Tag: Weston BIA

Important planning meeting

It’s been a while since we last heard from the Greenland Farms developers. Now, the city has scheduled a meeting to discuss two very large buildings they propose for the corner of Little Avenue and Weston down to the Dollarama.

Despite opposition from city planners and the community, the owners seem to be proposing to increase the size and height of the development. They want one tower to be 35 storeys (up from 29) and to the number of apartments from 592 to 739. (Those numbers were, in turn, an increase from a single 28-storey building.)

From UrbanToronto.

The meeting will be June 27 at the Etobicoke York Community Council, starting around 9:45 a.m.. The meeting will also be streamed live. You can give feedback or register to speak by email: [email protected]

Weston returning to normal–slowly

The Farmers’ Market will open on August 1, according to the BIA. They are also looking to hire students to help with the market—but hurry; the deadline is tomorrow, July 20.

The Weston Library is also reopening a bit, for scheduled computer bookings.

Weston restaurants remain open

Marion from the BIA passes along this important information: local restaurants remain open for take out and delivery, even after the announcement yesterday that most businesses must close. Uber Eats is offering free delivery, too. Some Weston restaurants are

  • Egg Smart
  • P & M Family Restaurant
  • Ali Baba Middle Eastern
  • Wiff African Restaurant
  • P & M Family Restaurant
  • Perfect Blend Café
  • Yummy Delight
  • Sun Crisp Fish and Chips
  • Weston Barbecue
  • Tim Hortons Coffee Shop
  • Chicken Roast Middle Eastern
  • God Bless Canada
  • Pizza Alps
  • Zeal Burger
  • Kitchen King Jerk
  • Auseff Halal Middle Eastern
  • Pizza Pizza
  • Popeye’s Chicken
  • Living Well Caribbean
  • Milam’s Pizzeria

And I would be remiss if I didn’t mention Comal Y Canela, Canada’s finest Mexican restaurant.

Gaeta Farms ejected from Farmers’ Market

Gaeta Farms has been ejected from the Weston Farmers’ market, which is causing great concern and may have serious repercussions.

Gaeta Farms has been an anchor tenant since the market began  38 years ago. The farm posted on their website this weekend that they had been told they had breached the code of conduct and would no longer be welcome. They dispute this:

Breaching the code of conduct they say: My dad has always loved this market, this is where we started. His voice is for the market and what’s best for all farmers and the other vendors who attend, he wants this market to succeed. Is his voice too loud? The community needs to know that the board is giving the farmers a hard time with the move to the new location next year, which doesn’t give us enough space to operate safely. His voice is sticking up for us farmers.

In an email, Sabrina Gaeta, Joe’s daughter, said the issue goes back three years.  “Vendors have left, customers are no longer attending and nothing is being done to promote the market or address the issue that we have less vendors year after year.”

Next year’s  move to John Street has also been very contentious. Sabrina Gaeta says that vendors do not want to move to the John Street location because the space is not big enough. She also says they have not been supported by the BIA.

The Gaetas say the new John Street location will be too small for all the vendors and their wares, and cannot be used safely with the trucks and loading that needs to be done.

Losing Gaeta Farms may have serious repercussions for the market. Several people have told me that an inspector came on Saturday and found the market had too few vendors to qualify as a farmers’ market. This appears to mean it will be downgraded to a flea market.

I’ve emailed Frances Nunziata and the BIA, but I haven’t yet heard back.

Sabrina Gaeta said, in closing:

After 38 years my dad just wants to retire peacefully from the market and move on to spend time with his grandchildren. He doesn’t want me to pursue this, but the community needs to know how unfair we were treated. Out staff lost their jobs on Saturday, income they rely on. What hurt us the most: they took away the opportunity to say goodbye to the community, our customers who have become friends. We deserve the right to say goodbye.