Beach Metro News – 10 February 2015

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A NON-PROFIT COMMUNITY RESOURCE SINCE 1972 SERVING THE BEACH, UPPER BEACH, BEACH HILL, CRESCENT TOWN, EAST DANFORTH, GERRARD INDIA BAZAAR, BIRCH CLIFF, AND CLIFFSIDE

Volume 43 No. 22

February 10, 2015

All this fun in the snow is tiring “Is it nap time yet?” asks Rose Lorraine, 2. The Fairmount Park Ice Masters hosted the annual Fairmount Park Winterfest on Feb. 7, where families enjoyed tobogganing, skating, hot chocolate, and live music by the Lost Boys. PHOTO: PHIL LAMEIRA

Brainstorming a Queen revival INSIDE By Andrew Hudson

NEW IDEAS got free reign at a recent workshop on reviving business in the Beach. Cash mobs, pop-up shops, old-school store signs, art shows outside the R.C. Harris water plant – these were just a few ideas raised by the 100 Beachers and Beach business owners who joined the Queen Street Revival workshop held last Wednesday in Beach United Church. “You call it a revival and have it in a church and look what happens,” said local city councillor Mary-Margaret McMahon, who co-hosted the event with the Beach Village BIA. One of the biggest challenges facing Queen Street was mapped out on the church’s back wall. Red stickers highlighted roughly two dozen vacant storefronts along the 23-block stretch of Queen Street covered by the Beach Village BIA. “A number of businesses are closing,” said Marg Gillespie, one of the BIA’s eight volunteer

board members. “There’s a lack of diversity among the ones that we have here. We’ve got lots of people saying they’d like different restaurants, and then different restaurants come in and they close.” Edward Birnbaum, McMahon’s executive assistant, said roughly seven or eight per cent of Beach storefronts are vacant right now. Although winter is particularly slow for Beach businesses and vacancies are higher in other parts of the ward, such as Danforth Avenue, Birnbaum said the current rate is still noticeably high. As for likely causes, Birnbaum said Beach business owners frequently mention rent hikes and high property taxes. Unlike homes, Ontario has no laws to limit rent hikes on commercial property. While the city is working to reduce its commercial property tax, it is still the highest in the GTA. Birnbaum also mentioned two Beach-specific bylaws that may be holding back business.

Following a sudden rise in liquor-license applications, bylaws were passed in the 1980s to keep the Beach’s licensed bars and restaurants smaller than in other parts of Toronto. That rule recently dissuaded owners of La Carnita restaurant from opening in the Beach. A similar restriction on local sidewalk and sidestreet patios has meant years-long application battles and refusals to places like Yogurty’s, which closed its Beach location last year. Parking is another hot topic, said Birnbaum, noting that the city’s parking authority set aside $3 million for more Beach spaces after a supply study last fall. More parking could help big retailers such as grocery and furniture stores, he added, though he also mentioned recent studies showing cyclists and pedestrians actually spend more than drivers in shops selling smaller goods. Cont’d. on Page 3

Ask The Expert. See page 13...

Winter Stations transform beach ...See Pages 16-17

PLUS

Police Beat.....................4 Community Calendar.....10 BMN’s Neighbourhood...11 Deja Views....................14 Sports..........................18 Entertainment Beat......20 Reel Beach...................22 Write on Health............24 Design & Style Views...25 The Main Menu.............26


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