The Ontario Municipal Board has approved the redevelopment of Laird Drive at 146-150 Laird Drive opposite the SmartCentre. The site includes the so-called Durant Building which the developers have agreed to retain intact. The development is a home for older people to be owned by Viva Retirement Communities, a Canadian company. The original unrevised plan called for two buildings, seven and eight storeys. Randolph Road sits behind and to the west of the proposed project and would be shaded by it. The OMB found that a revision to reduce grading at the rear to 7.5 degrees was a relief from such shading. Residents also complained about the “100-foot wall” that would greet them in their backyard and the hundreds of balconies looking down on them. At a rancorous public meeting in February 2015, dozens of speakers directed attacks on the size and height. Full decision
