Posted Jun 11, 2009, 1:37 AM
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Registered User
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Join Date: Aug 2002
Posts: 2,011
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mrjauk
Another letter from a Sun reader:
Link to letter
Someone should send a letter to the Sun rebutting some of this gentleman's claims. |
officedweller, with good timing, answers a lot of these questions from his post on the UBC skytrain thread:
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showpost.php?p=4298776&postcount=665
Quote:
Redress sought on St. Clair
TTC Construction; Merchants considering class action
Giuseppe Valiante, National Post
Published: Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Aaron Lynett/National Post
Jeff Gillan of Carmen's Designs on St. Clair Avenue West says the city has ignored its pledge to minimize the impact construction of a streetcar right-of-way would have on local businesses.
St. Clair Avenue West merchants are considering a class-action lawsuit as they launch a bid for city compensation over the massive construction disruption of the streetcar right-of-way.
"Some of the people I've spoken to ... told me they've kept dossiers of what they say are a dirty laundry list of construction abuses that are staggering: of ineptitude, of overspending, of building and ripping apart and building again," said Stephen Edell, a lawyer from the area.
He has been contacting businesses to see if a case can be made on grounds that the city abused their rights and are at fault for the construction delays and cost overruns that have plagued the streetcar project since it began in 2005. Mr. Edell said he's heard back positively from over 75 businesses out of the 250 he contacted since Sunday.
"It's discussion about the possibility of compensation and/or some kind of tax concessions," said Mr. Edell. "We understand that the city has tremendous powers and rights as a public body. The question ... is whether [this project] has exceeded any reasonable expectation of what would be an appropriate interference with these people's right to conduct their business."
Joe Mihevc, a local city councillor and vice-chair of the Toronto Transit Commission, rejected any talk of compensation. "I have a ton of sympathy for what the businesses, and frankly the neighbourhood as well, have had to put with. However, the city will not be able to pay compensation for lost business.''
If City Hall did pay, every citizen could demand compensation for any renovation the city undertook, Mr. Mihevc said. "I don't think a lawsuit, or a threat of a lawsuit, is going to gain them anything," he said.
The project to construct streetcar-only lanes on St. Clair between Yonge and Keele streets was supposed to be completed by the end of 2006, but is now scheduled to be done early next year.
On the stretch of St. Clair between Lansdowne Avenue and Dufferin known as the Corso Italia Business Investment Area, most businesses have lost between 20% and 40% of sales since last year, according to the BIA's executive director Jeff Gillan.
Mr. Gillan said Mr. Edell has not contacted most of the businesses in his area, but said he "expect[s] that some of the merchants, if not all, would be interested" in talking about legal action.
"The whole idea was to do [the construction] with the smallest amount of impact on business as possible, but [the city has] ignored that," said Mr. Gillan.
Brad Ross, a TTC spokesperson, said the TTC has tried to address people's concerns by offerring two-hour stopover transfers.
''We want to get it complete. We understand that construction is disruptive," Mr. Ross said.
But the construction has become far more than simply disruptive, said Mr. Edell.
"Whether a legal solution is the right one or not we can't even say at this point in time, but somebody has got to do something," Mr. Edell said.
A meeting is planned in the next two weeks with business owners, he said.
Said Mr. Mihevc: "Good luck."
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