Saturday 29 April 2017

Clarkson Road butcher shop building demolished!

Another old building that was a part of the history of Clarkson has been relegated to the dust bin of history! The building that most recently housed the Doug Auld & Son Butchers Shop, at 1109 Clarkson Road North, was demolished this week to potentially pave the way for a new development. The proposed development is for five 4-storey back-to-back stacked townhouse buildings comprising 136 units to be built on the site which has been home to the former butcher shop, a former car detailing business, a wellness centre, an outdoor storage unit, a yoga studio, and a bicycle shop.
The Auld Butcher Shop circa 2011 (Google Street View)

Building in 2016 (Google Street View)
As noted in previous posts, this group of buildings, plus the buildings on the northwest side of the railway track and a house on the northeast side of the tracks, are known historically as the original Clarkson Corners. The former Clarkson railway station was located close by. The current yoga studio building was a cold storage unit for preserving produce. The building that was just demolished began its life as the original post office for Clarkson, then a bank, before becoming Auld's Butcher Shop. It has been an integral part of the community for well over 150 years, and it will be missed.

The City of Mississauga and Heritage Mississauga had wanted to preserve some of the buildings on this site and were supposed to be meeting with the developer to discuss possibilities. The developer has already appealed to the OMB because the City is opposed to the development as currently proposed.

We will now never know the possibile outcome of those meetings. It would have been great to have seen the buildings restored as historical reminders of Clarkson's past. The residents of Clarkson are proud of its history and the role the village played in the settlement of Mississauga. This is the first European settlement in the area, and the Clarkson family was instrumental in its formation as a village. Clarkson Corners was definitely its heart. We are fortunate to be home to two fantastic musuem properties -- Benares Historial House on Clarkson Road North, and the Bradley House Museum on Orr Road at Meadowwood Road. This latter property already houses several historical buildings, but there was no indication that the butcher shop would have been added to the site. It is a mute point now. All we have left are photographs and memories, and a sense that there has been a disruption in the time continuum. We will have to wait to seee what the future brings.

Thursday 27 April 2017

Recent Change in Ownership for Petro-Canada Lubricants

Below is the official notice from the new owners of the local Petro-Canada Lubricants facility at the foot of Southdown Road in Clarkson.

February 1, 2017: - HollyFrontier Corporation completed the acquisition of the Petro-Canada Lubricants (PCLI) business, which is based in Mississauga, Ontario. 

HollyFrontier Corporation, headquartered in Dallas, Texas, is an independent petroleum refiner and marketer that produces high value light products such as gasoline, diesel fuel, jet fuel and other specialty products.  With the addition of the Petro-Canada Lubricants business, HollyFrontier becomes the fourth largest lubricants producer in North America.

Although the ownership has transitioned, the values that are held at PCLI are shared with HFC and will remain unchanged.  Commitment to safety, environmental stewardship, continuous improvement and good corporate citizenship continue to be the priority.  

The facility has been a part of the Clarkson landscape since 1943, and has changed ownership and name several times over the years -- first as British American Oil, then Gulf Oil, to Petro-Canada Lubricants in 1985. Under HollyFrontier, it will continue to operate under the Petro-Canada Lubricants, Inc. name and it will be business as usual for PCLI and the community.

The Community Liaison Committee,  of which the Birch Glen Residents' Association has been a functioning member for over 20 years, will continue to meet bi-monthly with senior staff at Petro-Canada throughout the year, bringing community concerns to management, and relaying information back to the community.

Residents can still call the Community Emergency Response/Notification line at 1-866-644-5678 to file noise or odour complaints or to receive up to the moment information about specific situations.


Wednesday 19 April 2017

Earth Day 2017

This coming Saturday, April 22, is Earth Day. Although we have not organized a formal neighbourhood cleanup this year, some residents may be in the park and wandering the streets picking up litter. We would ask residents to celebrate the day by cleaning up their own properties and boulevards or joining with neighbours to clean up their streets.

Wednesday 5 April 2017

Housing Developments in Clarkson-Lorne Park area

The landscape of Clarkson-Lorne Park is changing with a number of housing and business developments being proposed during the latter part of 2016 and the early part of 2017. Here are some of the applications being considered by the City of Mississauga Planning & Building staff:
  1. 1190-1200 Lorne Park Road -- This is the site of the now-closed St. Paul's Anglican Church, just north of the plaza, and on the corner of Lorne Park Road and Garden Road. The applicant's proposal is to revise the official plan and zoning to permit a condominium development consisting of 4 semidetached homes and 6 townhouses on the east portion of the property, plus 2 freehold detached and 2 freehold semi-detached homes fronting onto Garden Road. Information can be found on the City of Mississauga's website at https://www7.mississauga.ca/documents/PublicNotices/2017/oz16014_notice-complete_application_n3.pdf 
  2. 1101-1109 Clarkson Road North -- Currently, this site houses a couple of vacated properties (the former Auld & Son butcher shop, and a former luxury car sales and detailing operation), as well as a yoga studio, bicycle shop, medical facilities  The developer is proposing four (or five) buildings that could possibly house 136 four-storey stacked back-to-back townhouses parallel to Clarkson Road on the south side of the railroad tracks. Also proposed -- some retail adjacent to, and parallel to, the tracks, with the road/driveway access on the north side of the property between the retail buildings and the townhouses. City Council and residents oppose this application, The developer has already appealed this decision to the OMB.  http://www7.mississauga.ca/documents/PublicNotices/2015/Public_Notice_-_OZ15003.pdf
  3. 1137 and 1141 Clarkson Road North -- This heritage property is located immediately north of the railroad tracks on the east side of Clarkson Road. The applicant is proposing to revise the official plan and zoning to permit two detached homes on Hollow Oak Terrace and additional commercial and office uses within the existing heritage dwelling known as The Clarkson Paisley House (1141 Clarkson Road North). https://www7.mississauga.ca/documents/PublicNotices/2016/public_notice_-_OZ_16012CompApp.pdf  
  4. 2200 Bromsgrove Road -- The plan here is to develop 84 three-storey back-to-back stacked townhouses. This property is immediately east of a newly-proposed 104 townhouse development by a different applicant and owner.    https://www7.mississauga.ca/documents/PublicNotices/2017/oz16015_notice-complete_application_n3.pdf
  5. 1516-1526 Southdown Road  -- The applicatant is proposing build a two-storey office building on what is currently a residential property.    https://www7.mississauga.ca/documents/PublicNotices/2016/Public_Notice-OZ_15010.pdf
Public meetings have already been held for each of these proposed developments. However, if you are interested in information on any of these projects, you can search for information online either through the Google search engine or on the City of Mississauga website. It is interesting to note that three of the four housing applications are for back-to-back stacked townhouses. A public information centre was held at the Living Arts Centre on March 29 to discuss how the City of Mississauga will approach and handle applications for stacked, back-to-back, and stacked back-to-back townhouses. The discussion was lively and some interesting points were raised regarding accessibility, appearance, setback, and landscaping.

Monday 3 April 2017

Check out our Facebook page!

We try not to do too much duplication over our social media sites. However, we do realize that some readers and residents are not "on" all forms of social media.

If you are on Facebook as well, go to http://www.facebook.com/birchglenresidentsassociation to keep abreast of what is posted there.

Let us know which format you prefer.

Canada 150 Celebrations in Clarkson

Stay tuned for information on what will be happening in Clarkson Village for Canada 150!

The Clarkson BIA and the ratepayer associations of Clarkson-Lorne Park will be celebrating Canada 150 along Lakeshore Road West in Clarkson Village on June 24, 2017, starting at 12 noon and continuing on through the day until 5 p.m.

We will provide a poster and details as they become available.