David Fleischer
Published: December 14, 2007, yorkregion.com

Observatory efforts in overdrive
Mayor 'flabbergasted' by report U of T went to court to take land rights from Dunlap heirs

While the future of the Dunlap Observatory lands is very much up in the air, Mayor Dave Barrow and town officials are racing to see how much of the 190 acres can be preserved.

“Our biggest problem now is the time frame,” Mr. Barrow said.

The University of Toronto will close its bid process on Feb.15 and hopes to have a sale closed by July.

The university’s decision to leave the town in the dark until the last minute in pursuit of an aggressive schedule has forced the town to put its efforts into overdrive.

At an August meeting with Mr. Barrow, university officials made no indication a sale was imminent. By Sept. 10, however, they had completed a deal with the Dunlap family and decided to sell the lands. Town officials had no more than a weekend’s notice.

“I said to them this is offensive, you’ve been here 70 years,” Mr. Barrow said.

He cited the town’s 1995 light-pollution bylaw as evidence of how the town tried to accommodate the university’s needs and was disappointed by how the school returned the favour.

Also painting the university in a poor light are newly-published reports showing that U of T spent several years trying to leverage a deal with the three Dunlap heirs. The heirs are granddaughter Donalda Roberts of Windsor and her brothers, David and Moffatt Dunlap.

The land was donated to the university in 1932 on the condition it revert to the family if not being used for astronomy.

Nonetheless, in 2003, the school took the family to court hoping to acquire the rights to the land. That case was settled but negotiations continued until a deal was reached this past summer. Town officials were out of the loop the whole time and do not even have their own copy of the deed willing the land to the school.

“It’s amazing. I was flabbergasted,” said Mr. Barrow of the stories which had been long circulating as rumours.

Now the town is racing against a deadline and hoping the government will declare an interest in the lands and slow the process.

While federal government officials have been largely silent, Mr. Barrow said the provincial government has been very helpful.

“The province gets it,” he said. “I sense that people are listening at the province.”

He has met with officials and ministers from the ministries of Natural Resources, Public Infrastructure Renewal and Training, Colleges and Universities as well as the Ontario Heritage Foundation.

Despite any progress, Mr. Barrow is not expecting the province or any private individual to step forward with the money needed to purchase the land — estimated to be in the vicinity of $100 million.

“It’s about asking for ideas and programs,” Mr. Barrow said.

He spent two days at Queen’s Park this week and expects to spend more time with government officials in the coming weeks. A lobbying trip to Ottawa may be in the cards.

The lands are virtually in the centre of the town, making them a perfect place for developers as well as a perfect place to preserve.

“It’s a beautiful place. The good news is that it’s at the corner of Bayview and 16th. The bad news is it’s at the corner of Bayview and 16th,” Mr. Barrow said.

While there is no disputing the prime location of the lands, no one knows right now how much of the land could be used for development.

Developers have been calling the mayor’s office to get a sense of the town’s plans but the town’s goal is to have its entirety remain in public hands.

“The reality is that may not be possible,” Mr. Barrow said.

In the meantime, the town is pursuing heritage designation for the observatory buildings and seeing if protection can be won for the surrounding lands as well.

A recent decision by the Conservation Review Board to protect the home of Dr. Frederick Banting (who discovered insulin for the treatment of diabetes), based upon its cultural significance, is providing a hopeful precedent for the town.

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