Petition to keep Wal-Mart out of Toronto’s Kensington Market area gains support

TORONTO – A petition urging city planners to block a plan to build a Wal-Mart near Kensington Market is gaining support.

Over 42,000 people have signed the petition, posted Sunday evening, which will be sent to community planner Liora Freeman and local councillor Mike Layton.

Dominique Russell, the Kensington resident behind the petition, said Wal-Mart is absolutely inappropriate for the iconic and eclectic Toronto neighbourhood.

“Everything I love about my neighbourhood is threatened by this proposal: the human scale of the streetscape, the skyline, its walkability, the local independent businesses that give Kensington Market and Little Italy their character,” said Russell.

The Wal-Mart is part of a plan by RioCan, Canada’s largest real estate investment trust, to build a three-storey complex at the former home of Kromer Radio at Bathurst St. and Nassau St. Kromer officially closed its doors last summer, after operating for 55 years in the neighbourhood.

The plan would demolish existing structures and replace them with a 12,000 square metreretail building. Critics of the proposal said it goes against Toronto’s Official Plan, which designates 410-446 Bathurst St. as a “mixed use” area.

It’s also next to Kensington Market and Little Italy, both of which are considered designated neighbourhoods – “physically stable” areas with lower-scale buildings. In the section of the plan titled “Healthy Neighbourhoods,” the city states that “physical changes to our established Neighbourhoods must be sensitive, gradual and generally ‘fit’ the existing physical character.” They also aren’t supposed to have a major impact on traffic and parking nearby.

Last May city council rejected the initial proposal and RioCan’s request to overlook a series of variances in city zoning bylaws.

RioCan appealed to the Ontario Municipal Board, which upheld the city’s rejection, saying the project is so big it would need its own site-specific rezoning.

In April, RioCan applied for a zoning amendment in order to build the complex. The proposal will once again go before city council.

Kensington Market is home to numerous multicultural restaurants, cafes, shops, and historical homes. In November 2006 it was designated a National Historic Site of Canada.

“A mall this large will flood one of the most exciting pedestrian areas of the city with cars,” said Russell.

“At 129,000 square feet, the proposed mall is 130 times larger than most of the stores on College and in Kensington Market,” she said, adding that a Wal-Mart in the area could threaten the survival of Kensington’s independent businesses.

Russell said she will present the petition to Freedman at a public meeting hosted by the city’s planning department on Thursday from 7-9pm at 454 College Street.