Orchard View and Duplex

The Present - 2010

UPDATE - August 20/10

1. You can read the NYCC's Final Report here.  This is what will go to the full City Council.

2. If Approved by City Council, this could cost the City 120 Social Housing Units!!!Details HERE

UPDATE - August 17/10

The NYCC APPROVED the proposed development with some Amendments - now to City Council

UPDATE - August 16/10

1. Click here to read ARECA'S Letter to the Councillors on the NYCC.

2. Click here to read the joint News Release from the Stanley Knowles Co-Op and ARECA.

3. Click here to read the letter of complaint to the City's Ombudsman from the Stanley Knowles Co-op.

UPDATE - August 10/10

ARECA has distributed another Newsletter to the area most impacted.  It is a report of the working group meeting of August 9th.  It can be viewed here.

UPDATE - August 7/10

ARECA has sent a letter to the Councillor asking to have this item removed from the August 17th Agenda.  As well, ARECA has done a special newsletter for residents nearest the site.  The Letter and the Newsletter can be viewed here.

STAFF REPORT NOW AVAILABLE!!!

Below is the start of the Recommendations from City Staff that are favourable for the developer.

The City Planning Division recommends that:
1. City Council amend Zoning By-law 438-86, for the lands at 58, 60, 64 & 68 Orchard View Boulevard and 439, 441, 443 & 445 Duplex Avenue substantially in accordance with the draft Zoning By-law Amendment attached as Attachment No. 7.
2. City Council authorize the City Solicitor to make such stylistic and technical changes to the draft Zoning By-law Amendment as may be required.
3. Before introducing the necessary Bills to City Council for enactment, require the Owner to enter into an Agreement pursuant to Section 37 of the Planning Act as follows:

Read the full report here.

UPDATE - August 3/10

Working Group re application to build a large building at Orchard View/Duplex

Summary of meeting: 29 July 2010    7 - 9:30 pm

As per agenda circulated in advance:

Elizabeth Cohen, as chair, introduced the meeting.

Councillor Stintz spoke briefly about timing, options, and the August 17 meeting of North York Community Council that will consider the developer's application.

Lyn Townsend, a lawyer engaged with the development industry, but speaking pro bono, answered questions concerning legal strategies available to the several parties -- community, city council, developer. She suggested that "certainty" on a compromise arrangement among the parties was better than risking some unknowable and possibly worse solution.
Some participants in the meeting read this as advocating for "giving in" and as injurious to community interests.

The meeting heard brief reports from:

Working Group -- Aaron Graben supplied documentation of past correspondence from the Working Group requesting improvements from the developer on some 15 points. It was noted that on a few issues the developer had responded (for example, a modest reduction in height; the rearrangement of vehicular access away from Duplex Ave; the "townhouse" articulation of the streetscape along Duplex). On many points, however, there has been little movement or adjustments that failed to address underlying community concerns.

Stanley Knowles Housing Cooperative -- Ann King represented concerns that residents would be adversely affected by the proposed building without clear means to protect their own interests.

ARECA -- Patrick Smyth urged better communication and community leadership, but according to strategies that should be planned only after the city offices have made full information available.

Terry Mills -- presented his professionally informed views of the planning issues, including "claymation" representation of hypothetical alternative proposals.

In the ensuing discussion, the most recent available set of plans were viewed and problems were raised concerning east, north, and west elevations.

A non-prioritized list of major issues, some new, some old but still unresolved, emerged:

1. The proposed building is too big and too dense for the property. Even in an apartment neighbourhood, a building should not overwhelm its immediate neighbours, across the street as well as adjacent. Why can't the city insist on a more modest adjustment to the overall density than the 10.5 the developer requests?

2. Zero-lot line planned for east elevation. If Stanley Knowles agrees to this, what does it get in compensation?

3. On the north, the set back is insufficient, especially at ground and lower levels, and the design (e.g. balconies, amenity spaces) inimical to the privacy of adjacent homeowners.

4. Enhance public pedestrian space along Duplex -- wider sidewalks and landscaping that does not absorb the city's street allowance for "private" townhouse use. (Even with the townhouse articulation, there remains concern about a "wall" looming a long way up Duplex. A possibility of aligning the western setback with 400 Duplex was suggested, but only if it does not interfere with the interests of Stanley Knowles.)

5.  The building fails to respect angular plane guidelines. The tower is bulky. Some speakers suggested consideration of "pragmatic" trade-offs, such as a slimmer but higher tower.

Further discussion considered what steps the Working Group should take now:

Councillor Stintz undertook to secure responses from city officials concerning the outstanding questions about planning and this site. She also would speak with the developer's representative about possibilities for altering the proposal, but she was not authorized to negotiate with the developer on behalf of the Working Group.

The representative of Stanley Knowles planned a meeting for the cooperative in a week's time.

The Working Group decided to await full information and the planning report and to meet again on August 9 at 7 pm, 2345 Yonge St., room 500.

Submitted and circulated by Elizabeth Cohen (while Lydia Levin is out of town).

UPDATE - July 27/10

ARECA has now learned of a meeting held last June (notes below) that is represented as a meeting of the "Working Group".  ARECA has been and continues to be a part of the "working Group" yet was not informed of this meeting and, based on the few people who attended, it is fair to ask "who received the invitation to this (so-called) Working Group Meeting?

On June 23rd, I (Paul Byrne, Manager Community Planning, North District) met with Councillor Stintz, Lydia Levin, Aaron Graben, Charlie Hoang, Mathew Kou and his mother.  The purpose of the meeting was for the Working Group to meet with me to raise their issues and concerns. The comments below were sent to me by Lydia Levin following the meeting.

"Briefly, the issues we raised included:

• This building would be the gateway to the neighbourhood
  community. It should not be the type of  high rise more appropriate to the east side of Yonge St.

• Lack of step down to the neighbourhood, with no effective
  podium provided. The proposed 6 stories to the north, 4 stories to the west and 17 stories to the south do not constitute adequate step down to a pedestrian neighbourhood.

• Lack of set back from the property line. The "set back" of 8
  metres provided on the west is not at grade, but at the 7th storey level and of no benefit as a set back.

• Angular planes are not being respected.

• The community depends on our city planners to apply by-laws for purposes of good planning and to protect the character of the neighbourhood.

• Of particular concern are the 3 houses of 1 and 2 stories to the north of the property, which would be totally overshadowed by the proposed development in its current form.

• We drew on some of the solutions provided at the Berwick-Duplex development, although it was pointed out that, while the height of the buildings is the same, the Berwick property is 3X the size of the Orchard View-Duplex property.
  
  In the meeting, we suggested that the developer provide a 2-3 storey podium by wrapping townhouses around the north, west and south sides of the building, in order to address many of these issues."
  
  Following the above noted meeting and the July 15th larger community meeting, I met with the applicant’s solicitor to discuss the issues raised by the residents at both the meetings.  One of the main issues was the three storey base building and having the tower portion stepped back along Orchard View Blvd.
  
  After the meeting the applicant submitted revised plans on July 21. The plans have now been revised proposing a 3 storey base along the north, west and south sides of the building. Along the west (Duplex frontage) the building steps back 3 metes to the 4, 5 and 6th floors and a further three metres to the 17 storey tower portion, for a total of 8 meters from the property line. Along the south (Orchard View) the building is setback 3 metres above the base portion.  On the north side the building is 3.5 metres from the north property line for the 4, 5 and 6 floor and 8 metres for the tower portion.

UPDATE - July 25/10
At the July 13th Public Meeting, Councillor Stintz said it would not be going to the North York Community Council (NYCC) in August.

However, on July 23rd, ARECA learned that it is on the Agenda for August 17th ... details here.

When ARECA gets clarification as to why it is now on the Agenda, it will be posted on the site.
 

UPDATE - July 14/10
A Public Meeting was held on a hot summer's evening - July 13/10 and with more than 70 people attending in the middle of July, it speaks to the importance this development has for the community.  The overwhelming reaction is the proposal is still too big, too tall and too much for the small space and its surroundings.

Councillor Stintz was asked about the time-line and she said that evening that it would not be going to the North York Community Council (NYCC) in August.  Was it to go to NYCC in August, it could then have gone to the full City Council in September.  With it not going in August, it now means that this proposal will be the responsibility of the new City Council in 2011.  There was much relief in the audience with this news.

For more of the re-cap, please see ARECA's article in the Town Crier here.

UPDATE - July 1/10
Public Meeting scheduled for July 13/10
Details here

UPDATE - June 2/10

There is now a proposal for a 17-storey (50.41m), 230 unit apartment building for this site.

A request to amend the Zoning By-Law
is before North York Community Council on Thursday, June 22, 2010.
Click here for the details.

Historical

This is another on-going development issue within the ARECA area.

From derelict old homes to a temporary parking lot.  The land has changed in ownership several times.

December 2002 - here
August 2008 - here.
December 2008 - here.

ARECA continues to monitor and be involved with this re-development.

Stay tuned for updates.