Woodbine Avenue development approved by city with conditions regarding information on contaminated soil concerns

By MATTHEW STEPHENS

After several deferrals, Toronto Council has approved a zoning bylaw application to develop an 11-storey mixed use building at 419-425 Woodbine Ave., where concerns related to soil contamination and rental replacement units had been left unaddressed for months.

The proposed building will feature 123 residential units (including 11 rental replacement units), 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.

In a previous proposal from 2022, developer DS Consultants Ltd. had called for a two-to-three-storey building with one level of underground parking. The proposal later increased nearly four times in height and added an additional level of underground parking.

At the July 29 Toronto Council meeting, the developer’s application was adopted with amendments, which will include safety measures to ensure management and proper handling of potential soil and groundwater contamination.

According to the application’s Supplementary Report, the Provincial Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks and the applicant’s qualified environmental expert uncovered several findings regarding the site’s history, including that it had been used as a residential site as early as the 1920s, and was previously used as a petroleum service station, dry-cleaning business, and a garage for maintenance and repair of railcars and vehicle repairs, which operated north of the site along Kingston Road.

As part of the Record of Site Condition (RSC), and in alignment with the Health and Safety Plan, the developer will be required to implement a soil and groundwater management plan for any dewatering during construction. Dewatering is the process of removing groundwater or surface water from a construction site using pumps, sumps, or well systems.

With the developer’s proposal including an additional level of underground parking, many residents had expressed concerns related to soil contamination resting deep beneath the site.

“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 an excerpt from residents’ review of the original environmental assessment from 2022.

To protect from any vapour intrusion pathways from the site, the proposed building’s underground parking construction will also require installation of a vapour barrier below the lowest level of the building.

In accordance with Municipal Code Chapter 844, waste collection from the site during construction (private solid waste, recycling, or organic) will not be permitted between the hours of 9 p.m. and 7 a.m., and crews will be tasked with ensuring the site remains “organized, free of waste,” and will provide additional groundcover or fill to cover any vacant portions of the site.

Council has also requested that the applicant make any information publicly accessible regarding reports that have been filed with the province involving the RSC and/or the environmental condition of the site, including the Risk Assessment.

At Toronto Council’s June meeting, Beaches-East York Councillor Brad Bradford deferred consideration of the application, requesting that the developers disclose the environmental documents to the city and the public. Instead, the developer chose to appeal their application to the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT), citing the city’s failure to make a timely decision on the proposal.

Now going to the tribunal for consideration, Toronto Council directed staff at the July meeting to support the application with the added conditions including the removal of balconies, establishment of a construction liaison committee and sufficient insurance to cover any potential damage to neighbouring properties. Council will also continue to push for the full disclosure of the environmental documents local residents have requested.

“I’ve been working with local residents for months to get answers to their valid questions,” said Bradford in a statement to Beach Metro Community News. “What they asked for wasn’t something radical. They were asking for transparency about the environmental conditions on this contaminated site.”

In a separate item regarding the site’s rental housing demolition, Toronto Council has deferred its decision until the Ontario Land Tribunal rules on the proposal.

For more information regarding the development, visit https://secure.toronto.ca/council/agenda-item.do?item=2026.TE31.15.