Virtual Town Hall meeting regarding proposed condo at 1615-1641 Kingston Rd.
By Hedy Korbee
Ward 20 Councillor Gary Crawford has shown his strongest opposition yet to a developer’s proposal to a build a ten-storey condominium covering almost a full block of Kingston Road between Lakeside and Birchcliff Avenues.
The mixed-use building with 265 residential units proposed by Altree Developments at 1615-1641 Kingston Rd. would lead to the displacement of tenants in more than 30 affordable, low-rise rental apartments at Lenmore Court.
Crawford stated his opposition to the developer’s proposal during a robust virtual town hall meeting Wednesday night hosted by the recently revived Birch Cliff Village Community Association. It was a big step forward from his comment in October that the development was “a little dense”.
“If this application in its present form was brought before Council now I would not be supporting it, my colleagues would not be supporting it, and I’m pretty confident that city planning would not be supporting what you see presently,” Crawford said. “Number one. It’s too dense. It’s too high. There’s huge impacts on the community, impacts on the neighbourhood….And at this point there’s no plan for rental displacement. What you will see is a final submission in two year or three years that will not be this application.”
Lenmore Court apartments. Photo: John Smee/Bluffs Monitor.
The meeting was attended by 100 people and included a lively question and answer session.
Lenmore Court tenant Karen Azucar asked Councillor Crawford directly if he feels the tenants should have the right to move back into a new condo in their current location instead of being forced to relocate 1.6 kilometres east to a proposed new building at the site of the current Days Inn motel.
“Ultimately, yes,” Crawford said, noting that he hasn’t had a conversation with the the planning department or asked the developer if they would consider putting rental units into the Birch Cliff condo.
Crawford also said that the city does not “act favourably to displacing somebody outside of the community”.
“If you happen to have a child who’s going across the street to Birch Cliff Public School, and you’re looking at going over to the Days Inn, you’re going to a different school zone. We do not look at that lightly. That is a very serious concern for the city when we’re looking at that process,” Crawford said.
Infrastructure questions
City crews fixing sewers on Kalmar Avenue after 2012 flooding
Concern was also expressed at the meeting that too many large developments are being considered at a time when the neighbourhood infrastructure is weak, something that resident John Hartley characterized as bad planning.
Specifically, Hartley said that schools are at capacity, roads are overloaded and the sewers that led to massive flooding in 2012 are facing a $300-million upgrade.
Crawford stated incorrectly that there is indeed enough room at local schools but the application will be reviewed by the school boards and if capacity becomes a problem, condo buyers will be officially notified that their children need to go to school elsewhere.
In terms of the sewers, Crawford said no approvals will be granted for this development unless Altree can prove that the building has the capacity for water and sewage.
Official Plan amendment required
Janine O’Flanagan, who lives just south of the proposed condo, raised concerns about the developer’s purchase of two single-family houses on Birchcliff Avenue to provide access to underground parking and accommodate a four-storey portion of the building.
She said the plan would lead to a driveway for 271 vehicles right next to her house when they’re already dealing with a situation across the street where vehicle access is necessary for 52 units in the new Birchcliff Urban Towns development.
Approving the redevelopment of those two single-family dwellings would require an amendment to the City of Toronto’s Official Plan, because the houses fall under the plan’s “Neighbourhoods” designation, which does not allow the lots to be used for those purposes
Crawford expressed his personal opposition and indicated that such an amendment would have difficulty getting approved by the planning department.
“I do not support any incursion into neighbourhoods, period,” Crawford said. We protect neighbourhoods. That’s a critically important aspect of this.”
Interestingly, Crawford said Altree Developments would not be able to build a nine-storey building without the two single-family lots due to the city’s rules on angular planes designed to create a gradual transition between neighbourhoods and tall buildings. He said the developer would have no choice but to come back with a proposal for a four to six-storey building.
That being said, Crawford reminded the meeting that the city has a growth plan and needs to accommodate 30,000 to 50,000 new people per year.
And if the city rejects the development, Crawford warned that the developer has the right to appeal directly to the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal (LPAT), the body that replaced the Ontario Municipal Board.
Historically, Crawford said, the OMB generally supported development and the appeal process is risky and unnerving because sometimes developers are granted even more density than they asked for.
At various points in the meeting, Crawford reminded the community of the benefits of engaging in consultation with the developer. He said he had warned Altree to consult with residents of Birch Cliff before filing a development application but the company didn’t listen and they now realize it was a misstep.
Crawford added that Altree is willing to meet with the community in the new year to discuss their proposal.
Dewar Gully skeptical of consultation
Anna Dewar Gully, chair of the community association, told Crawford that the community has become skeptical about consultation after engaging for two years on the 11-storey condo at Manderley and Kingston Road, only to see the project flipped to a new developer who changed many of the agreed-upon design features.
Dewar Gully went on to describe the Altree project as ‘irresponsible development” that’s erasing affordable housing in the neighbourhood and said it’s difficult to trust a community consultation process that seems to be broken.
“I think the notion of consensus in this situation feels untenable. I think that there’s been one theme that has occurred throughout all of our dialogues over the last few weeks, it’s that people are fundamentally skeptical that we have to just keep giving and giving to developers, because there’s an inherent…it’s like they deserve to be greedy.”
Dewar Gully said its important to focus on the human stories of people affected by the proposed development.
“This cannot be a conversation about intensification and the developer’s market interest,” Dewar Gully added. “I feel like these community consultations, we are constantly talking about the natural drive towards intensification — you’re underprioritizing the conversation about quality of life.”
Dewar Gully told Crawford that the community is expecting him to dismantle the problematic parts of the development.
The community association also presented Councillor Crawford with five “asks” and requested his specific commitment to the following goals:
- prevent the displacement of Lenmore Court tenants
- stop encroachment and rezoning of residential streets, particularly Birchcliff Avenue
- limit the density, width, and height of this development and future developments, keeping within the four to six-storey idea that’s been planned and zoned
- protect safe traffic flow and school intersections, in particular, Birchcliff Avenue and Kingston Road
- Reduce the strain on our Bluffs environment and our community infrastructure, including schools, public transportation, and traffic.
Crawford described the five “asks” as reasonable and said he will work with the community to bring them to fruition.
He also said he will raise all of the points with city planning and Altree Developments and ensure that the developer sits down with the community.
The Lenmore Court tenants are having a rally on Friday at 1 pm outside their buildings on Kingston Road with the support of ACORN Toronto, a group assisting tenants facing “demovictions” and “renovictions”.
They’ve invited Councillor Crawford to attend and he said he’ll do his best to make it.
Having lived in Birchcliff since 1952, I can remember when it was a “village”, with local facilities for all to shop, dine and enjoy before it all started to disappear in the late 1970s withdrawl of major food services. What little is left will ultimately be buried under condo development and Birchcliff Village will effectively be gone.
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An encouraging start, that Councillor Crawford “has shown his strongest opposition yet” to the Altree development proposal. Note, this happened after the strength and depth of the community’s opposition became very apparent. And for the Councillor to have done otherwise would be political suicide. In 3 elections for the position of Councillor, Mr. Crawford has squeaked to victory twice, in 2018 and 2010, each by very slim margins of little over 400 votes. He cannot afford to lose a key piece like Birch Cliff, which is consistently high voter turnout, high vote and has supported him.
The true test is whether Councillor Crawford’s actions will match the strength of his words. How hard and effectively will he work with the community to have its concerns successfully addressed, to encourage a meaningful, productive dialogue with Altree. And how persuasive Councillor Crawford will be with his colleagues at Community Council and City Hall to vote down any proposal that is unacceptable to Birch Cliff residents. After all, he has been in office 10 years, now. Most of these serving on the Executive Committee and as Budget Chief. And he has the Mayor’s ear.
It is obvious from the article that Altree’s request for an amendment to the Official Plan regarding Nos. 50 and 52 Birchcliff Ave. is the critical point of attack for scaling back the proposal. If it comes to going before an LPAT, how are such requests viewed, dealt with, how to develop a case against this? Councillor Crawford’s insight, advice to the community would be extremely helpful.
Again, Councillor Crawford’s words are encouraging. But the skepticism in the community is well-founded. The jury is still out.
Thank you Hedy for an excellent summary!