Public Meeting on Queen and Lee development proposal set for Oct. 24 at Toronto City Hall

By AMARACHI AMADIKE

The Toronto and East York Community Council is set to host a Public Meeting on the development proposal at 2026-2040 Queen St. E. (northwest corner of Queen Street East and Lee Avenue) at 10 a.m. on Thursday, Oct. 24, at Toronto City Hall.

For those wishing to attend the meeting in person, it takes place in Committee Room 1 (at Toronto City Hall, 100 Queen St. W.). The meeting will also be available by video conference.

At the Oct. 24 meeting, Toronto and East York Community Council is expected to make a recommendation on the proposal which will then be considered by full Toronto Council.

The proposal for the Queen and Lee intersection is by Crombie REIT and Sobeys Inc. It seeks to amend the Official Plan and Zoning Bylaw in order to greenlight the demolition of a two-storey mixed-use building that’s currently on site and replace it with a six-storey mixed-use building with retail fronting Queen Street East.

The building will be 5,728-square-metres, providing 60 additional residential units that consists of 40 one-bedroom units, 14 two-bedroom units, and six three-bedroom units. According to the developer, the tenure of these units will be condominiums.

Although the development has included 33 vehicular parking spaces, during the last community meeting on Sept. 16, some neighbourhood residents, including Beaches-East York Councillor Brad Bradford, criticized the proposal’s lack of visitor parking.

This was especially an issue due to the fact that the Foodland Store that is currently on site is expected to be replaced by a much larger grocery store, an aspect of the development that planners have boasted will create employment opportunities for many.

However, the larger grocery store also means increased activity in the surrounding area which already suffers from inadequate parking availability.

At the Sept. 16 community consultation, Bradford directed the developer’s planning team to revisit their plans for visitor parking as he found it unsatisfactory.

According to an email response from Bradford’s office, “the developer is still working on incorporating this feedback and the matter is not yet settled.”

Anyone who would like to share their opinions on the development is encouraged to register for the Oct. 24 meeting by e-mail to teycc@toronto.ca or by phone at 416-392-7033 before 12 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 23.

Meeting on 985 Woodbine Avenue buildings also set for Oct. 24

Also on the morning of Oct. 24, Toronto and East York Community Council will be hosting a Public Meeting on the development proposal for 985 Woodbine Ave.

That proposal is calling for a 35-storey rental residential building and a 10-storey rental residential building in the area on the northeast corner of Woodbine and Danforth avenues.

Since there are 14 existing rental units in the existing buildings on the site, the Oct. 24 Public Meeting will focus on the Rental Housing Demolition and Conversion Application for the property.

That meeting also takes place in Committee Room 1 at Toronto City Hall, 100 Queen St. W. Those wishing to address the meeting are asked to register by email to teycc@toronto.ca or by calling 416-392-7033 no later than noon on Oct. 23.