The Brothers Ford strike a chord with Torontonians when they say, “Let’s get moving on the waterfront.” For, while a significant percentage of citizens often disagree with the Fords on major policy matters, there is near unanimity on the state of the waterfront — awful — and the pace at which it is being revitalized — slow.

As such, the Twin Mayors’ “wow” plan for the Port Lands that goes to the executive committee Tuesday is deceptively attractive. The prospect of a giant Ferris wheel, mega mall and water hotel linked by a monorail, could seduce all but the most mature, clear-thinking city councillors.

What to do to avoid catastrophe?

Go back to the base principles. Test all ideas against the experience of waterfront cities. Listen to the people. Compare shiny new plans against standards carefully developed over the past decade. Ask why this new plan, now, by these proponents?

In 1999, mayor Mel Lastman struck a task force on the waterfront and the current revitalization efforts began, under financier Robert Fung. Prime minister Jean Chrétien, premier Mike Harris and Lastman appeared on the Port Lands to announce the partnership. The feds and province promised $500 million each; the city, cash poor but land rich, would match its contribution mainly in the form of land.

Now that $770 million is used up, spent on approvals and changes to make the city’s lands ready for development, how fair is it for the city to ask Queen’s Park and Ottawa to just fade away and let the city develop the land with its own agency, setting aside Waterfront Toronto, the master planner all three parties agreed on.

Toronto owns 170 of the 404 hectares in the Port Lands, an area south of Lake Shore Blvd., west of Leslie St. The Toronto Economic Development Corporation (TEDCO) had jurisdiction over the land from 1984. It marked 15 years of inaction that led to the Fung Task Force. It wasn’t until 2008 that the three governments agreed to give Waterfront Toronto sole stewardship over the waterfront.

Yet city staff wants to return the lands to TEDCO, under a new name, Toronto Port Lands Company (TPLC), less than three years later. Justification? Waterfront Toronto is moving too slowly.

Clearly, other imperatives are at work. The waterfront exists only as a source of instant cash for the new administration. Their approach? Sell land. Allow the private sector to build something big. Grab the cash so they can cut taxes and chop city services.

Tapping into Torontonians’ embarrassment about their waterfront, the Fords would recklessly pursue their cash grab by claiming that Waterfront Toronto is incapable of achieving waterfront success.

The facts suggest the opposite. Considering the handcuffs placed on Waterfront Toronto, the failure to give it control until late 2008, and efforts by TEDCO and others to undermine it, there’s been considerable improvements along the water’s edge. What’s more amazing is it has been done with the input, blessing and advocacy of waterfront residents, activists, environmentalists, planners, architects and the entire urban development industry, and city council.

The development industry, feeding off a strategic plan carefully laid out and designed for 25 to 30 years, has started to respond. Waterfront Toronto claims four development deals have resulted in approximately $1.475 billion of private investment, exceeding the public funds invested to date.

Councillors at Tuesday’s executive committee must convince themselves that they didn’t mean it last year when they approved Waterfront Toronto’s environmental assessment plan for the Port Lands. Unanimously.

Key to the plan is the flood protection and the naturalization of the mouth of the Don River. Without flood protection, there is no development. Waterfront Toronto chose a plan that channels the river into three estuaries, creating three new riverfront communities and increasing the value of the land. The plan takes the river right through where some developers want to put a mega mall, hotel and the giant Ferris wheel.

Waterfront Toronto expressly rejected the flood control option that the hired architect for the new plan will propose to council. But will Waterfront Toronto be there to explain why TPLC’s vision was rejected? They have not been asked to appear.

But their plan is to create new water’s-edge neighbourhoods that greatly increase the value of the land, sell the land at the higher price for redevelopment, reinvest the proceeds and continue the revitalization, precinct by precinct.

The Ford plan “cannibalizes the whole project,” designed for a 30-year build-out. In short, to get a quick hit and infusion of cash for the city budget, city politicians risk the rest of the entire project.

Destination attractions, fed by flying trains and supported by giant parking lots are inimical to a street-level, integrated, people-focused waterfront community. Council and the people bought into that vision. Now, the Twin Mayors want to impose another vision and have done so without the courtesy of engaging the local councillor and without the input of the city’s agency hired to develop the area.

John Tory and CivicAction — as close as we get to a non-partisan, broad-based coalition of citizens, business, labour, professionals and activists in the GTA — cautions council about this direction. CivicAction can’t, at this point, tell the Twin Mayor they are crazy. But read between the lines.

The Twin Mayors executive committee is renowned for being a rubber stamp exercise, so members are likely to close their ears as deputants speak Tuesday and just vote the mayor(s’) intent. But if a single one of the 12 could muster enough courage, she might propose council:

• Reject the staff recommendation to immediately renegotiate the three-government waterfront deal of 1999.

• Send the mega dreams to Waterfront Toronto for comment and recommendations. Surely, the lead agency on the waterfront would have valuable insight and opinions on the competing ideas.

• Request TPLC submit a business plan, but only if they don’t get satisfaction from Waterfront Toronto.

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

• Council proceed with Waterfront Toronto’s revitalization plan while TPLC conducts its parallel process.

That will take courage because it is bound to anger the Twin Mayors. The alternative is to risk the city’s greatest real estate asset.

Royson James usually appears Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Email: rjames@thestar.ca

Read more about: