Category: - Rockwood Homeowners' Association

City Approves Forest Park

5/9/2016

On Monday, March 21, 2016, the City Planning Committee heard all the arguments against the Forest Park Development Plan, and then voted 7-2 to approve. Councillor Chris Fonseca and Councillor Karen Ras voted against the application. The Mayor left the Council Meeting before the vote was taken.

The bottom line was that, since the City Planners had already approved the plan, the developer indicated that they would take the City to the Ontario Municipal Board. In essence, the Council would be reversing the decision of its own staff. The legal council for the City, when questioned by Councillor Carolyn Parish, advised that fighting the decision at OMB would cost the City upwards of $200,000.

On these grounds, and faced with the fact that their track record was not good when fighting OMB, Council approved the development, with some conditions. The conditions included a list of upgrades to the existing buildings and removing paid parking prior to moving forward with the final plans.

This article was originally published in the Summer 2016 issue of the Rockwood Homeowners' Association quarterly newsletter, The Rockwood Times.

Mayor Crombie to attend AGM

5/8/2016

Mayor Bonnie Crombie will be the keynote speaker at the Annual General Meeting of the RHA. In order to accommodate the Mayor’s schedule, the date has been moved to 7:00 p.m., Tuesday, May 17, at the Knights of Columbus Hall.

Other speakers will include Chris Fonseca, our Ward 3 Councillor, and Sabrina Selvaggi, from the Toronto Region Conservation Authority (TRCA). This is an opportunity to come out, meet your municipal representatives, and engage yourself into the community. As always, there will be plenty of opportunity for questions and have your say.

A very short part of the program will be the RHA nominations and elections for the 2016/17 Board of Directors. We are still looking for someone to step forward and fill the role of President. If you are interested, or know the perfect candidate, please drop us a note at rha.executive@ gmail.com. No experience required, the only pre-requisite is that you must be a homeowner in Rockwood Village.

This article was originally published in the Summer 2016 issue of the Rockwood Homeowners' Association quarterly newsletter, The Rockwood Times.

Forest Park Study Concerns Ignored

3/17/2016

On January 13, Ward 3 Councillor Chris Fonseca invited residents to a meeting using the subject line "Re: Forest Park Circle - Capacity Study Community Meeting". Residents packed the auditorium at Tomken Arena in expectation of the City’s comment on the status of the proposed Forest Park development.

The audience was walked through a presentation by various Planning Department members that basically concluded that Ward 3 has sufficient capacity to add additional new development and that, as a result, the City is actively looking at opportunities to intensify properties within Ward 3. To this end, the expectation was that attendees would act as a focus group for visioning of future development and stakeholders were being encouraged to participate in a steering committee.

This article was originally published in the Spring 2016 issue of the Rockwood Homeowners' Association quarterly newsletter, The Rockwood Times.

Have your say at the Rockwood 2014 AGM

4/26/2014

The 2014 Annual General Meeting for the Rockwood Homeowners’ Association (RHA) will be held on Thursday, May 8, 2014, at 7:00PM in the Knights of Columbus Hall located at 1870 Burnhamthorpe Rd. East, beside the front entrance to Sts. Martha and Mary Church. There is lots of parking space at the rear of the church.

The AGM is a great opportunity for residents to come out to hear and to be heard about issues that affect our neighbourhood. We have a full complement of speakers who will address issues, from new developments in the area to crime and prevention. Bring your questions.

This year the RHA will introduce a proposal to fund a project to erect Rockwood Village signage in appropriate locations in the neighbourhood.

Speakers include Ward 3 Councillor, Chris Fonseca; Scott Anderson, City of Mississauga (BRT); Cliff Coppolino - TRCA (Toronto and Region Conservation Authority); and Constable Laura Wells Community Response Unit - Division 12.

Of course, there is always the possibility that, as in years past, we may even have a visit from the Mayor. For a little comic relief, a local theatre group, Class Productions, will present a short skit.

See you on Thursday, May 8th!

*Please note this article was originally published in the Summer 2014 edition of The Rockwood Times.

President's Report

4/26/2014

Hello, everyone!

It’s been a busy two months for RHA, attending many community events.

Late March, a delegation of RHA Directors and residents attended the City of Mississauga’s Planning and Development (P&D) Meeting to make a deputation on the proposal made by Beverly Homes for the lands at 1715 Audubon Blvd., requesting P&D make an amendment to the Mississauga Official Plan to change the Area Designation from Parkway Belt West to Residential Medium Density. In addition, they were asking to change the zoning for the land from Parkway Belt to allow 30 townhomes.

It was a long-awaited decision as our item on the Agenda did not go in front of the Committee until midnight. We had to wait, as the Committee listened to speakers discussing another development proposal on the Agenda for close to two hours! Residents from Audubon, Claypine Rise and surrounding Rockwood streets sat patiently in attendance. Both Councillor Fonseca and Ed Sajecki, Commissioner of Planning and Building for the City spoke to the City’s rezoning efforts to keep the lands zoned for Low Density Residential, Single Detached Dwellings.

RHA VP Joe Silva made a deputation to P&D Committee, and the good news is that the P&D Committee passed a motion that City Council should direct the City’s legal staff to defend the City’s
position of opposing the 30 Townhomes development as the proposal is set to be heard in April at the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB).

Early April, RHA VP Joe Silva spoke on behalf of residents regarding 1715 Audubon at the pre-hearing for the OMB. A hearing date has been set for January 12, 2015 for 10 business days. RHA will update you as soon as more information is available.

Recently TRCA (The Toronto and Region Conservation Authority) held a seminar at the Burnhamthorpe Library on “Greening Your Grounds” and how to landscape your property in an eco-friendly way. Great to see RHA Directors and residents attend this informative night.

We invite you to attend this year’s Annual General Meeting on Thursday, May 8. Come meet your local Councillor, hear from Peel Regional Police, get an update on the Bus Rapid Transit project behind Rockwood, and give your input to TRCA on environmental projects you want to see within the Burnhamthorpe SNAP (Sustainable Neighbourhood Retrofit Action Plan). Thanks to Class Productions for offering free tickets for a draw in their upcoming performances of “Goody Two Shoes” in May at the Maja Prentice Theatre. Please plan to attend-- you may just win!

I would like to thank our Board of Directors who have attended various meetings, run the organization, managed the newsletter, promoted RHA’s communications on the web and provided great insight and perspective into the issues we deal with affecting our Rockwood community. Your commitment to serving this volunteer organization is truly appreciated!

As always, we welcome your comments, questions and concerns. Reach us at rha.executive@gmail.com or through our Facebook and Twitter pages.

~ Simi Kapur, Rockwood Homeowners' Association President

*Please note this article was originally published in the Summer 2014 edition of The Rockwood Times.

City to Oppose Audubon Development

4/26/2014

It was a long evening for Rockwood residents who waited to be heard by the Planning Department on the issue of the Beverly Homes plan for development on the Audubon Boulevard lands.

Beverly Homes has applied for a change in zoning to allow 30 town home units to be built in the vacant land on Audubon. The land is currently zoned for low density, residential, single-detached
dwellings.

RHA was represented by its Vice-President, Joe Silva, a local resident. A neighbourhood case was made that the current zoning should be upheld by the City. Councillor Fonseca and Ed Sajecki, Commissioner of Planning and Building for the City, also spoke in support of the neighbourhood voices.

It was well after midnight when the Committee passed a motion that City Council would direct the City’s legal staff to defend the positions of the residents and Councils to oppose the townhouse development and maintain the current zoning.

While the first battle has been won, this is far from a done deal. Beverly Homes has already filed several appeals with the OMB (Ontario Municipal Board). The next step will be preparing for the preliminary OMB hearings. Ultimately, OMB will have the final say on the zoning of these lands.

*Please note this article was originally published in the Summer 2014 edition of The Rockwood Times.

Audubon zoning application goes before city

3/4/2014

The application for a zoning approval for Beverly Homes to move forward with a townhouse
development on Audubon and Fieldgate is scheduled to go before the City Planning Committee on March 24th. At that time, residents will have the opportunity to provide their input to the Planning and Development Committee. Councillor Fonseca, will be voicing her support of
upholding the current designated zoning for Residential Low Density housing. Beverly Homes
is requesting a zoning change that will allow the construction of 30 town homes.

If you would like to be heard at that meeting, contact Mumtaz Alikhan, Legislative
Coordinator at Mumtaz.Alikhan@mississauga.ca or 905-615-3200 x5425.

*Please note this article was originally published in the Spring 2014 edition of The Rockwood Times.

A Conversation with Chris Fonseca

12/6/2010

Author: Stephen Roscoe, Director & Life Member, Rockwood Homeowners' Association

It was my pleasure to meet and speak with newly elected Ward 3 Councillor Chris Fonseca about her recent election and her goals in her new role. Ms. Fonseca assumed office on December 1st with a solid understanding of what lays ahead.

No stranger to life in public service, Councillor Fonseca worked closely with her husband, MPP Peter Fonseca, in his past two successful Provincial elections. But Chris was first motivated to community service, as a volunteer with a variety of organizations, inspired by her parents involvement in the community.

Ms Fonseca believed that this election was ‘the right time’ to take what she had learned from running a small business in the health and wellness sector and working collaboratively with many people in her professional role as a Regional Director of Swim Ontario, and to apply these skill sets to serve the Ward 3 community.

Councillor Fonseca’s enthusiasm to give to the community was very evident. In a very articulate manner she outlined her four key goals for the next four years:

Customer Service & Communication - To respond to community concerns within 24 hours. Continuous dialogue through her website, e-newsletters, surveycards to yield feedback and regularly attending community events such as the Career Night at Applewood which she attended last week. Meeting as many people as possible is paramount to being an effective voice and partner in making improvements in the region.

Neighbourhood Safety - Listening to the community to work towards improvements. Some of these are: better lighting in our parks, smart traffic control systems that adjust depending on the needs of pedestrians and automobiles, pedestrian crossing signals that give a visual countdown and an auditory countdown for the visually impaired, etc.

Seniors and Youth - Developing a win-win system whereby youth earn community service hours by helping Seniors with their various needs such as: lawn care, snow removal, computer training, accompaniment on walks, etc.

Business & Community Improvement - To initiate an effective process where businesses, homeowners’ associations and other parties can work together towards maintaining high standards for visually appealing signage and landscaping, regulation of curbside storefronts and the preservation of community heritage. On the environmental front, every Spring she will organize clean-ups of all parks in Ward 3.

Beyond these goals, Ms Fonseca expressed a desire to bring changes in the way Federal and Provincial governments work with Regions like Peel. Still viewed as a rural region since the 80s, when it comes to funding, Fonseca is committed to working with the Mayor and the Council to seek a fairer share of Provincial and Federal funding allocated for social services and infrastructure. On the positive side, Peel was effective in capitalizing on the federal stimulus dollars. We all saw how much activity there was this past year: resurfacing roads, renovating libraries and pools and upgrading water-main systems.

Councillor Fonseca had high praise for the Rockwood Homeowners’ Association’s ongoing initiatives and accomplishments and stated she has already enjoyed working with the RHA. Councillor Fonseca encourages all residents in the area to join the RHA and get involved. A community is always the sum total of the members’ contributions.

By the end of our meeting, I was convinced that Councillor Fonseca will be a collaborative, passionate and effective leader who will work with true dedication towards improving our part of Mississauga which we all proudly call home. Ms Fonseca got my nod as a worthy successor to our excellent but now retired Councillor Maja Prentice.

Chris Fonseca will meet with Council every week to bring our concerns forward. She can be reached at: 416.821.8587 chris.fonseca@mississauga.ca 300 City Centre Drive Mississauga, ON L5B 3C1

*Please note this article was originally published in the Winter 2010 edition of The Rockwood Times.