I am writing to express my…

I am writing to express my concerns over ERO 019-1446 and 019-1444, which relates to the proposed organic waste plant on Beechgrove Drive.

First of all, I believe the deadline of May 24 is unreasonable given the state of emergency declared by the Ontario government. This deadline should be pushed back to allow time for community discussion.

Secondly, I do not believe the Planners proposing this plant understand the transformation that this part of the City of Toronto has undergone in the past 20 years. While there are many legacy factories and plants still dotting the lakeshore in this area, this area has completely transformed into a residential neighbourhood in the last 20 years. The idea of trucks filled with organic waste driving down Port Union Road or Morningside Avenue and passing through so many residential areas on a 24/7 basis is unreasonable and does not reflect the new reality of the Port Union and West Rouge waterfront.

Even today, the volume of trucks moving in and out of this residential neighbourhood is already too high. To add 100+ trucks carrying waste daily will cause incredible amounts of congestion, noise, and potential safety. These neighbourhoods and routes (especially the 1-lane Port Union Road) are not conducive to such a large volume of trucks moving in and out on a 24/7 basis.

The City of Toronto is trying very hard to transform the entire eastern waterfront into a large multi-purpose trail for residents and tourists to enjoy, and large-scale construction of a plant that will constantly exhaust carbon dioxide, sulfur, methane, and particulates is counter to the goal of the waterfront transformation.

I invite you to actually spend a few days (post-quarantine) observing the daily volume of traffic that passes through this part of Lawrence Ave East, then imagine 100+ trucks added to the daily volume. Imagine the congestion, the noise, the pollution and the disruption to regular residential life. Maybe 20 years ago this plan would have been feasible, but everything has changed now.

While the construction of such an organics processing plant is constructive and beneficial to the City, the simple truth is that in 2020, this location is the WRONG area of Toronto to build a large-scale 24/7 facility of this nature.

In conclusion, I am vehemently opposed to this plan and believe the current plan, as currently proposed, should be rejected outright. The plan should start again with a new location that isn't in the middle of a suburban residential neighbourhood.