More than three years and thousands of dollars later, Neville Park residents have won the battle to maintain their charming single-family home neighbourhood as it is.
On Wednesday, Jan. 6, the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) denied a developer's request to build a high-end four-storey, 10-unit condo apartment and one detached house at 2-4 Neville Park Blvd. and 438-440 Lake Front Lane.The appeal went before the provincial body back in the fall after the city rejected Sweeny Sterling Finlayson and Company Architects and partners George Kaiser and Neheel Suleman's request to amend the Official Plan and rezone the site to allow a multi-unit development.After more than three months of pouring over facts and policies, the OMB ultimately sided with the residents and the city, finding that "the subject neighbourhood is a physically stable area and not one where intensification is to be directed... The proposed development of this site does not conform to the Official Plan land use designation of neighbourhood, as the subject lands are located in a physically stable area and not an area where intensification is to be directed."The OMB also found this "out of character" development would cause instability in the subject neighbourhood and would encourage further "similar growth and development where it has explicitly been determined to be inappropriate."The board also looked at lot size, density and height of the proposed building to reinforce its arguments against accepting the developer's appeal. Steve Ottaway, vice-chair of the Beach Lakefront Neighbourhood Association (BLNA) and a witness at the OMB hearing, said the community was obviously ecstatic with the board's findings. "The planners and the lawyers were stars on this. They did a fantastic job," he said, crediting the many volunteers for their hard work. "The OMB listened to our arguments very carefully. It just wasn't a straightforward argument."A fourth-generation Beacher, Ottaway said the tough battle was a success because the OMB understood the importance of maintaining the restrictive R1 low rise residential zoning, which puts a strong emphasis on the sense of "neighbourhood." "You'd hate to think that you'd have to go to such an extent to defend your neighbourhood but it's what we had to do," he said. Ottaway went on to note a condo development of this nature in the Neville Park area would have set some dangerous precedents for other developers seeking to snap up prized lakefront lots."(This development) just wasn't like anything else in the neighbourhood that was adjacent to it," he said, adding that the residents group will continue to keep a close eye on other development proposals for the area."I think this decision goes a distance but it doesn't alleviate all of our concerns. Now we're going to have to wait and see what their next move is."Leontine Major, a senior planner for the city, was also elated with the OMB's decision."It reinforces the importance of the City of Toronto Official Plan's neighbourhood policies. It sends a strong message that only appropriate development, which is consistent with those policies, should be considered.""The decision is very specific and goes policy by policy. We're pleased it was so very carefully worded." Major said it's encouraging the OMB sided with the city and the residents in such an important development proposal.Beaches-East York Councillor Sandra Bussin was a vehement opponent of the project from day one."I'm thrilled by the outcome. It's been a long battle and one that was difficult to call at times whether there would be success or not," she said, adding the decision confirms the importance of maintaining "neighbourhoods"."It took a lot of work to just get the (city) planning department on side. This is a very important decision considering the amount of effort the community put forth. They need to be congratulated."She called the decision "a collaborative process that ended in the best possible outcome." Developer Dermot Sweeny couldn't say just yet what the next steps will be for the valuable lakefront site."We don't know what to do or how to do it but we're working on it," he said Thursday afternoon, adding the intention is to construct some sort of residential development there."We're considering the options. All is not lost. It's a beautiful site."Sweeny admitted his team is "hugely disappointed" by the outcome of the OMB hearing but that they "respect the process," adding it's unfortunate the board didn't interpret the proposal like he did."I don't agree with the final results but it's a thorough decision," he said, adding the city and the community will be kept abreast of any future ideas they may have for the site.