Annex residents attend public meeting on proposed condos built near site of CP derailment

Residents in Toronto's Annex neighbourhood worried that proposed condo towers in the area would be too close to a CP rail line — the same line that saw a derailment earlier this year — were given the rare opportunity to attend a public mediation Tuesday evening under one condition: that they keep what they heard in the public meeting to themselves.

A developer had proposed a 29-storey condo and a 15-storey condo at 328 Dupont Street, which the city rejected, saying it was too tall and, at between only 0.5 to two metres away, too close to the CP rail line.

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The proposed towers then came under public scrutiny after a CP train derailed just metres away from the proposed site. Two trains collided in August, with one of the locomotives rupturing a fuel tank and leaking thousands of litres of fuel.

After the proposal was rejected by the city, it went to the Ontario Municipal Board for mediation. Residents who attended the meeting at University of Toronto Schools building in the Annex on Tuesday were expected to hear developers present a counter-offer. 

"I'm concerned about the rail safety aspect and the plans for multi-residential facilities that will be awfully close to the tracks," 65-year-old Ed Janiszewski, who lived in the Annex for 40 years but currently lives in Seaton Village, told CBC News.

"Unless they plan to move them, which would be terrific," he added.

OMB too secretive, says Toronto councillor

OMB mediations are usually held behind closed doors, but Tuesday's meeting was opened to residents with the proviso they don't talk about it.

Annex resident Reid Pickering, who attended the mediation, questioned the effectiveness of, and need for, the OMB's secrecy.

"It's a public meeting and with social media this is going to be all over the neighbourhood in 15 minutes," he told CBC News.

"Perhaps it's start of a new way of doing things," he added. "Rather than having these meetings go on behind closed doors, it's time these are brought a little bit out in the open so communities can get a better idea of what developments are happening in their areas and how they're going to affect them."

Ward 20 Councillor Joe Cressy says without Tuesday's meeting, residents would only have learned about the results of the mediation after council voted on it behind closed doors.

"It is a confidential meeting just for residents but it's to give them an opportunity to see what's being proposed and have their say, " Cressy told CBC News. "The OMB [taking] decisions out of the local community's hands is unacceptable."

Cressy said the secrecy surrounding OMB is one of the reasons he wants it abolished.

Janiszewski agreed, saying the secrecy around the meeting is indicative of the "OMB's directives and nonsense that they continue to do." 

"I'm not pleased at all," he added. "I think the city should be divested of the OMB and create its own local establishment to try and determine what's appropriate for each community."

"The OMB should not have such a high influence on development in the city."