Willowdale neighbours fume over construction

[attach]1958[/attach]Residents living near a townhouse development in Willowdale say construction crews are working outside the legal hours of operation and causing noise disruptions in the neighbourhood.

Construction of the 36-unit complex at Churchill Avenue and Basswood Road began in May.

The city’s noise bylaw allows construction crews to operate their equipment between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. on weekdays, 9 a.m. and 7 p.m. on Saturdays, and prohibits work on Sundays and statutory holidays.

Ward 23 councillor John Filion said he has received many complaints from residents about builders starting work before the legal time.

And neighbours allege the builders sometimes work past 7 p.m., and stop only after a resident tells them the time.

“I love to sit out in my backyard but I don’t use it right now because if you step outside, you’ll hear the noise,” said Linda Brklacich, who lives one street south of the development. “You sit outside and try to have a conversation with anybody, and it really is impossible.”

Brklacich said one evening in mid-June, she arrived home just after 7 p.m. with some friends. They wanted to sit outside on the deck but builders were still working. Brklacich drove over to the development and told a builder the time.

“He said, ‘Oh is it 7 o’clock already? Oh sorry, we’ll stop right now.’ It was 20 after 8 when they finished and I came there at 7:30,” she said.

An official from the city’s Municipal Licensing and Standards department said they have sent inspectors to check the site on random mornings before 7 a.m., and they didn’t see any construction, only builders arriving early for work.

For a builder to be fined under the bylaw, the noise has to be caused by construction. Builders driving their cars onto the site before the start time would not qualify as construction noise.

The official added that MLS staff will start doing periodic evening inspections.

But Filion said the builders know the rules and are choosing to ignore them.

In order for the builders to be fined, inspectors would have to catch them in the act.

“That’s part of the problem,” Filion said. “If (builders) are making noise at 6:30 in the morning, you have to have an inspector there to witness it at 6:30 in the morning.”

But the developer, Genesis Homes, says they haven’t received any complaints from residents about noise at the site.

Before they began the project, the company sent letters to residents with several numbers to call for any questions or complaints, said Barry Waltman, president of Genesis Homes.

“I haven’t heard from the community,” he said. “We haven’t even started to build houses yet.”

Waltman said the only work his builders have been doing is rough grading. He added there is another crew working on that site, but they are contracted by the city to install underground services, like sewer pipes and plumbing.

An official from the Toronto Building Division department confirmed the city is doing site servicing at that location, and that the work is almost complete.

The building project has been controversial from the start. City council rejected the application in 2004, arguing the area is not zoned for intensification in the old North York Official Plan. The developer then appealed to the Ontario Municipal Board, which approved the
project despite fierce opposition from residents and the city.

To protest the OMB’s decision, Filion started a campaign to name the road leading to the development ‘OMB Folly Lane.’
The name originally passed at both community and city council, but the issue was brought back for debate after the developer and prospective buyers asked council to change the name.

Community council approved the name again but city council voted to defer any discussions until it was clear what was going to happen with the development.

According to the city, there are currently three construction projects going on in the area. Residents say the constant disturbances are pushing some people out of the neighbourhood.

“I know that things have to progress, I know that things have to change,” Brklacich said. “But unfortunately, with this development in particular, it should never have happened.”

[attach]1957[/attach]Dug too close, homeowner says

For Dr. John Hsuen, noise isn’t the only problem he’s had with the Genesis Homes construction project.

Hsuen lives in the lone remaining house on the site at Churchill Avenue and Basswood Road. When the development is complete, there will be 36 townhouses surrounding his house in a U shape.

Hsuen said when the builders began excavating, they dug so close to his property that the earth under his fence had fallen away — exposing the posts and making his fence unstable. On the east and west side of his property, the fence has sunken.

“Because of the supporting earth being excavated, the whole gate went lopsided,” he said. “We can’t close the gates anymore.”

Hsuen notified the site supervisor about the problem and was told they would repair any damage done to his fence, which shakes when the wind blows.

But Hsuen said this assurance is little comfort to him because the builders shouldn’t have been digging so close to his fence in the first place. He added builders should have placed a barrier between the construction site and his fence to protect his property.

The builders also nailed a filter to the top of his fence to block dust from the construction site but they didn’t ask for Hsuen’s permission before they put it up, he said.

“Normally, if they do not get permission, they have to raise that filter away from our property,” he said. “When we found all these problems, we reported them immediately. But over one month, nothing (has been) done.”

The developer contacted Hsuen about his fence, and a builder was expected to fix his fence on July 8 or 9.

Hsuen has lived in the house since 1994 and runs a pediatric practice from his basement. Although a 1996 city bylaw banned medical practices in the basement of houses, he was allowed to keep his because it was already set up, Hsuen said. But if he moves, he will lose his practice.

Developers were interested in buying his house, he said, but none of their offers were high enough to compensate him for the loss of business.

Michiko Hsuen, John’s wife, said she and her husband are concerned the construction is creating an unsafe environment for their patients.

“You open the door and the kids always run out,” she said, adding it has been hard for their patients to drive to their house because the builders park their cars along Churchill Avenue. “It’s almost like one-way traffic sometimes. (Patients) going in and out of our driveway don’t have a good view. Reversing out is very difficult.”