The current lot GPS: GPS Coordinates:43.6653888, -79.4625817
Picture Credit – bricoleurbanism flickr
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Is the lot where the Mc brides bike retail operation at 2797 DundasSt W Toronto (greatly missed by all?) to become a self serve car wash.
submitted by Martin L. who found this new application for the lot.
Application before the city – Details
new one storey and partial two storey manually operated car wash building on the lot.
Application Number 09 136069 STE 14 SA
Application Status Application Submitted
Date Received May 11, 2009
Community Meeting Date —
Status Date May 11, 200
Statutory Meeting Date —
Proposed Non-Residential GFA (sq m) 538
Proposed Residential GFA (sq m) 0
Lot Size (sq m) 1729
Proposed Residential Units 0
Proposed Storeys 2
27 Comments
Few things do less for a community than a car wash which makes this development beyond disappointing.
Let’s not forget the history of this site and fact that an historic building was destroyed to clear this lot. This project does not comply with any of the Official Plan objectives for an avenue and must be opposed.
Carwash???? How depressing…
I'm not particularly excited by the idea of a self-serve car wash here, but it seems obvious to me that this is a way for the owner to make some money from the site rather than leaving it as a vacant lot until the economy improves. Which would you rather have – a car wash or a vacant lot? That's not a rhetorical question, I'm really asking.
Junction Resident , has a point, a car wash is not the best solution for the long term, but does provide a useful and needed? service to the community. The owner of this site is a developer with interest in the community and owns other property in the area, and who has donated to community issues. Really this must be a decision that they made on economic level.
Wondering if the immediate area will like it? …. as it will greatly increase the amount of people in the area daily, making is safer?
There is a similar carwash at St.Claire and Keele and it is HIDEOUS… I agree with Junction Resident of'course, just disappointed.
I think I’d rather have an empty lot.
Correct me if I’m wrong but the developer pays property tax on the earlier proposed condo because he tore down the old building in haste?
If this is temporarily turned into a small business it will only a delay a proper development and nullify the property tax incentive the city uses to discourage empty lots.
Perhaps with the community’s consent the property tax could be reduced if the developer turned this into an open space for a weekend market or other use that benefits the area.
Is this the same developer that owns the site of the Junction Sq?
and Martin has a point. I am so confused, I guess I get stuck into wanting to see street trafic in that area. It is so forlorn.
…been told as much, from very reliable source, but have not chked the documents, as the source is never not been right.
Look on the bright side – it’s not a strip club. Still, I vote for an empty lot over a car wash. If it’s coin-operated there’ll be no employment opportunities.
I'm sure the residences won't mind the pile drivers being drowned out by the thumping of the car stereos.
Can anyone explain to me who the group of people were tying cloth to the fence surrounding the old McBride lot this evening?
No question, I would prefer a vacant lot to a car wash. Surely, there is some other less permanent use for the site.
The economy will pick up soon and nearby contruction of the Village by High Park Condos and the Annette church conversion lofts, will provide more business opportunites in the hood…businesses that serve the community and streetescape far better.
After all, right around the corner on Keele, between Dundas and St. Clair, there are already two other car washes!!! There is the Esso and a self-serve farther north.
Does the Junction want to become the car wash capital of Toronto?
Is there a community meeting to find out more about this and voice our concerns?
I'd rather see a vacant lot than another car wash, there are at least 2 self serve car washes within a short drive as well as automated ones as well. Such a waste of water, plant grass and trees and use the water for that.
It is substantially cheaper to build a hollow, three-sided cinder-block structure than to put up anything that could house long-term businesses. And it can be torn down in a day or two. My assumption is that this is not intended to be a permanent structure, but a temporary way to get some revenue out of the site.
A car wash wouldn't be my first choice of business, but I didn't get a vote on any of the other businesses in the area either.
what if it's a 5-10 year lease/contract? What if it actually makes a handsome profit? We'll have this hideous monstrosity here for ever.. I would love to attend a public meeting to stop this "development" but I honestly doubt that it would make any difference.
Yep, we'll be the car wash capital of Toronto….
Why is it that even when the economy was firing on all cylinders, during that large condo boom this site sat empty? I'd rather see it empty until something more worthy of the site is proposed. Look at the other car washes in the area, which haven't exactly went away when the economy picked up.
Cheap property speculation like this really hurts the Junction. Dundas through the Junction is a historic retail and residential area. This just doesn't fit in at all to the nature of the street!
It's unacceptable to have any more car washes are built on this strip.
maybe this proposal will get the community on board with the idea to build condos, lesser of two evils
A car wash….NOOOOOOOO!!!!! Can the application to the city be denied??? Maybe the local councillor's office should be contacted about this. It doesn't fit in with the official plan and presumably, it's going to be coin operated so, beyond the bare-bones construction, it won't create any jobs. This is terrible news.
I don't find condos evil, they take up less land, inprove local retail (more jobs), can have green roofs, all kinds of energy saving initiatives, car shares, community rooms…etc.. (we bought a condo at Dundas/Keele). It would be fabulous if someone decided to buy this empty lot for town homes/condos!
That's sad.
I have been waiting for a long time to see what would go up in this space. As a resident who lives in that 'that part of the Junction near the good part' I had been hoping for something that would extend the arts and cafe culture a little closer to home. Somehow I don't think a car wash will help with this…
A carwash! Thanks for restoring my faith in Toronto and in the West End. This is such a great, forward thinking solution to the problem of an empty lot. The more carwashes and urban dead zones the better – this will really solidify the Junction's credentials as an eyesore and as a Mecca for white trash. Why don't we seek international recognition by marketing this area as what it will rapidly become with help from these “business owners”: a site that encapsulates the mediocrity and poverty of imagination that is Toronto in 2009. I feel like writing to the New York Times and informing them of the latest developments in an area they recently felt was so ‘hip’.
There is a meeting with Gord Perks & City Planner at Indian Road Public School On 9/16/2009 @ 7.00
I don't see how a car wash at this site adds any value at all to this community. How will it contribute to improving the already heavy traffic flow along Dundas? How will it affect water pressure in the area? Why should residents be expected to put up with something it doesn't want in the area just so a developer, who took a risk when purchasing the property, can make some money.
Hi! just becoming aware of the situation, will be at the meeting tomorrow, BUT, this site was a well loved, Bowling Alley before Mc Bride's, all the more criminal that it was allowed to be pulled down!!! (shades of the railway station situation). No more car washes, they are… just up Keele at the Shell Place & along Dundas near St. Johns. (Totally 'Negative Space!!!').
Perhaps an 'Avante Guarde', (Green Space), ala Yorkville's unusual garden with Rock/Fountain/Water Feature!! Let's find sponsors!?! Pat.