HVRA News
*Phase 2: Harbord Village Heritage Conservation District Plan enacted by City Council
*Hail and Fairwell: HVRA President Gus Sinclair passes the torch to Tim Grant at AGM
*Upcoming events and commitee meetings
         Heritage Conservation Committee (March 2)
          Sally Bird Park Re-design public planning meeting (March 10)
          Toronto Food Policy Forum (March 18)
          Treeing the Village Committee April 27)
           …and more
* But first, greetings and news from our Chair Tim Grant:

Welcome to HVRA’s revitalized website.

Thanks to the efforts of our new webmaster, Harbord Village resident Wendy Smith, the site has been transformed. The new site is easier to navigate but the big improvements are in the content and the layout. Much of what is at the site has been updated. Our intention is to keep things there as current as possible and as useful as possible to HVRA members.

HVRA’s Web site has some truly appealing and useful features including:
* Photo slideshows celebrating the Fall Fair and the Pumpkin Festival
* An interactive map showing details about every tree in Harbord Village
* Access to all HVRA newsletters and numerous other documents relevant to Harbord Village
* Copies of recent media reports that touch on Harbord Village.

Wendy’s work on the Web site continues. If you have suggestions about the site, please contact her at wendy@wendysmithtoronto.com.

Greetings all. As the Winter drags on, what better way to respond than to gather your neighbours and go to a community meeting! We have a number of upcoming events for your consideration.

Phase 2: Harbord Village Heritage Conservation District Plan

January, 2010
HVRA is pleased to announce that City Council has approved and is enacting a bylaw to put into effect the Phase 2 Plan, which includes 239 residential properties in three areas:

• The east and west sides of Robert Street from College to Bloor

• The south side of Sussex Avenue from Spadina to Robert Street

• The north side of Russell Street from Spadina Crescent to Robert Street and the west side of Spadina Crescent and Avenue from Russell Street to Willcocks Street

This phase complements the Phase 1 project previously approved, which included properties on Willcocks Street, Brunswick Street, and a small number of properties on Robert and Spadina providing entry to Willcocks Street.

Thanks to all the people in the neighbourhood for their support in this endeavour, and to the volunteers who worked at the archives and libraries. The history and descriptions of all properties in Phase 2 has been compiled in the inventory, and this information will be communicated to property owners.

The committee, along with all the volunteers, are eager to organize the commemoration of this great achievement.

Congratulations to all.

For more information on the Harbord Village Heritage Conservation Districts, please visit our Heritage Preservation webpage here.

Above: Barton Cottages on Robert Street,
included in the Phase 2 Harbord Village Heritage Conservation District Plan

Hail and Fairwell
HVRA President Gus Sinclair passes the torch to Tim Grant at AGM

Message from Gus
Some of you will have seen my valedictory in the Fall Newsletter and some will have heard my thoughts on a decade of being your Chair at the AGM on October 20. I have been asked to put some more words to the passing of the torch from me to the new Chair Tim Grant and so here goes.

Without question being your Chair has been one of the most rewarding bits of public service I have ever done. But at the same time I have to say that I did not come to the job with a whole bunch of ideas of what I wanted HVRA to do… rather I had ideas of how things might be set up that would be attractive enough to the membership to encourage them to participate in community building activities. Let me explain:

One of the phrases that I have found personally useful over the years is: “As you are able, set conditions in social situations where people can be at their best.” So how does that translate into being the kind of Chair that I thought would work for me? Well for one thing, it meant coming to the job with not so much of an agenda of specific programmes as much as  setting up ‘infrastructure’ or preconditions where good work could be done. Put another way, I thought that if the atmosphere was right, the specific programmes would take care of themselves.

To my mind, these background things involved some simple nuts and bolts items such as making sure meetings begin and end on time, keeping a speakers list when many wanted to speak at once, gently encouraging people to back off controversial matters to allow for further study, engaging in consensus politics as much as possible but when a vote has to be taken, ensuring that the ‘losing side’ has been made to feel that their arguments were fully explored and heard. I thought that if I were able to do some of these things, the specifics of the programming would naturally arise from the members who would not just present the ideas of what we might wish to do but also take ownership of the projects in the bargain.

Sometimes I thought of it as being made Captain of a ship where I was not particularly interested in the destination — I wanted you, the crew, to decide that. What my deal with you was that I would get you there without a mutiny.

So that is what I set about doing. Did I know it would work the way it seems to have? No I did not. I was as surprised as I was tickled that folks just seemed to respond to the offer of a safe place to help their community grow. Do I think that my methodology  is the make or break item for the success of HVRA? Not really. It is a true partnership in the very real sense that you the members and your Chair really are equal allies in the enterprise — it cannot remotely go forward without you no matter how good the intentions of the Chair.

And now after a decade in office, it is time to step aside and make room for a new person to take the helm. There is no question that I could do this for another decade and make no mistake, I love the job — but good organizations do not do well if one person stays in a position for too long. There is enormous depth in HVRA and in the Board in particular and it is right that this depth be exploited. 

Tim Grant agreed to take on the job and was elected at the AGM. We are so, so, SO lucky to have Tim, a man of enormous energy, talent and leadership skills, willing to step forward…. Tim is a long time member of the Board — he invented the Tree Committee which has a huge following in Harbord Village. Just the Tree Count alone shows Tim’s extraordinary leadership skill… That project I wager, has never been, nor ever will be bettered by any Residents’ Association in the nation… let alone Toronto.   

So the passing on of the Presidency is a happy occasion as it should be in well run organizations. HVRA is strong, solvent, and ready for new challenges. Orderly change is a measure of the strength and health of our community and the organization that binds us together.

Let us go forward in good heart and may HVRA enjoy continued success.

Rory “Gus” Sinclair
Past President HVRA