Councillor Taylor now in save the waterfront views mode - he wasn't there in 2015 when it really counted.

News 100 redBy Pepper Parr

November 14th, 2017

BURLINGTON, ON

 

Ward 3 Councillor John Taylor was Ok with a 23 storey tower opposite city hall. His focus was on saving the waterfront view.

He called it the view the  jewel of the city.

“The lake is the prize” he said, “we have to protect that view.”

Market-Lakeshore-foot-of-St-Paul-looking-west3-1024x682

What a view. Councillor Taylor, along with the other members of Council except Meed Ward, voted to sell it to private interests.

Taylor needs to be reminded of the position he took in 2015 when he voted to sell lakeside land to property owners whose homes abutted land the city owned.

There were several small parcels of land owned by the city and the provincial government.

A staff report on what was to be done with property that was referred to as “windows to the lake”.
The Staff report set out three choices: Do nothing, lease the land or sell it.

Market-water-street-lots-Ziegler-drawing

The graphic tells the story. The city owned the land inside the red boundary line. Three property owners had land that abutted the city property. The city sold the land they owned for peanuts. Taylor voted for the sale of that “prize”.

Residents whose property abutted the land saw an opportunity and moved quickly to make an offer. The succeeded in convincing the city to sell them the land and today those property owners have a superb view over the lake and no longer have to put up with the public walking past the edge of their property.

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Councillor Taylor – protecting those waterfront views.

During that debate Councillor Taylor grumbled about creating new parkland saying that there was a public park less than a block away. And indeed there was a public park – Port Nelson Park – a small patch of land that has a very good view of the lake.

Taylor said at the time that the public didn’t need anymore parkland in that part of the city.

Taylor was quite right – the “lake is the prize” – then why did he go along with selling lakefront property to private interests in 2015?

We will never know – and that magnificent stretch of land will never be in the hands of the public again.

Indeed the lake is the prize.

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10 comments to Councillor Taylor now in save the waterfront views mode – he wasn’t there in 2015 when it really counted.

  • JOHN McGHIE

    I FEEL SAD FOR JOHN TAYLOR AS HE HAS WORKED HIS SOCKS OFF FOR MANY YEARS IN WARD 3
    HE MUST HAVE BEEN SUCKED IN BY SOME OF THE OTHER PEOPLE ON COUNSEL. HE IS AN HONEST MAN AND NOW HE IS SEEING THE LIGHT. WE DON’T NEED ANYTHING TALLER THAN CITY HALL ON BRANT AND NOTHING SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO SPOIL THE LAKE FRONT

  • Ivan

    Unfortunately ‘suck and blow’ is a little too complicated for some on City Councilors. For example, Craven is very competent at sucking up to the developers and organizing speed bumps but don’t expect him to have any vision beyond the ‘wet finger in the air’ thought process!

    • Phillip

      Actually, Ivan, his thought process is more highly developed. “Me good; Meed-Ward bad” more adequately describes most of his “thinking”. I can’t wait to see the back end of Craven–subtracting a negative in the next election will be a plus for Burlington!

  • David Fenton

    They might as well Issue all the residents in Burlington with a set of donkeys ears and be done with it.

  • William

    I don’t mean to pick on Taylor. He’s not the worst of the bunch, but it always feels he is capable of doing more good then what he allows himself to do.

    With the 3 nasties (better known as ‘the CLaSh’ when using the first letters of their last names), there’s no hope of connecting with any semblance of their humanity.

    Taylor’s shtick has grown tiresome – the one where he says he has concerns about a particular proposal, gets everyone’s hopes up, then votes for it anyways. I’ve seen him repeatedly do this for the last 10 years. Time to hang up those spurs Taylor!

  • Stu Parr

    In support of Mr. Taylor, I believe that he is an honest man who has worked hard for the people of Ward 3 for many, many, many years. Too many years. Today, his position on issues tends to be more ‘ad hoc’ than consistently reflective of a considered set of values and ideas – the escarpment and the infrastructure deficit notwithstanding. It is time for him to step aside, with the full appreciation of his constituents, and engage the next phase of his life.

  • Stephen White

    I listened to Councillor Taylor’s rationale at last night’s meeting and couldn’t believe it.

    On one hand he wants to fight to preserve the lakefront from rezoning and high rise development, while at the same time condoning the erection of a 23 storey condo a few blocks north of Lakeshore that will, by its height and size, be overwhelming, obstruct sight lines, and offer nothing in the way of green space.

    And here I thought it was impossible to suck and blow at the same time.

  • Brian Jones

    Burlington Waterfront, a group of concerned residents also delegated to reject the sale of this land. Throughout a hugely long process, council all but 1 sold this area to the ajoining owners. Why it was sold, how much it was sold and the fact it was part of the overall waterfront trail though Burlington and along the Ontario lake system is still a point of contention and referred to many times

    • Hans

      That sale deserves to be an election issue next year, since it indicates the attitudes of those who voted for it.