Ossington Visioning – City Planning 101 – Aug 8th, 6-9pm

As many of you know, Mike Layton has been working hard to listen to the community about the upcoming developments and changes in the neighbourhood. Recently he pushed through an area study by city planners and a visioning study for the Ossington area. The visioning study is soliciting feedback from local residents on what they want for the neighbourhood and what kind of guidelines can be put in place for future development that will ensure it’s a place for entrepreneurs and residents to live together. The study involves a number of upcoming meetings to talk about the area as well as a neighbourhood walk to talk about what exists in our community and what works and doesn’t work and why.

The first of these meetings is coming up tomorrow, Wednesday August 8th, from 6-9pm at St. Christopher House at Dundas and Ossington in the Community Hall. This meeting is called “City Planning 101” and the goal is to provide neighbours some basics of city planning and the development process.

The meeting will attempt to cover:

1. Planning Process, Principles & Interpretation of the Official Plan
2. Urban Design Elements
3. The Midrise Guidelines and how it applies to Ossington
4. The Role of City Planning
5. Actors in the planning process (City, OMB, Community & Developers)
6. Building Code and Presedence

To help the community in learning, Mike Layton will lead the meeting, which will feature discussions and presentations from our city planners plus local architects David Carter and Terence Van Elslander from Van Eslander Carter Architects, located on Ossington. There should be plenty of time for the planners and architects to answer any questions you have.

After you’ve learned the basics of city planning, the visioning group will be taking local residents on a neighbourhood walk on August 29th from 6-9pm. Mark it in your calender and get your walking shoes (and a digital camera) ready.