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Bayview Post Article -
(September 2005) |
 Settlement
- 1900 Bayview Avenue by Councillor Cliff Jenkins
The settlement of the appeal
to the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) of the application
to re-develop the site of the former Canadian
Chiropractic College is a very significant precedent,
not only for Bayview Avenue but also for all of North
Toronto.
The development was proposed
originally to be three condominium buildings, all
exceeding ten storeys bordering Sherwood Park. In the
face of very significant community opposition, the
applicant subsequently revised it to three buildings of
five, six and eight storeys. On my motion, City Council
refused this latter application last year, based on
planning concerns and impact on the neighbouring
community to the north.
When the applicant appealed
this decision to the OMB, many in the broader Ward 25
community, as far north as Highway 401 were
apprehensive. Knowing the prevailing pattern of
decisions at the OMB in favour of this type of
application, residents were very concerned that it would
be approved and establish a major development precedent
for that stretch of Bayview Avenue, a thriving street of
many single-family homes.
The community, led by Sean
Aylward, President of the Bayview-Blythwood Ratepayers
Association, prepared a strong case in co-operation with
city legal staff. But they were flexible enough to
negotiate a mutually acceptable settlement - two
buildings of five and six storeys repositioned several
meters south to reduce the oversight impacts.
This settlement is a precedent
which may now guide other developments nearby. In
particular, the Salvation Army site on Bayview Avenue
south of Lawrence Avenue East has been sold to a private
developer. The site is bordered immediately to the west
by single-family homes in a stable residential
neighbourhood.
Nearby residents, greatly
concerned about the possibility of a proposal which
would present similar oversight and privacy impacts,
were very interested to know what the developer would
propose. Interestingly, the developer has presented a
preliminary concept which would provide for a
four-storey condominium building fronting on Bayview
with three-storey single-family and townhouse dwellings
in the rear bordering the neighbours.
We now await a formal
application from the developer for the Salvation Army
site – but it appears that the settlement at the
Chiropractic College is becoming a significant precedent
for Bayview Avenue and North Toronto.
For more information on the
application and settlement, you can visit my website at
www.cliffjenkins.com or call my office at 416-395-6408.
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