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SAVE CEDARVALE PARK - STOP CHANGES to CEDARVALE PARK UNTIL AN INDEPENDENT SITE PLAN IS CREATED

April 17, 2012

Why This Is Important
A CALL TO ACTION – SIGN THE CEDARVALE PARK PETITION

A MASTER PLAN IS NEEDED TO COORDINATE ALL THE CHANGES

Many changes are happening to Cedarvale Park quickly and without appropriate and/or any community consultation.

If you care about Cedarvale Park and the future of this unique city resource and want to ensure that any changes reflect the needs and wants of the community sign this petition.

To learn more and sign the petition click here

The petition asks Councillor Mihevc to HALT any proposed changes to Cedarvale Park and ear-mark funds for an independent body to prepare a SITE PLAN in collaboration with Parks and Recreation and community stakeholders.

THEREFORE, by signing the petition, you confirm that:

1) Money should be earmarked for an independent body to produce a SITE PLAN for Cedarvale Park in collaboration with Parks and Recreation and community stakeholders; and

2) NO CHANGES are to be made to the Park until that process in completed and consensus-based recommendations are achieved.

COUNCILLOR MIHEVC AND HIS OFFICE ADMIT THAT THERE IS CURRENTLY NO OVERALL VISION FOR THE NUMEROUS CHANGES THAT ARE HAPPENING to CEDARVALE PARK. WE NEED TO ACT NOW! SIGN THE PETITION.

Need more info?

Over the course of the last few months the community has learned in piecemeal fashion that there have been several proposed changes to Cedarvale Park. Some proposals, such as the building of an outdoor ice rink and even outdoor washrooms, are already underway and some are on the cusp of being solidified, such as a Private Tennis Club (which has assembled 400 members before being open to the community at large) which would appropriate and control our brand new publicly funded courts. There are also changes to the public space of Cedarvale Park itself, such as two new play areas for Leo Baeck’s use during the school days, a car drive way through the Park and behind the school and the installation of a water play feature, which are being put into action without any meaningful community consultation.

How did this happen?

A community meeting organized by Councillor Mihevc was held at the end of January 2012 at which time attendees were told of possible upcoming proposed changes. Attendees were asked to sign-up on email lists for projects that interested them (such as whether the Tennis Courts should be private or public, Leo Baeck’s take-over of public park land for its own playground and use of the baseball diamond, and the location of a water feature with a budget of approximately $400,000). Since January 2012, no substantive emails have been sent to those who signed up as interested parties and the community at large has not received A SINGLE COMMUNICATION from Councillor Mihevc or any other interested stakeholder containing any proposals or meaningful information. Indeed, his current newsletter does not mention any of these changes, except for the water feature! As of April 17, 2012, there is no mention of any changes proposed to Cedarvale Park anywhere on Councillor Mihevc’s website. There is no information about what variances or steps are proposed or are already underway. The line of communication from our City Councillor is clearly broken.

The last “community meeting” held in April was scheduled only to be about Leo Baeck’s playground and use of the baseball diamond, but a new and separate proposal was raised for the first time for Leo Baeck to receive a “small sport court”. It is not known what this change means, but there is no doubt that this proposal was not on the agenda. Nonetheless, Councillor Mihevc’s office has advised that because no one raised any objection at the meeting, there will be no further community consultation and the proposal will proceed!

We can argue the merits of such projects and whether they should usurp public resources, but the real issue is how have these projects managed to progress to the point of approval with minimal or no public consultation when many community members have so clearly expressed interest?

What we know

It is undeniable that the community is interested in these issues and has been shut out from any meaningful involvement. It is undeniable that there is NO OVERARCHING VISION for our beloved Cedarvale Park.

What we have is an admitted piecemeal approach and a process that lacks transparency. For this reason, we are asking for community members to let Councillor Mihevc know that we demand:

1. Community consultation

2. A Vision through SITE PLAN

3. Leadership

We want a clear outline for the future of Cedarvale Park and we would like ALL CHANGES TO BE HALTED until we are able to provide input and receive clarity on how the decisions for changes are made.

How will we achieve this goal?

We implore you to sign our petition which asks Councillor Joe Mihevc to halt impending proposals for change until we have a clearly outlined holistic vision that incorporates community input and that he align all improvements to that vision.

Time is of the essence. The next community meetings are set out below. Our goal is to acquire as many signatures on the Cedarvale Park Petition as possible and to bring as many community members out to attend so that we can ensure that all changes reflect the broad community’s wants and needs.

Next Community Meetings

Water Play Feature Location

April 25th at 7 p.m. (Arlington Public School).

Private Tennis Club to limit the amount of public access hours to the park

May 1st at 7 p.m. (Arlington Public School)

PLEASE SHARE THIS EMAIL AND PETITION LINK WITH ALL AREA CONTACTS SO THAT WE MAY REACH OUR GOAL.

Written by Chris · Filed Under Local Resources 

Photos from the 2008 Strawberries and Asparagus festival

June 16, 2008

There will be more of a wrap up of Saturday’s events shortly. In the meantime here are a few photos taken at the Strawberries and Asparagus Festival this weekend. If you missed out and haven’t heard you can read up about the event here at CedarvalePark.com or in the Globe and Mail.Check out the Photos Here

Written by admin · Filed Under Featured, Local Resources, Top Box 

Off-leash area update and call for spring cleaning…

April 8, 2008

On March 27, 2008 the City Parks Department held an important meeting in which there was a heroic attempt on the part of Parks to bring together the majority of the interested stakeholders of the Park together to discuss the off-leash area. This was not a dog vs non-dog meeting- there was finally acknowledgement that Cedarvale is a park of a multitude of stakeholders- this is a Park of students, soccerplayers, cricket players, ultimate frisbee, cedarvale children’s garden, baseball players, and runners just to name a few. And yes, there are also families and dogs and dog owners (with none of these categories being mutually exclusive). A commitment was made to take everyone’s needs into account, and a renewed commitment by everyone to establish a fenced-in off-leash area was stated. Parks also announced that there will soon be 12 more bylaw officers, to help in enforcing the existing bylaws of the many City of Toronto parks. Hopefully by this summer, we will see some progress as to where and how big this off-leash area will be, so that people and dogs can both use the Park to its full potential.

Until then, I would urge everyone in the Park to be considerate of the many users of the Park: if you see garbage, pick it up. If you see kids running around, leash your dog. And if you can, help with the Cedarvale Ravine Cleanup…details below

Cedarvale Ravine Cleanup

Date : Sunday, April 27, 2008
Hours : 10 a.m. to noon
Place : The foot of Glen Cedar foot bridge
WebSite : www.joemihevc.com
Categories : Miscellaneous
Contact Info : Marion O’Sullivan
[email protected]
416-392-0208

The group will meet at the foot of the Glen Cedar foot bridge and work south from there. A day or so before the community clean up, students from Vaughan Road Academy will clean the portion from Arlington Avenue to the Glen Cedar foot bridge.

Written by Orit · Filed Under Local Resources 

Upcoming community meeting regarding “dogs in parks”

February 17, 2008

It’s freezing rain outside, a break from the dumps of snow we have been receiving, but my mind is on greener times thinking about my 2 1/2 year old daughter and her love of running. Why am I thinking about running? Well, I have just received an email about an upcoming meeting that Parks, Forestry, and Recreation are hosting Tuesday February 19th at 7pm at Arlington Middle School, where they will discuss the “Dogs in Parks” strategy, and specifically, what this means to us in Cedarvale Ravine. Anyone who has ever walked in the Ravine knows that dogs are off-leash right now (illegally) throughout the whole park, and anyone who has tried to contact the City about this knows that they can do very little. There are too few by-law officers to address this huge problem. In addition, few dog-owners arewilling to place their dogs on a leash when requested. What does this mean? Well, it means that my 2 1/2 year old can’t run free without the risk of a dogjumping up on her. Over the past year, on my block alone, a 50-year old woman was bitten (requiring stitches, and almost surgery), a smaller dog was badly bitten (requiring an expensive visit to the vet, and the dog’s pain and suffering), a pregnant woman was knocked over (no apologies from the dog or the dog owner) and a small child was jumped and knocked over (they now refuse to go anywhere near the park). It’s a real shame, because the good dog owners seem few and far between.

So even though it’s the month of February, and the streets have yet to be cleaned in any decent sort of manner, the City has called a meeting to talk about on on-leash area. My hope is that any on-leash area will be accompanied by a commitment from all dog owners to respect the laws of the rest of the park, so that this summer I too can run around with my little girl in the park, chasing a ball.

Please come to the meeting and share your thoughts- Tuesday February 19th, 7pm, arlington middle school, cafetorium (501 Arlington Ave)

Written by Orit · Filed Under Local Resources 

CedarVale Park for Dogs or People

February 12, 2008

Ball diamond becomes off-leash park for dogs

Curtis Rush
Staff Reporter - Toronto Star https://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/276802

Dogs are now running free in a newly created off-leash area in Greenwood Park that until recent days was a ball park.

The park, which is located in the Leslieville neighbourhood near Gerrard St. E. and Greenwood Ave. boasts three baseball diamonds and a soccer pitch.

However, one baseball diamond on the southwest side of the park is now fenced to allow dog owners to let their pets run off-leash.

The decision to fence off the diamond has caused anger among some people who say that there wasn’t enough consultation with people who use the park.

The decision was made at a community meeting Tuesday night. However, many people say they didn’t receive notice of the meeting until the next day when a flyer landed in their mailboxes.

Although even some dog-owners complained that the decision seemed to be rushed, others see it as a tempest in a teapot.

Baseball season is over, they say. No one is using the baseball diamonds.

One neighbour said soccer league officials complained that the dogs were ruining the soccer pitch, giving impetus to the community meeting.

The fencing went up so quickly, many neighbours were surprised to see it.

Some dog owners told the Toronto Star that prior to the fence going up, they would let their dogs roam leash-free when no one was looking or if there weren’t many people in the park.

Now that the fencing is up, these dog owners can let their dogs run free without fear of contravening a city bylaw.

Parks committee chairman Paula Fletcher Fletcher, reached by phone today in Victoria, B.C., denied that flyers only went out late Tuesday afternoon.

“We’ve been sending out emails and flyers for the last couple of weeks,” she said.

This issue has not just come up, she said, adding that talk of making changes to the park began in the spring and hundreds of people signed petitions to make changes to the park, she said.

Fletcher said she’s surprised at the outrage. She added that she is angry that this is being portrayed as a new off-leash area.

The park was already an off-leash park over four acres, with restrictions from 6 a.m. to 8 a.m. and there was strict enforcement of the policy, she said.

Fletcher added that the baseball diamond fenced off had only one permit issued in the last year for it to be used for a game. “The diamond was not in use,” she said.

The city councillor said also that this decision does not mean it’s permanent. “This is an ongoing process. This is not the Berlin wall. It’s a snow fence.”

David Butler, a stay-at-home dad who lives near the park, was upset about the decision and complained to Fletcher’s office and to the office of the mayor.

Butler, who doesn’t own a dog, is upset because of the way the decision came down. “Where’s the democratic process?” he said in an interview.

He received an email notification of the meeting last week, but the notice didn’t say anything about a vote being held, Butler complained.

Flyers weren’t distributed in the neighbourhood until 4 p.m. on Tuesday, only three hours before the meeting, he charged.

And the flyers were printed in English-only and the area has a high proportion of Chinese-speaking people, he said.

“This is not democracy,” Butler said. “There are hundreds of homes on the other side of the park that didn’t receive the flyer.”

Butler attended the meeting at Leslieville Public School, but was in the minority and the vote passed easily among the 70 or 80 people who attended.

Butler says he can produce as many as a hundred people who didn’t get to attend the meeting and would have voted down the decision.

He said he believes city staff knew the fence was going up by the time the meeting was held. They would have known the measurements in order to construct the fence, he said.

The fence started going up at 10 a.m., only 12 hours after the meeting, Butler charged.

Butler said he has complained about off-leash dogs running through the park in the past.

He said that a few years ago, one dog ran over his daughter, who was 3 at the time.

Although the park isn’t used by baseball players at this time of year, he said the decision to fence off the ball diamond can only be revisited after a year.

“So this issue isn’t going away,” he said.

Written by doglover · Filed Under Local Resources 

How to contribute

December 13, 2007

There are a variety of ways you can contribute your thoughts and ideas to Cedarvalepark.com. After all that’s the whole point of building this site. Our goal is to provide a valued web resource and communication forum for the residents of CedarvalePark.

Add an Events listing…

If you are planning (or otherwise know of) an event in the area that should be listed in our Events calendar you can submit the details via the CedarvalePark.com Events Listing Form. Try to be as detailed as possible when you submit an event. You can find all listed events here.

Our events listings take advantage of some powerful web tools as well. You can subscribe to receive future events updates via email or via the Events RSS Feed. For the technically inclined who use an electronic calendar you can also subscribe to the Cedarvalepark.com iCal feed and all future events will be “automagically” added to you calendar.

Submit and Article or Editorial…

Have you got something to say about the area?, would you like to share you vision for Cedarvale Park? Are you looking for an outlet to communicate with your friends and neighbours? If so, you can use the Cedarvalepark.com Contact Form to submit articles for inclusion on the site (yada yada yada, we reserve the right to…). If anything holds up you submission from publication it will most likely be a matter of our free time to add new posts. With that in mind you can also use the Contact Form to offer suggestions, your brainpower, or your time to help make Cedarvalepark.com a great community resource.

We’ll continue to update the site from time to time with more ideas on how you can participate as we continue in our efforts to apply the best of the “social web” to this geograhic commuinity.

Written by admin · Filed Under Featured, Local Resources