Central Park is becoming a fully fledged neighbourhood in its own right. That includes all the ups and downs that go on anywhere else in the city.
Crime is present here, with lots of building materials on site, doors windows and air conditioning units have been stolen from unfinished homes. A completed model home was targeted by one group of enterprising thieves who took advantage of the daytime viewing to set up an easy entry for later that night.
They made a very thorough job of cleaning out the unit according to my source. Not only the furniture was removed but also the art works hanging on the walls! A security guard is now on site to hopefully stem the thefts.
The neighbourhood has also had its share of noise complaints that have kept City inspectors busy, even if Central Park is still not on their computer list of street names. We have had the full range from noisy neighbours holding outdoor parties, to yapping dogs to out of hours construction noise.
The new road intersection onto Merivale is, as I write, under construction. This will make turning north out of the area onto Merivale a lot safer. I know I have had a number of close calls at this point.
Also constructed over the summer was a larger water main that required digging up the road all the way down to Baseline. Let us hope that when that is activated we can get rid of the red tinge to the water.
The plans from Ashcroft for the rest of the subdivision have been submitted to council. They notably do not include the intersection onto Clyde that is starting to be a very contentious issue. This was part of the 1992 Ontario Municipal Board ruling on the Assaly lands, which Central Park has absorbed into its western end.
How such a feature could have been omitted is very curious. I'm sure that this issue will come back to be a focal point in the coming months.
Finally, a fledgling residents association within Central Park is being formed, for more information call Bruce Cole and Katie Cleghorn at 798-9809.