The owners of the Beach Fairway Golf Range hope a last-ditch meeting with Toronto Mayor Rob Ford will put a stop to plans to close the driving range and build a housing and retail development on the land.
Kim Holman and her husband Brian Jacobsen have a meeting booked with the mayor on Monday. They have a separate meeting on the same day with Build Toronto, the mayor’s brother Doug Ford, as well as Ward 36 councillor Gary Crawford.
Holman said she wants the politicians and Build Toronto, the city’s real estate development agency, to reconsider a decision to close the range in light of a 5,300-name petition and hundreds of emails sent to city councillors.
“I understand that Build Toronto’s mandate is to take land and make money off of it. My point is that they should leave this property alone and go find another piece of property that is truly surplus, sitting there doing nothing and develop that,” Holman said.
Holman said she’s not fighting out of self-interest, but rather on behalf of her customers, golfers who pay more than 60,000 visits to the driving range every year. That includes 5,700 visits from children, 2,500 from seniors and also programs for the disabled, women’s shelters and troubled youth.
Golfers teed off
On a sunny day at the driving range, reaction to the news it’s slated to close was universal upset. Golfer Mike Beck said he’s annoyed with the city for tearing down a great asset to the community: “I don’t know that we need more houses in this area. This is popular, it’s a place that a lot of people come to.”
Robin Barker who visits the range 4 – 5 times a week said he’s written a letter of protest to every councillor in the city of Toronto:
“There’s no other facility like this within 32 kilometres of City Hall. Nothing south of the 401. It’s ridiculous,” Barker said. “There are baseball diamonds, there are soccer fields, there are football fields and you think the mayor, being a coach in football would understand that.”
The driving range received notice earlier this year that the city would not be renewing the lease on the land, which is located on the northwest corner of Victoria Park Avenue and Gerrard Street. It’s part of a larger 20-hectare parcel of undeveloped land known locally as “The Quarry” that has been the centre of controversy in Birch Cliff for almost forty years.
Complicated history
The Quarry was once an unregulated dump site and has known toxins buried underground. Various developers have been trying for years to clean up the land and build housing but the community has fought back tooth and nail on both environmental grounds and density issues.
Several years ago, Build Toronto was working with the Quarry’s largest landowner, The Conservatory Group to come up with a unified plan to develop the entire parcel in a way that would satisfy the community’s concerns.
The talks fell apart after the Conservatory Group and the advocacy group Concerned Citizens of Quarry Lands Development refused to compromise on density, which is based on zoning from 1968 when plans were still on the books to build the Scarborough Expressway.
The Conservatory Group and Build Toronto are now developing separately on their respective parcels of land and the driving range is on Build Toronto’s section.
Build Toronto has said it will unveil a plan to the community in September to put “well-designed” low density housing on the property, along with a large park and retail.
Community meeting planned
The CCQLD, which has been fighting high-rise towers since 2003, said in a letter the idea on the table has enough merit to warrant a community meeting where all parties can listen to one another and be heard:
“We understand that the Build Toronto ideas may not be to everyone’s liking. Those who would prefer the entire space be dedicated to parkland will be disappointed, as will those who feel the driving range should stay on the site indefinitely. We also need to hear more about what Build Toronto is envisioning for the retail area, and to of course be diligent regarding environmental concerns, potential traffic impacts, and area services.”
Unless something happens at the meeting with Mayor Ford and Build Toronto, the driving range is scheduled to close in October.
Although it will be some time before shovels hit the ground, Build Toronto Vice President Bruce Logan said in the Toronto Star that the range needs to be closed now for environmental work:
“This is highly intrusive work and it impacts the driving range but it is required to obtain the necessary environmental and geotechnical evaluations,” said Bruce Logan, Build’s vice-president of corporate affairs and operations. “With this clean-up program in place we can then look at the potential for neighbourhood regeneration.”
Holman admits she’s known since she opened the driving range in 1999 that the lease with the City was only temporary. Since the original ten-year lease expired, it’s been renewed on a year to year basis.
We knew it wasn’t going to be forever. But I never thought this business would be this successful and I would have so many customers begging me and saying “Kim you have to do something”.
Holman is being urged on by golfers such as Monica, who didn’t want her last name used because she holds a government job:
“I think it’s a bit of greed. Why can’t they find something else and leave this place alone for people who want to learn to golf. What else are they going to take from us next? It’s really unfortunate.”
Brendon Tait is a Phys Ed teacher at Wexford Collegiate who hits balls at the range twice a week and worries about the young people he teaches:
“I’m sad. It should be more accessible. I promote Phys Ed with my students. If there aren’t these opportunities around for them close to their communities these kids are going have a harder time being physically active”.
11-year old Patrick Rocchio is sad too. He learned to golf at the Beach Fairway and was there with his dad Domenic and younger brother.
“It’s sort of sad because this is one of the only sports we can play with dad,” Patrick said.
Stay tuned. We’ll let you know what happens at the meeting on Monday.
I’ve been to this golf range often (not enough to improve my game), but enough to see it’s always busy. There are lots of teenagers and families, too. It would be a shame to lose this for the sake of more housing, condo towers and/or commercial/retail development – so kids hang out at the food court instead of a round at the mini-putt and summer golf camp lessons? Great thinking Toronto.
Great and important story. My kids learned to play golf at Beach Fairways. Losing it would be a terrible blow to the community, and to the game. Don’t let this happen!