In My Opinion: A new proposal will be required if changes are made to plans for Queen and Lee development

By BRAD BRADFORD

BEACHES-EAST YORK COUNCILLOR

The Beach is a special neighbourhood with a proud history. This is why any proposed developments in the Beach attract significant attention and engagement from residents, and why I value the feedback from Beachers to help guide and inform these decisions.

Over the past year, community members have been following an application from Sobeys and Crombie REIT to redevelop the existing Beach Foodland and some neighbouring properties into a six-storey residential building with a new, larger grocery store.

The applicants brought forward a proposal that was largely in line with the Queen Street East Urban Design Guidelines that were approved in 2012. These guidelines called for a six-storey height limit and a mixture of commercial and residential uses to be added along this main street. The application sought only minor changes from existing guidelines – for example, to allow for a higher ceiling height in the future grocery store.

In mid-September, city staff and I hosted a Community Consultation Meeting in order to receive your feedback on the proposal. Some of the main concerns revolved around parking, as the applicant had proposed to include 33 vehicle parking spaces for residents and none for visitors to the grocery store.

Although the existing Foodland has no on-site parking, and the city-wide rules have eliminated parking minimums for all residential developments, I understand and share residents’ concerns given the high demand for parking in the Beach. During the meeting, I requested that the developers work on a strategy to address commercial parking needs, including mitigating parking infiltration on Lee Avenue and residential streets adjacent to the site.

Based on the feedback from the community meeting, and because the proposal was in keeping with all existing rules and guidelines for the area, planning staff recommended approval of the project.

It was after this approval report was written that I first heard from the developer that they were considering modifying the proposal to add only one or two visitor parking spaces. However, in order to accommodate that, they would have also needed to make other changes to the building, such as shrinking the grocery store, adding more units, reducing setbacks and increasing the height.

In my view, this potential scale of change was wholly disrespectful to the time and efforts of both residents and City of Toronto staff who had reviewed the project and provided their feedback.

Adding only a couple of visitor parking spaces would not have made much of a difference, but I know the community would have strong views on changes to the height or number of units included in the building.

At last month’s Community Council meeting, I supported staff recommendations to approve the building, despite the developer’s request to defer and allow them to revise the project. Had the deferral request been granted, there would not be any requirement for additional community consultation and significant changes could have been made.

Now, any further changes to the site will require additional engagement with staff and with the community.

This project should serve as an example to developers across the city: do not apply for projects that you do not intend to build. When your proposals are in line with our existing policies, staff will review and approve them quickly, as they have been directed to in order to address our housing crisis.

Once approved by City Council at our November meeting, the developer will have a choice to build as-is, or to revise their plan. I will ensure that any substantive changes will involve an opportunity for Beachers to review the plans and provide additional feedback on their new proposal.

Together, we can continue to keep the Beach one of the city’s best neighbourhoods, while also adding more housing options for the next generation.