to an envisioned multipurpose trail, part of the City Cycling plan, which will link Dufferin St. and Chesswood Dr., throughout the Dufferin Station Woodlot.

A recent potential development application at 35 Chesswood Ave. proposes to construct a new office building within the Dufferin Transfer Station lands. This future development will eventually alter the landscape at the station while creating a viable opportunity to redesign Parkland Location #8 into public parkland space.