Stated reason: Safe Injection Site
Actual Reason: Notice almost no projects have broken ground downtown in the past few years? Buddy is in the Jackson Creek floodplain and waiting for the MNR to designate an updated special policy area for the downtown following the completion of the Bethune flood reduction project. Its a provincial matter at the moment.
Yes I'm sure. I'm sorry, but I can't provide more details. You can do more reading here if you're interested about the special policy area guidelines: https://www.renaud.ca/public/Environmental-Regulations/MNR%20Technical%20Guide%20Flooding%20Hazard%20Limit.pdf
It's been about half a decade since it was knocked, and more than that since it was abandoned.
As someone who lives in the area, I'm all for a little *eminent domain* at this point.
If you're rich enough to be able to own property and just let it rot--possibly because you have your knickers in a twist about a drug-use site in an area that, let's be honest, was not exactly free of open-air drug use *before*--then you have too much money.
Yeah between the empty land on Lansdowne across from Home depot and the baskin Robbin’s some prime real estate is just being sat on and needs to be used.
Ah yes, the malt factory. Real "pillar of the community" move there, McGee.
It's stuff like this that makes me look at the "Communist? Get organized!" signs around town and think "You know what, maybe hammers and sickles aren't such a bad idea, overall?"
That’s my neighborhood. I was fuming as they spent a weekend punching the art deco facade full of holes so it was no longer worthy of heritage designation.
There was a similar situation in the UK, and the local council forced the developer to reassemble the building, brick by brick.
But our council is in thrall to greasy business people so of course they threw up their hands and said “what are you gonna do?”.
Most apartment buildings take more than a decade worth of planning and testing. The average amount of time from when a construction project starts and when the first shovel hits dirt is usually 12 years in peterborough, according to Jeff Leal.
I’m pretty sure that there was plans for apartments but once greyhound was converted they withdrew. I’m pretty sure it’s owned by the ptbo Pete’s owner.
Edit after google:
Don macpherson abandoned the residential in 2020 after drug supervision site was introduced and hasn’t made any plans since, or at least hasn’t discussed it/made anything formal.
I’m pretty sure that with out renting is right now in ptbo, people would still move in regardless of the site.
Well, don did go on record and say it was because of the drug supervision clinic at greyhound and essentially tried to leverage against it using his developer money.
As someone who lives near and walks by, I am glad they chose drug supervision
Love this idea so much! I think it’d probably end up costing wayyyyyy more construction-wise but hell it’s a way more profitable investment so why not send it!
As someone who lives in the area, the Bethune path isnt great, but it's better than what was there before.
Yes, there's addicts, but that was a thing before the path, and it's actually gotten better with the safe-use site as addicts tended to go there rather than wherever they can. There's still the addict/fence swap meets In Fleming Park, but theyre less frequent than they used to be, and the city seems to try to clean up the parks better.
What's also been a big help vis a vis closing the street is stopping the hooking and drug delivery drops from organized crime around town. That was difficult to see: the same mid-level criminals circling the block for hours each day, dropping off to addicts on the street corner.
Finally, what's also helped is that two flophouses in the area seem to have been cleared in the last six months. That's cut down on a lot of the worst of it because the nightly tour of addicts looking to score, crash or fence is down a lot.
The library makes me sad, but it's literally a case of "shit rolls downhill" and there's nowhere else for these people to go and the library doesn't have the resources to say "No", so I lieu of spending money elsewhere the library gets left holding the bag.
I like this even more than putting it at Trent, Fleming or a random empty field.
It makes way too much sense of course, so right away it's going to give Leal an uncontrollable eye twitch.
I'm a reasonable person. Give the owner 6 months to come up with a site plan and architectural drawings. If they don't, start piling up the charges and fees. The owner doesn't want to pay? Let it go 3 months in arrears and then the city puts a lien on the property.
Works for me. Almost anything would be better than letting it sit there ugly and vacant. But if the dinosaurs on the council think a pickleball court is a higher priority than affordable housing, then I’d at least rather them put it somewhere central and unused instead of bulldozing a park.
Something like that would actually look really cool there. But then you'd have ppl crying about how that area should be used for population density or something like that. you can never win on the internet.
Oh, I'd be fine if it was used for density. Hell, I'd be happy if it they filled it with dirt and let grass grow over it.
Something--almost anything--would be better than what's there now.
Agreed, and same goes for the malt property. At what point do we say “enough— you guys need to deal with these eyesores”, or the city acquires them at fair market value.
Used to be outboard marine factory. The entire grounds are apparently contaminated and need tens of millions in cleanup before we can use the old canoe museum grounds.
Pickleball is such a great activity. I had a wonderful time playing with 27 others, this morning, from 8 am to 10 am. When I left, there was another group of at least 30 enjoying the courts. (There are 6 courts where I play.) The age range of everyone participating today was 50 to 80. We all got in a great workout.
I don't live in Peterborough now but when I did live there, I played tennis at Bonnerworth Park once a week, weather permitting. I never observed anyone using that park for any purpose. It wasn't all peace and quiet. There was a loud construction project going on within earshot of the tennis courts.
Given the demographics of Peterborough, I would think this would be a very worthwhile undertaking for the community. If I were the one in charge of "selling" this idea to the public, I'd give a free pickleball paddle to everyone who lived in the nearby buildings and offer them some free introductory lessons on how to play. This would give them a chance to see how much fun it is, what a good workout it is, and how many new friends they will make.
I live near the park and your summary of its use is inaccurate. And while pickleball may be all you say it is, the noise is intolerable. 16 courts is absurd. The courts are currently only used in early morning and evening because it's too hot mid-day. Imagine how much hotter it will be with all of that hardscaping! The courts should be inside a building where they can be used all year round. Or is it too loud to play inside???
I play inside a dome over the winter and yes, it is quite loud. Honestly, my ears ring a little afterwards. However, I tolerate it because my blood pressure is lower than it has been in many years. There are companies that are working on developing quieter paddles and balls. There is a paddle made by a company called "Owl" that is a little quieter. When I play outdoors, it is much quieter and the noise seems to dissipate more. I'm thinking the city can find a way to reduce the noise with the use of screens, walls and shrubbery. I do agree that keeping the lights on until 11pm is too late. It seems like 9 pm would be more appropriate.
The shorter time-frame would be great. As for sound mitigation we have done research on that and it doesn't work even at ground level. There are apartments in the immediate vicinity so any walls would have to be so high they wouldn't be structurally soundless alone terribly ugly. Also none of this addresses the intense heat, sun (the proposed courts face east/west) and rain. Wouldn't it be fantastic if there was an appropriate building with sound mitigation INSIDE the building, plenty of parking and amenities for players? If this is to be the tournament capitol of Ontario these people are going to be very embarrassed by the chaos.
The other issue is the PBA already has control over the courts at Bonnerworth. Locked equipment boxes with nets for their use only...They forced the St. Pete's kids to play tennis on the baseball fields the other day because they booked the courts at a time when the school kids always use the courts. This is condoned by the City. Why? The insane belligerence of the City and some councillors to shove this project through without proper procedure begs a question. What is truly behind this? I feel sorry for the bike and skateboard people because their portion of the redevelopment will never happen! Look at the track record of the City following through on plans. Where did that pool go again???
What about inverlea park? I'm pretty uneducated on why this wouldn't work but after walking around there the other day and seeing how little use it gets I thought it would make sense without getting rid of two more baseball diamonds.
If they're going to do anything with the green space at bonnerworth, I wish they'd build another dog park. I see so many dogs around there, and as someone without a car, the hour walk to the only off leash dog park in town isn't very feasible regularly.
I'd agree, but Bonnerworth would have the same issues as the existing park: you bake in the summer and freeze in the winter because there's no shade, and the drainage isn't great so the dogs would turn it into a mud pit.
Now, if it drained well and they planted mature trees that'd be great as a dog park.
Yeah, I miss the dog parks in London terribly. They were nice for dogs AND people— a nice stroll through a wooded area, then a big open field to run in. We went almost everyday in certain seasons.
It’s owned by a private developer with plans for apartment buildings for the site.
Which it was heard that he cancelled it because of the safe injection site. So who knows what’s up with that property.
I've heard that it has more to do with getting a timely EA done, and that the SIS is a cover.
What’s EA?
Environment assessment.
Those don't take very long to do
Stated reason: Safe Injection Site Actual Reason: Notice almost no projects have broken ground downtown in the past few years? Buddy is in the Jackson Creek floodplain and waiting for the MNR to designate an updated special policy area for the downtown following the completion of the Bethune flood reduction project. Its a provincial matter at the moment.
Are you sure? I just looked at the floodplain mapping and it looks like just a little tiny bit of the northeast corner might be in a regulated area
Yes I'm sure. I'm sorry, but I can't provide more details. You can do more reading here if you're interested about the special policy area guidelines: https://www.renaud.ca/public/Environmental-Regulations/MNR%20Technical%20Guide%20Flooding%20Hazard%20Limit.pdf
I appreciate the info :)
It's been about half a decade since it was knocked, and more than that since it was abandoned. As someone who lives in the area, I'm all for a little *eminent domain* at this point. If you're rich enough to be able to own property and just let it rot--possibly because you have your knickers in a twist about a drug-use site in an area that, let's be honest, was not exactly free of open-air drug use *before*--then you have too much money.
Yeah between the empty land on Lansdowne across from Home depot and the baskin Robbin’s some prime real estate is just being sat on and needs to be used.
Ah yes, the malt factory. Real "pillar of the community" move there, McGee. It's stuff like this that makes me look at the "Communist? Get organized!" signs around town and think "You know what, maybe hammers and sickles aren't such a bad idea, overall?"
That’s my neighborhood. I was fuming as they spent a weekend punching the art deco facade full of holes so it was no longer worthy of heritage designation. There was a similar situation in the UK, and the local council forced the developer to reassemble the building, brick by brick. But our council is in thrall to greasy business people so of course they threw up their hands and said “what are you gonna do?”.
Make hammers and sickles the carrot. The stick can be torches and pitchforks.
Most apartment buildings take more than a decade worth of planning and testing. The average amount of time from when a construction project starts and when the first shovel hits dirt is usually 12 years in peterborough, according to Jeff Leal.
I’m pretty sure that there was plans for apartments but once greyhound was converted they withdrew. I’m pretty sure it’s owned by the ptbo Pete’s owner. Edit after google: Don macpherson abandoned the residential in 2020 after drug supervision site was introduced and hasn’t made any plans since, or at least hasn’t discussed it/made anything formal. I’m pretty sure that with out renting is right now in ptbo, people would still move in regardless of the site.
I suspect there were plans for apartments and then cheap money ran out.
Well, don did go on record and say it was because of the drug supervision clinic at greyhound and essentially tried to leverage against it using his developer money. As someone who lives near and walks by, I am glad they chose drug supervision
This was a highly enjoyable read, I give it 5 stars.
Agreed. Elect this person to council! I love it.
Love this idea so much! I think it’d probably end up costing wayyyyyy more construction-wise but hell it’s a way more profitable investment so why not send it!
[удалено]
As someone who lives in the area, the Bethune path isnt great, but it's better than what was there before. Yes, there's addicts, but that was a thing before the path, and it's actually gotten better with the safe-use site as addicts tended to go there rather than wherever they can. There's still the addict/fence swap meets In Fleming Park, but theyre less frequent than they used to be, and the city seems to try to clean up the parks better. What's also been a big help vis a vis closing the street is stopping the hooking and drug delivery drops from organized crime around town. That was difficult to see: the same mid-level criminals circling the block for hours each day, dropping off to addicts on the street corner. Finally, what's also helped is that two flophouses in the area seem to have been cleared in the last six months. That's cut down on a lot of the worst of it because the nightly tour of addicts looking to score, crash or fence is down a lot. The library makes me sad, but it's literally a case of "shit rolls downhill" and there's nowhere else for these people to go and the library doesn't have the resources to say "No", so I lieu of spending money elsewhere the library gets left holding the bag.
The Bethune road is nice for cyclists. The homelessness/drug issue is a seperate issue/discussion
Just stick it right on Lansdowne right in front of home Depot. No noise, since traffic already makes noise.
I like this even more than putting it at Trent, Fleming or a random empty field. It makes way too much sense of course, so right away it's going to give Leal an uncontrollable eye twitch. I'm a reasonable person. Give the owner 6 months to come up with a site plan and architectural drawings. If they don't, start piling up the charges and fees. The owner doesn't want to pay? Let it go 3 months in arrears and then the city puts a lien on the property.
1) Thank you for calling it mumble rap. 2) Electric Boogaloo- tell me you're Gen X without telling me you're Gen X 🙂 This is a good idea 💡 👏
Guilty as charged.
How about no pickle ball and turn that old building into housing that this city desperately needs
Works for me. Almost anything would be better than letting it sit there ugly and vacant. But if the dinosaurs on the council think a pickleball court is a higher priority than affordable housing, then I’d at least rather them put it somewhere central and unused instead of bulldozing a park.
Something like that would actually look really cool there. But then you'd have ppl crying about how that area should be used for population density or something like that. you can never win on the internet.
Oh, I'd be fine if it was used for density. Hell, I'd be happy if it they filled it with dirt and let grass grow over it. Something--almost anything--would be better than what's there now.
Agreed, and same goes for the malt property. At what point do we say “enough— you guys need to deal with these eyesores”, or the city acquires them at fair market value.
What about the old canoe museum on Monaghan? Are there any plans for that? Plenty of on site parking and it could be used all year round
Used to be outboard marine factory. The entire grounds are apparently contaminated and need tens of millions in cleanup before we can use the old canoe museum grounds.
I think they're building the new transit marshalling yard there.
Ooohhhhhh interesting
You know Kawartha heights park is pretty empty.
Pickleball is such a great activity. I had a wonderful time playing with 27 others, this morning, from 8 am to 10 am. When I left, there was another group of at least 30 enjoying the courts. (There are 6 courts where I play.) The age range of everyone participating today was 50 to 80. We all got in a great workout. I don't live in Peterborough now but when I did live there, I played tennis at Bonnerworth Park once a week, weather permitting. I never observed anyone using that park for any purpose. It wasn't all peace and quiet. There was a loud construction project going on within earshot of the tennis courts. Given the demographics of Peterborough, I would think this would be a very worthwhile undertaking for the community. If I were the one in charge of "selling" this idea to the public, I'd give a free pickleball paddle to everyone who lived in the nearby buildings and offer them some free introductory lessons on how to play. This would give them a chance to see how much fun it is, what a good workout it is, and how many new friends they will make.
I live near the park and your summary of its use is inaccurate. And while pickleball may be all you say it is, the noise is intolerable. 16 courts is absurd. The courts are currently only used in early morning and evening because it's too hot mid-day. Imagine how much hotter it will be with all of that hardscaping! The courts should be inside a building where they can be used all year round. Or is it too loud to play inside???
I play inside a dome over the winter and yes, it is quite loud. Honestly, my ears ring a little afterwards. However, I tolerate it because my blood pressure is lower than it has been in many years. There are companies that are working on developing quieter paddles and balls. There is a paddle made by a company called "Owl" that is a little quieter. When I play outdoors, it is much quieter and the noise seems to dissipate more. I'm thinking the city can find a way to reduce the noise with the use of screens, walls and shrubbery. I do agree that keeping the lights on until 11pm is too late. It seems like 9 pm would be more appropriate.
The shorter time-frame would be great. As for sound mitigation we have done research on that and it doesn't work even at ground level. There are apartments in the immediate vicinity so any walls would have to be so high they wouldn't be structurally soundless alone terribly ugly. Also none of this addresses the intense heat, sun (the proposed courts face east/west) and rain. Wouldn't it be fantastic if there was an appropriate building with sound mitigation INSIDE the building, plenty of parking and amenities for players? If this is to be the tournament capitol of Ontario these people are going to be very embarrassed by the chaos. The other issue is the PBA already has control over the courts at Bonnerworth. Locked equipment boxes with nets for their use only...They forced the St. Pete's kids to play tennis on the baseball fields the other day because they booked the courts at a time when the school kids always use the courts. This is condoned by the City. Why? The insane belligerence of the City and some councillors to shove this project through without proper procedure begs a question. What is truly behind this? I feel sorry for the bike and skateboard people because their portion of the redevelopment will never happen! Look at the track record of the City following through on plans. Where did that pool go again???
What about inverlea park? I'm pretty uneducated on why this wouldn't work but after walking around there the other day and seeing how little use it gets I thought it would make sense without getting rid of two more baseball diamonds.
If they're going to do anything with the green space at bonnerworth, I wish they'd build another dog park. I see so many dogs around there, and as someone without a car, the hour walk to the only off leash dog park in town isn't very feasible regularly.
I'd agree, but Bonnerworth would have the same issues as the existing park: you bake in the summer and freeze in the winter because there's no shade, and the drainage isn't great so the dogs would turn it into a mud pit. Now, if it drained well and they planted mature trees that'd be great as a dog park.
Yeah, I miss the dog parks in London terribly. They were nice for dogs AND people— a nice stroll through a wooded area, then a big open field to run in. We went almost everyday in certain seasons.