Activist planner says he'll run for Stintz's seat

[attach]7164[/attach]The recent announcement by Ward 16 councillor Karen Stintz that she will run for mayor next year has created an opening urban planner Terry Mills would be happy to fill.

Mills, who lost to Stintz in 2010, confirmed for the Town Crier on Oct. 30 that he will be seeking the Eglinton-Lawrence seat in the 2014 municipal election.

“I realize that with all the conversations I’ve had with people in the last month, they need to know whether I’m in or not,” he said. “And I’m in.”

Mills captured 22 percent of the vote in finishing second in 2010.

A 30-year resident of the riding’s Yonge-Eglinton area, he ran a design-build firm for 20 years and has been working independently for the past 13.

He declined to compare himself to Stintz, saying only that it’s been “interesting” to watch her evolve in council and that he looks forward to seeing what comes next.

Long interested in the area’s development, Mills was instrumental in the creation of City Towns at the Berwick, a series of townhouses on Duplex and Berwick avenues.

Recognizing the land northeast of Yonge and Eglinton is a prime growth area, but responding to residents who wanted an effective transition between houses and highrises, he developed a concept which the Oriole Park Association, former councillor Michael Walker and nearby residents all agreed with.

He said his success was a result of “making sure everyone was thinking clearly and in harmony.”

Mills says a lack of foresight has led to many of Toronto’s recent planning headaches, particularly in public transit, and that he would try a different approach.

“Most of the planning the city does is what I call development control,” he said. “It’s very expensive playing catch-up … because you didn’t make the right decisions five years before.”