It’s something which must be fought at every single corner and on every single street,” said Councillor Adam Vaughan, adding Walmart would gut small businesses in Kensington Market and elsewhere in his ward.
“We cannot allow this kind of big box retail to cannibalize and destroy the downtown core.”
RioCan CEO Ed Sonshine confirmed Tuesday Walmart will be the building’s chief tenant if the development is approved at the site of the Kromer Radio store at Bathurst and Nassau Sts.
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Proposed Walmart near Kensington Market has residents fuming | Toronto Star
- An initial RioCan proposal for the site was rejected by city council last May.
- In December, the Ontario Municipal Board agreed to quash the plan, concluding the development proposal was significant enough to warrant a site-specific rezoning bylaw amendment, rather than the series of minor variances being sought.
- RioCan has since resubmitted its application and the proposal is expected to go before community council in the coming weeks, Vaughan said.
- Dominique Russell, an organizer with the community group, Friends of Kensington Market, said she was “horrified” to learn of the Walmart proposal. There’s a prevailing sense among residents that such development threatens the market’s character, she said.
This would mean the death of Kensington Market, my (and not only my) fav spot in Toronto.
