Mature woodlots help make Scarborough beautiful, and Glenn was committed to preserving these natural features.
Frank Faubert Woodlot Restoration
Right after he graduated from the University of Toronto (Scarborough Campus), Glenn joined the fight to save the Scarborough Town Centre woodlots and helped groups such as the Midland Park Community Association deliver flyers to rally support to save the woodlots from condo development. Nearly 25 years after the successful fight to save the woodlot, Glenn worked to ensure the woodlot is cared for and to implement a woodlot restoration plan that will see more formal paths created (and informal trails closed in order to protect the Trilliums). Invasive plant species such as dog-strangling vine is being removed to protect the Trilliums and some invasive Norway Maple trees are being removed to allow the native tree species to grow. Saving our Civic Centre woodlot is one of the best things Scarborough ever did and it is thanks to Councillor Marilyn Mushinski, the St. Andrew, North Bendale and Midland Park Community Association, and Glenn, that we have this beautiful legacy to protect.
Borough Drive Woodlot
Glenn intervened to save the small one-acre Borough Drive woodlot (located on the north side of Borough Drive, just south of the YMCA) and have it donated to the City to be protected forever as a woodlot. Decades ago, a developer was given permission to cut down the small parcel of old-growth trees that had been cut off from the main Frank Faubert Woodlot when Borough Drive was first built. It always bothered Glenn when he drove by the woodlot that it would be cut down; little did he know he would some day get the opportunity to save almost every tree in the woodlot. When Scarborough planners told Glenn the B.C. developer was about to submit a building permit that would have seen all the trees cut down—as had been approved decades ago—Glenn got on the phone and told the developer that, while he understood the developer already had his approvals, Glenn hoped he would redesign his 500-unit condo project in a way that would save the trees. To Glenn’s pleasant surprise, the developer responded and said, “You know, I love those trees and it does bother me to think that I have to cut them all down. Let me fly into Toronto and we can meet to discuss what the possibilities might be.” It took months of negotiating and redesigning, but in the end, the vast majority of the woodlot was saved and donated to the City to protect for future generations.
Lawrence and Bellamy Road Woodlot Project
When first elected, Glenn received many calls about the mess of old, used cars that were parked at the southwest corner of Lawrence and Bellamy Road. Many people complained that the place looked like a garbage dump. It was true, despite everything both Glenn and former City Councillor Brad Duguid tried. The owner of the used car lot was illegally sneaking cars out onto City property (on a huge driveway that had been built decades earlier). Frustrated with the used car lot owner’s actions, Glenn discovered that, although it was highly unusual, the City had the legal right to remove the driveway at that particular location. Glenn had the driveway removed, the curbs repoured and then grass and new trees put down. Cars left, and trees arrived soon after! The small patch of trees on this corner is slowly growing—and, while not a majestic forest just yet, in time, passersby will enjoy a unique natural feature where a junk yard once stood.