The East Toronto Community Coalition (a non-profit community group committed to keeping an eye on how new development affects the health and well-being of neighbourhoods east of the Don) has started a letter-writing campaign. The cause: stopping a 744,660-square-foot big box retail complex (a.k.a. “power centre”) from setting up shop on Eastern Avenue. The large-scale retail proposal, says the community, cleverly circumvents Toronto’s new official plan by piggy-backing on an application made in 2004 when the city’s old official plan was in place. Opposed by city hall and local residents, the application now rests with the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB), where many residents worry it will be rubber-stamped regardless of what the local community and locally-elected politicians think.

One of the community’s only hopes now is to get the provincial government to step in. And this is where encouraging people to write letters comes into play. If residents, with the support of city hall, can convince Queen’s Park to declare provincial interest in the matter, the application could still be squashed. If you don’t have time to write a letter yourself, you can visit the East Toronto Community Coalition’s website, and send one that has already been composed. Simply type in your name, postal code and email address and click “send.”

While it may not be possible to stop other forms of big box stores from finding a home in Toronto (see: Queen West), the city and the province can and should insist on healthy urban development when it comes to the way the area is physically designed. The east end proposal calls for a sea of pavement to host nearly 2,000 parking spots. That, along with the scale of the stores, and the way they will be laid out, means more cars and fewer pedestrians.

The result is increased pollution and a lower likely hood that people will travel through the neighbourhood on foot or by bike. The sprawling power centre, in fact, will only encourage more sprawl, since residential housing will not be part of the mix. The development, if approved, could also set a precedent. Indeed, it’s already encouraged owners of neighbouring properties to jump on the profitable big-box band-wagon — in February, the OMB ruled that an additional 10 acres of adjacent property could be included in the discussion of whether large-scale retail is suitable for the area.

If the province wants to prove that it is indeed a green leader, it will step in and prevent this unwanted monstrosity from happening.

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