Decision on Woodbine Avenue development deferred for second time as information sought on environmental conditions
By MATTHEW STEPHENS
For the second time since April, Toronto council has deferred its decision for a development proposal at 419-425 Woodbine Ave., just south of Kingston Road, where soil contamination and rental replacement concerns remain to be addressed.
The current proposal at the site calls for an 11-storey mixed use building with 123 residential units, including 11 rental replacement units.
The proposal also features 7,844 square metres of total ground floor area with 132 square metres of commercial space at grade, as well as 124 vehicular parking spaces and 152 bicycle parking spaces in a two-level underground parkade.
During the Wednesday, June 24, Toronto Council meeting, Beaches-East York Councillor Brad Bradford said he is still working with the applicant and developer to address concerns regarding the site’s environmental assessment and rental replacement demolition.
“I’ve been having ongoing discussions with residents and the applicant and we’re still working through that, so I just wanted to defer this until July,” Bradford told city council.
In a recent statement to Beach Metro Community News from Bradford, he said discussions are still “ongoing” to determine the site’s environmental conditions.
“Since this development application originally came forward and residents raised concerns about the environmental conditions of the site, I have had continued discussions with city staff, residents, and the applicants,” said Bradford.
After concerns related to possible soil contamination were raised, Bradford first pushed to defer the proposal at April’s Toronto Council meeting. At that meeting, he said he and the community were “not satisfied” with the potential health risks associated with the proposal in its current form.
“Over recent weeks, I have been working closely with residents and community leaders who raised concerns about the environmental issues on this development site,” said Bradford in an email to Beach Metro Community News following the April city council meeting.
“That is why I have directed staff to re-examine these issues more carefully, and determine whether the known contamination and pollution on the site can be adequately managed or whether this proposed development would put the health of community members at risk.”
In a review of the developer’s environmental assessment, which residents say was “based on a much smaller project,” they identified a large portion of “heavy” soil contamination from “historical gas stations, dry cleaners, and contaminated fill.”
According to the most recent environmental assessment from 2022 done by DS Consultants Ltd. for the developer, the proposal had called for a two-to-three-storey building with one level of underground parking. However, with the new proposal increasing nearly four times higher and adding an additional level of underground parking, residents said the project is expected to dig out more land than the developer previously anticipated. The registered land owner for the site is 421 Woodbine Avenue Holdings Inc.
“The new taller project requires digging a much deeper hole. That’s why it makes sense to conduct a new assessment to make sure everyone is protected,” reads the residents’ document.
At the April meeting, District Community Planner Sean Guenther acknowledged the discrepancy between the environmental assessment in relation to the site’s current application.
“We understand the Ministry (of the Environment, Coservation and Parks) has been advised of the differing information in the ESA report vs the application and they are looking into this matter,” said Guenther in an email to Beach Metro Community News after the April council meeting.
Bradford said in his most recent statement that residents deserve transparency with an updated assessment of the site before council can move forward with its decision regarding the proposal.
“Residents have asked for transparency on the studies and assessments that have been done on the site and I believe that’s a reasonable request,” said Bradford. “I have made that ask to the developers and I deferred the item to allow time for those documents to be shared and reviewed.”
For more information about the application, head to https://www.toronto.ca/city-government/planning-development/application-details/?id=5599649&pid=262055&title=419—425-WOODBINE-AVE.
