Meeting in gymnasium of Hodgson school
The lawyer for the Brown Group, developers pursuing the mixed-use commercial and residential proposal for Bayview between Hillsdale and Soudan, says the company will go to the Ontario Municipal Board if the plan presented to residents Monday night is not approved by Fall. Adam Brown spoke for the Brown Group at an ad hoc residents meeting at Hodgson Senior Public School about the company’s compromises over the nine storey concept it first proposed last year for the 1700 block of Bayview Ave. He outlined how in negotiating meetings with Josh Matlow (Ward 22) and City planners the plan has been scaled down to seven storeys from nine. There was a mood of gratitude toward the Brown Group for apparent concessions. Mr. Matlow outlined concerns about the creeping height of future buildings justified by precedents set now.
MIDTOWN IN FOCUS
The issue remains the City’s desire to finish the Midtown in Focus (MIF) plan which attempts to assess the state of services and the encroachment on residential properties from the Yonge and Eglinton across to Bayview and south to the cemetery. Stampeding development inspired by the LRT seems to be beyond the control of planners at the moment. The target for finishing MIF is January of 2017 but even City representatives present admitted that this window might easily be missed. That was on Mr. Brown’s mind too. The height of the building was always an issue and some residents at the lightly-attended meeting grumped that five or six storeys should have been enough. The office and medical building across Hillsdale at 1740 Bayview is five storeys and stands as the highest structure south of Eglinton with the exception of the 1960s Cardiff apartments at 1460 Bayview and Davisville which extends to seven storeys.
Concept as envisioned at seven storeys
Mr. Brown stated clearly that the developer would not wait for the report of the MIF study, and indeed that if they did not get approval for their 7-storey condo by Fall, they would take their 9-storey proposal to the ever-obliging OMB, whose decisions remain untroubled by facts or what is good for the city. In effect, Mr. Brown was like the schoolyard bully who says ” Give me your lunch money today, or tomorrow I’ll bring my friend and we’ll take your lunch money and your tic tokens , too!’ This is how community consultation works. We’re lucky to have Josh Matlow in our corner, but as long as the OMB exists , it will be a very crowded corner indeed.