At this stage, Leasiders are all too familiar with the high volume of active development applications in our community, particularly in the vicinity of Bayview and Eglinton. In most cases, these applications are appealed to the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT), a provincial agency with the authority to make final decisions on major land use applications in Toronto. The appeal process is lengthy and can take many months – or even years – to complete. Local residents and residents’ associations are sometimes involved in these hearings at their own cost and during their own personal time.
During this process, the City and any parties to the appeal will sometimes reach a settlement with the applicant. While they rarely result in perfect outcomes, settlements can allow the City and community to lock in changes to the built form of a development, such as tower height and setbacks, that might otherwise be lost if the application were approved as is by the OLT. It is also an opportunity for the City to secure important benefits from the developer such as parkland and public realm improvements.
Unfortunately, we are seeing a growing trend across Toronto where developers apply to the Committee of Adjustment (CoA) for more height and density after a settlement has been reached at the OLT. The CoA typically makes decisions on minor variance applications – often for houses that are longer, taller, or wider than permitted. The process was never designed with major development applications in mind. In my opinion, cases like these, where, for example, multiple additional storeys are being requested, go well beyond the scope of the CoA’s mandate.
While current market conditions are a contributing factor, this trend can also be attributed to provincial Bill 23, which repealed the two-year prohibition on submitting minor variance applications after a major development has been approved. Consequently, there is nothing stopping a developer from applying to the CoA to recoup any height and density changes achieved through a settlement agreement.
You may recall that in Leaside, the developer at 1837 Bayview Ave. reached a mediated settlement agreement with the City and neighbours for a 22-storey building, despite originally applying for 25 storeys. Shortly after, they successfully applied to the CoA for an additional three storeys, effectively negating the settlement agreement. These settlements often take many months to reach and cost both the City and local resident groups, such as the Leaside Residents Association, significant resources to litigate. Permitting applicants to modify settlement agreements not only wastes valuable City resources but also undermines public confidence in the planning process, which is already on shaky ground.
This issue was recently considered by the City’s Planning and Housing Committee. In their staff report, City Planning found that there had been 23 such applications submitted to the CoA in the first half of 2024 alone. While I am not a member of the Planning and Housing Committee, I did submit a letter supporting motions to address this issue put forward by one of my colleagues. While I am disappointed to report that these motions were voted down by the committee, I will continue fighting both at the City and Province for our communities to have a meaningful voice in the development process. At the very least, we should be able to expect that legally binding settlements reached during a quasi-judicial process will be respected.
