Many residents, local councillor disappointed with city deal on building near Glen Stewart Ravine
By MATTHEW STEPHENS
The latest confidential settlement reached between Toronto Council and Gabriele Homes Ltd. for a mixed-use residential building development by the north end of Glen Stewart Ravine, which has now been made public, has sparked disappointment amongst a number of local residents and Beaches-East York Councillor Brad Bradford.
“The citizens of Toronto are passionate about this ravine and vigorously opposed the proposal’s height as well as its neglect of required setbacks and other environmental safeguards,” said Sheila Dunn, a conservationist with the Friends of the Glen Stewart Ravine advocacy group.
“This Mediation Agreement ignores our many voices and sends a signal that the city will not protect Environmentally Significant Areas from overdevelopment that threatens them. So, we are sad and we are angry.”
Following a “confidential” agreement approved by Toronto Council on Wednesday, Dec. 17, details of the developer’s new plans for the building at 847-855 Kingston Rd. were made available to the public.
Council voted 17-6 in favour of the settlement agreement between the developer and city. Bradford voted against accepting the settlement.
Key changes to the previous 11-storey development proposal include shrinking the building’s footprint to ensure a 10-metre setback, increasing the building’s height to 13-storeys, and an agreement which will see the land owner give approximately 25 per cent of the site’s land to the city.
The developer’s previous 11-storey proposal did not include any setback from the ravine’s stable slope, which goes against the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority’s (TRCA) mandatory requirement of at least 10-metres.
The land donation agreement has been implemented to ensure the developer adheres to a Ravine Stewardship Plan (at the owner’s expense), which will see the land designated as “parks and open space” and used by the city to grow the size of the Glen Stewart Ravine.
Bradford expressed his displeasure with the agreement, and said he voted against the settlement at the December council meeting because he was “not satisfied that it adequately addressed the concerns raised by the community, or reflected the level of protection residents were calling for regarding the Glen Stewart Ravine.”
“I have made it clear to city staff that I was extremely disappointed that they recommended approving this settlement, because I do not believe it represented the best possible outcome for the neighbourhood nor answered the calls for engagement and consultation from the Indigenous community,” Bradford said in an email to Beach Metro Community News.
Since the confidential agreement details have been made public, many local residents and conservation advocates have been quick to point out several discrepancies between council’s words during the Dec. 17 meeting and the now available settlement documents.
“The Mediation Agreement rewarded this developer, who proposed a condo of seven storeys 10 years ago and 11-storeys three years ago, with 13-plus storeys and a precedent setting bylaw change,” said Dunn.
“The development still doesn’t meet the 10-metre setback required for stability of the ravine slope. It raises questions about who’s planning the Toronto of the future – is it our city planners or are we handing this over to developers?”
Resident Michael Genin, who is a mechanical engineer and works in the construction industry, said that upon reviewing the blueprints for the project, he noticed the building’s height and setbacks are inconsistent with what has been presented in the settlement.
“Figure 4 of the document substantiates my claim that the building is actually 14.5-storeys and not 13. There was some loophole where the city would not count the height of a ‘mechanical penthouse’ because they were typically small boxes on the roof,” Genin told Beach Metro Community News.
“Now that this penthouse is wrapped with amenity space and it’s essentially the same footprint as the 13th floor, it ought to be counted as a floor.”
Genin also noted that the west side of the building will encroach within the 10-metre setback area with a stone patio that “seems to come almost right to the edge of the stable slope.”
According to TRCA regulations, patios and decks are allowed to be within six-metres of the top of a stable ravine slope.
On the south side of the building, just west of Beech Avenue, Genin highlighted the construction of a 1.1-metre shoring wall that must be installed before the foundation of the building is constructed, which also encroaches within the 10-metre ravine setback, leaving an actual setback of only 8.9 metres.
“Given the glaring evidence that this does not meet TRCA rules, I’m especially confused why (University-Rosedale) Councillor (Diane) Saxe was involved in making a speech (at the Dec. 17 council meeting) about the environmental issues surrounding the site,” said Genin.
Saxe, who served as the last Environmental Commissioner of Ontario, was assigned to discuss the environmental issues in a private meeting with the city solicitor and the developer – not issues pertaining to height, density, etc…
The development at 847-855 Kingston Rd. has been a topic of contention for the past decade.
In April of last year, Gabriele Homes Ltd. forwarded their proposal to the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT) for a decision, and a hearing was planned for April of 2026.
Prior to the OLT hearing, the city, the developer and TRCA held negotiation meetings on the proposal last summer in the hopes of reaching a settlement prior to this April’s hearing.
The development proposal had initially called for a seven-storey, mixed-use building at 853 Kingston Rd. back in August of 2015.
By December 2022, after acquiring the adjacent properties two years prior, the developer submitted a revised proposal to construct an 11-storey building.
The development proposal ignited outrage among many local residents, conservationists, advocacy groups, and most recently, members of the Indigenous community – who have since come forward to acknowledge Glen Stewart Ravine as a ceremonial site.
At December’s council meeting, Bradford passed motions to ensure the developer continues to hold consultations with residents and the Indigenous community, ensuring their voices “remain meaningfully engaged as we move forward.”
“I recognize that this outcome is disappointing for many residents. I share that frustration, and I remain committed to advocating for the community, monitoring this development closely, and ensuring the strongest possible oversight and engagement going forward,” said Bradford.
For more information, please go to https://secure.toronto.ca/council/agenda-item.do?item=2025.DM35.1
For more details on the approved plans in the agreement that Toronto Council accepted, please go to https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2025/dm/bgrd/backgroundfile-261091.pdf
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