Lenmore Court apartments. Photo: John Smee/Bluffs Monitor.
By Hedy Korbee
There’s a new proposal on the table that would allow tenants living in affordable low-rise housing on Kingston Road to eventually return to the neighbourhood and live in the new 10-storey condo proposed for the block between Lakeside and Birchcliff Avenues.
Details of the revised rehousing plan were unveiled at a community meeting on Feb. 10 organized by the City of Toronto and attended by tenants, community members and the developer, Altree Developments.
The proposal affects tenants living in 32 units at Lenmore Court at 1615-1641 Kingston Rd. as well as tenants living in a single-family home on Birchcliff Avenue directly south of the condo.
Under the previous proposal, the tenants would be required to vacate their apartments, find alternate living arrangements for two or three years, and then be rehoused in rental units in a Cliffside condo that hasn’t been built yet.
Under the latest plan, the tenants will be offered on-site replacement, which means they would eventually get to live in Birch Cliff again instead of being forced to move 1.6 kilometres east.
Karen Azucar
Karen Azucar, a Lenmore Court tenant and local business owner, said she’s relieved. Azucar is opposed to the development but said the rehousing proposal is a step in the right direction.
“I was satisfied with the fact that they acknowledged that we should remain in the Birch Cliff community,” Azucar said. “That should have been a no brainer, though. I really don’t feel like we should have we needed to fight for that.”
Proposed condo on Kingston Road at Lakeside Avenue that will replace Lenmore Court. Photo: City of Toronto submission.
Details of the rehousing plan
Approximately 50 people attended the community meeting and were told that the new proposal is guided by the city’s rental replacement policies, designed to preserve and increase affordable housing stock in Toronto.
City Planner Allison Smith explained that the tenants will be offered on-site replacement rental units of approximately the same size as their current apartments.
Smith said the rent will be similar to what they’re paying now, which is about $1,100 for a two-bedroom unit but will include a one-time 4% increase.
Rents are also expected to increase by about 2% every year while the tenants are living in temporary accommodation, under guidelines set by the provincial government.
If the landlord decides not to include utilities in the new condo, the tenants’ rents will be adjusted downward to reflect those new costs.
The apartments in the new building will be on a lower floor and will include ensuite laundry facilities, parking spaces and storage units at no extra cost, according to Louis Tinker, a land use planner hired by the developer.
The cost of moving in and out will be paid for by the developer and residents will receive additional compensation on a sliding scale based on the amount of time they’ve lived at Lenmore Court, according to Smith.
For example, a tenant with five to ten years of residency will be compensated with a payment equivalent to nine months’ rent.
Under the plan, the rent will have to remain affordable for the tenants for at least ten years.
After 20 years, the developer has the right to apply to the city to convert the units to something other than rental, but the city’s policy framework currently does not allow that.
Community Association is wary
Anna Dewar Gully, co-chair of the Birch Cliff Community Association, is taking a cautious approach to the latest proposal, noting that the deal is not in writing.
“I don’t know if there’s been a trade for this “win” or not. I don’t know how firm this deal actually is. And I don’t know that it will be protected until the end. So, I really think the proof is in the pudding,” Dewar Gully said. “I think it will be a victory if we get over the finish line and that deal is still intact. And I think we shouldn’t relax until the deal was actually done and those tenants have actually been protected.”
Dewar Gully explained that the community association’s wariness is based on the neighbourhood’s experience with consultation on the 11-storey condo project at Manderley Drive and Kingston Road.
In that instance, items negotiated by the community were dropped after the project was sold to a new owner.
“A good-faith gesture”
Although the proposal isn’t in writing yet, it was described at the meeting by city planning and the local councillor as a “good-faith gesture” by the developer.
“From my perspective, as a decision-maker to the tenants, I consider this offer of good faith a done deal with regard to rental replacement within the building,” Ward 20 Councillor Gary Crawford told the meeting.” If anything ever does come back to me suggesting anything other, I will be not looking at that lightly. From my perspective, who is going to be making a decision on this application at some point in the future, this is something that I’ll be almost guaranteeing.”
In an interview, Crawford described the proposal as a “refreshing first step in recognizing the concerns of the community”.
None of this is of comfort to Monika Little, a tenant in her seventies who has lived at Lenmore Court for 20 years.
“I’m just going to be honest. I’m very depressed about it,” Little said. “I’m very stressed out about it. I don’t have any really good feelings about this. I’m just kind of living day by day. And that’s the only way I can handle it.”
Little doesn’t want to be forced to move and she’s also worried about the overall density of the new condo and its impact on traffic and the fragile Scarborough Bluffs.
Although several tenants in the buildings are in favour of the new condo, Little is one of many who want the project stopped altogether.
Kingston Road at Birchcliff Avenue. Photo: John Smee/Bluffs Monitor.
Petition signed by more than 1,200 people
There are many people in Birch Cliff who share Little’s concerns.
More than 1,200 people have signed an online petition that characterizes the condo as bad planning and irresponsible development.
According to plans submitted to the city, the mixed-use building will be nine storeys tall at the front on Kingston Road and ten storeys at the back with two mechanical penthouse floors for a total gross floor area of 19,337 square metres.
The petition reiterates several “asks” from the Birch Cliff Community Association including a demand that the development on Kingston Road be limited in density, width and height as per the Kingston Road Revitalization Plan.
It also states that there should be no encroachment on the “Neighbourhoods” designation of Toronto’s Official Plan through the rezoning of two single-family homes on Birchcliff Avenue to accommodate a four-storey portion of the condo and access to underground parking.
If the developer is denied permission to build on those two properties, it’s possible that the scale of the project might be reduced.
In an interview, Crawford reiterated that intrusion into neighbourhoods remains a concern for both him and the planning department but noted that it will be a complicated discussion about multiple planning policies.
Meanwhile, the only statutory community consultation meeting required under the city’s planning process is scheduled for March 1, although Crawford said he expects there will be further meetings as the process unfolds.
Dewar Gully said the community association will continue to pursue all five of their “asks” at the meeting because they want to ensure that they end up in the negotiated version of the development.
“We don’t want to see that encroachment happen at all,” Dewar Gully said. We want to limit the density and height and width. We want to protect safe traffic flow and school intersections. And we want to reduce the strain on the Bluffs environment and the community infrastructure. We’re seeing this trend of enormous developments in this neighborhood. And there are many more planned. And we and we think that poses a risk for the community more broadly.”
If you’re interested in participating in the virtual meeting, you need to register in advance by clicking here and following the links.
Hi Hedy I may have misled you. Most people here are not thrilled that this monster condo may be built. What will be will be is about the buyout and not moving right away. More people are coming to the meeting now regarding the buyout. I wish this to stay mixed. Low to middle income.
Thanks for your comment, Monika. It was actually Karen who told me that there are several people in the buildings who are in favour of the condo. One of them also attended the virtual meeting and made his position known in the chat bar.
No one here wants to be rerouted twice or 3 times. It’s more than is reasonable.
I think I can speak on this for most of us.
This development is grossly out of step with the community, proposes to dwarf other buildings and obscure any sun falling on the school yard opposite, and will make for a dangerous, congested traffic and construction area in an elementary school area. It will further destabilize the fragile bluffs and devalue properties in the area. There is so little affordable housing in this city; trying to rehouse residents for 2-3 years may be catastrophic for many lower-income residents in the area.
It is too much, too big, disrespectful to the taxpayers in the area, and greedy. Please reconsider the scope and size of this proposal.
Your points are excellent,
Very well said Sara. And all of the people in the area agree with you.
Since these buildings were constructed in 1950 not one landlord has upgraded, properly maintained or renovated in any legitimate way to better these buildings along the way, thus displaying their lack of respect to all, yet no enforcement?! Why should we pay for their lack of?? Enforce greedy developers like Altree Developments to renovate NOT demolish and displace! We now have 4 vacant apts. here at Lenmore Court Apts. that Altree Developments will not rent out…ok, use these 4 to relocate 4 current families at a time allowing us to stay on site throughout completion of building renovations to help as best to alleviate the amount of hardship and added physical, emotional and mental stess caused by Altree Developments!
Tenant for 22 years.
I was speaking about the 2 people in this building. The third didn’t
want to face Kingston road.
Another so-called deal. Presented at the last minute – not formally incorporated into the application, and therefore of no legal validity at all, any cogent details lacking, and not even any promise that the recipients of this magnanimous offer will be afforded any security to enforce this “deal”, none whatsoever. The ironclad guarantees the city demands for itself are not even being considered by the City. This offer is a sham. Just like the “deal” for Manderley. It is disgraceful that the city is promoting this sham. It speaks to the real agenda.