Ophelia (242-262 Queen St S) | 11 fl | U/C

[tomh009]

The vote came almost a year after council reluctantly approved the demolition of two heritage homes further down Queen Street, next to the Schneider Haus National Historic Site.

Mario Chilanski, who lives in the Victoria Park heritage district, reminded council of that earlier vote, quoting councillors' comments from October 2017 when council insisted that the demolition of the homes next to Schneider Haus would not create a precedent or send a signal that the Victoria Park district was open for demolition.

It still doesn't send that signal. These are at the edge of the district, surrounded by very different forms that are mostly much newer. They're not about to bulldoze half the neighbourhood or anything.

It's two isolated old (not historic IMO) houses, not part of a neighbourhood, in the Queen St S corridor, which has specifically been designated for intensification. But Chilanski said he had spent hours and hours reviewing the previous meeting's video footage, and spent probably half his allotted time admonishing councillors to vote against this proposal, based on their previous comments.

Sadly I can only vote for one councillor and I'm not optimistic that we'll see a big change in the council composition after the election.

Incidentally, earlier in the meeting, it took over 30 minutes to approve the removal of five parking spots on safety grounds. And another thirty minutes to approve two blocks' worth of sidewalk, over more resident objections.