Senior's building proposal under friendly fire
Development designed to rejuvenate Bathurst Street sparks concerns
A zoning bylaw amendment application for a seniors residential building development was heavily scrutinized by local residents concerned the newly proposed height of the structure would set a bad precedent and negatively impact nearby property owners.
A packed second floor meeting room at the Barbara Frum Library on Covington Road made for a lively gathering on May 8 as residents came to hear the proposed plan for 3101 and 3157 Bathurst St.
If approved, Page and Steele Architects would add two floors to the eight the firm originally designed, making for a 10-storey residential building (with 178 units) on a vacant lot where once stood a gas station. A six-storey office building occupies the southern portion of the site.
Though municipal lawyer Adam Brown of Sherman and Brown repeatedly explained the revamped proposal, the audience peppered him with questions pertaining to the building's elevation.
"I'm hearing a few concerns about the height," he said jokingly after fielding another question related to the amendment. "Our original proposal was on the leading edge of neighbourhood designation ... it is a mixed use designation under the City of Toronto's official plan."
That designation would permit public parking to be built on the site and for retail amenities to be located along the ground floor. Nearby stand a number of residential buildings ranging in height including one 14-storey condominium tower directly across the street.
"We look at these things because planning isn't static in time," Brown said. "Our goal is to set a positive precedent for Bathurst. I think that Bathurst Street, from Lawrence to Wilson, needs a bit of a spark, a rejuvenation.
"We are (proposing) a building that we believe fits and that doesn't reach 14 or 15 stories because we recognize that we don't have the same separation distance (from single-family dwellings) ... that is on the west side of the street."
The site is planted inside Ward 16 (Eglinton-Lawrence) Councillor Karen Stintz's terrain. On the west side of Bathurst Street resides Ward 15 (Eglinton-Lawrence) Councillor Howard Moscoe's constituency.
No matter what picture Brown or architect Sol Wassermuhl painted, the 'grey power' element was out in full force on this night and it wasn't about to let the duo off easily.
"I don't think, when we talk about this creating a 'spark', that a seniors residence is going to spark anything on Bathurst," one woman said.
Another woman blurted out the elegantly designed two-storey addition, encased in glass, "looked like a jail".
After hearing of the number of parking spots the development would house - 73 in all, 36 for visitors - a voice from the back of the room innocently asked, "Will we get visitors?"
Another man quipped: "Hopefully."
Other residents - younger homeowners among them - want the structure restricted to six stories, citing increased traffic, noise and the devaluing of their respective properties on Bedford Park and Douglas Avenues. Some worried about the shadows the building would cast.
And the city-owned laneway running alongside the east side of the site, as well as a Page and Steele-owned property adjacent to it, was another sore point. Complaints of illegal acts taking place in the laneway and trash compiling on the property led to calls for a parkette to be established as part of the overall project.
"That's certainly negotiable," Brown said while explaining Page and Steele tried to buy the laneway from the city but was turned down. "I'm not sure this particular neighbourhood is park deficient ... but conceivably anything can happen."
Moscoe told the crowd the proposal wasn't anywhere near the threat other developments could pose.
"There are changes taking place on Bathurst. In my opinion, you could do a lot worse than a seniors retirement home," he said. "I don't think you're going to get a six-storey building frankly. You have to weigh the economics in this for the developer against the amenities you can demand of them.
"But establishing that area behind it as a parkette is realistic."
Several of the residents also praised the building's design, calling it 'beautiful'. Stintz added much discussion would ensue before any decision is made by city council.
"Certainly this isn't the final product but it is a sense of direction as to where the project is going," she said. "We will have a followup meeting within the next couple of months after all the comments have been reviewed."
