When we left off in the August issue of Leaside Life, the Committee of Adjustment (CofA) had just approved the amended application for minor variance of three storeys (amounting to 33 units). The options left to residents are not promising.
Appeal?
Could we appeal the decision to the Toronto Local Appeal Board? Well, actually no, as the Ontario Government’s Bill 23 eliminated “third party” appeals in 2023. But couldn’t the City still appeal? Yes, but that requires City Council approval via a councillor motion, and unfortunately because of the untimely death of Jaye Robinson, we are without a councillor, and will remain so until Nov. 4th. There is another option – to have a neighbouring councillor take a motion forward to Council. We contacted two other councillors – Dianne Saxe, Councillor for University-Rosedale, who has expressed interested in the issue, and Mike Colle, who is apparently “covering” for Ward 15. Both declined the invitation. One reason may be that the supportive staff report suggests the City would have to bring in outside legal and planning expertise, at a significant cost.
Take it to the Ombudsman?
Another option is to request an investigation by the Toronto Ombudsman, one of the City’s four independent “accountability officers.” We completed a Notice of Complaint, to which we received the response that the residents/complainants must “allow the City a reasonable opportunity to resolve the complaint through its own complaint process” before their office would investigate. In the latest move we have submitted a detailed list of complaints to City Planning covering such matters as:
- The appropriateness of staff/applicant negotiations on a submitted application resulting in a City-supported (amended) Committee of Adjustment application;
- The role, procedures and results of the Committee of Adjustment process;
- The appropriateness of the Committee of Adjustment’s consideration of the application in the first place.
What about the media?
Media is not a decision-maker but can be influential in changing opinion, of the public, the politicians, and perhaps even the public service! We reached out to Toronto media and successfully engaged with CBC Toronto – Michael Smee on radio and TV, broadcast on Aug. 5, and a published article, and an AM740 audio interview with John Oakley.
Where to from here?
There is a larger issue – it turns out that this is not just a Leaside issue as we are now hearing about several other instances of the CofA approval of “minor variances” for several storeys on tall building elsewhere in the city. In some cases, that approval was conditional on community benefits or quasi-development charge payments. This is out of control!
The need to ramp up advocacy both at municipal and provincial level is evident. To quote Michelle Dubé, co-anchor, CTV News, and Leaside resident, “with a by-election coming later this year, development should be a hot topic…. Leaside’s evolving landscape, and instances of bad faith tactics, raise broader concern about whether developers are in the driver’s seat in this city, fuelled by our desperate need for more housing.”
Finally, thanks to the folks who have supported the recent efforts, and a special shout-out to the Broadway Area Residents Association (BARA). BARA has clearly understood the potentially precedential nature of the Bayview/Broadway minor variance application on three other projects (to date) in various stages of approval on the west side of Bayview.
On a sad note, as we were on site at 1837-1845 Bayview for the CBC interview/recording, work was already beginning to remove the trees. We had to move to avoid the noise of chainsaws!
