Residents, developer seek compromise on major North York project
http://www.insidetoronto.com/news/l...r-seek-compromise-on-major-north-york-project
Valley Woods Road proposal would increase densities in area
In what would be the most significant development in the community southeast of the Don Valley Parkway and York Mills Road in the last three decades, a developer wants to demolish 245 existing rental townhouses and replace them with 1,880 rental and condominium units.
"This is the biggest application we have seen in 30 years, probably the biggest application ever in this community," said Don Valley East Councillor Denzil Minnan-Wong said at the Wednesday, June 22, meeting of North York Community Council.
"We have to take the appropriate steps to get this right."
Several residents expressed concerns with the proposal at 35-53 and 101-113 Valley Woods Rd. and 1213-1229 York Mills Rd., complaining the development is out of scale with the existing community and will add to already congested roads.
Pointing out the developer has been patient since first proposing the development four years ago and is now anxious to get the project started, Minnan-Wong convinced councillors to send the proposal to the July 12-13 city council meeting with no recommendation from community council.
In the meantime, residents and the developer will try to work out a compromise. If that is not possible, the project will come back to community council in September.
The property is owned by Alit Don Valley Property Inc.
Speaking on behalf of the applicant, Adam Brown said there have been significant changes to the design of the project since it was first proposed, including a hefty drop in density. When the development was first pitched in December 2007, it called for 2,375 units in buildings of up to 32 storeys.
Brown also pointed to other proposed improvements including extensive landscaping, a well-designed streetscape and wide separation distances between buildings.
According to a city planning report, the proposal calls for the existing 245 rental townhouses to be replaced with 270 rental units and 1,610 condo units in buildings of up to 27 storeys. It also includes a new road connecting Valley Woods Road to York Mills.
The property is made up of two parcels of land connected by a strip of land along Valley Woods Road.
On the north parcel would be a 12-storey rental building with 140 units and four condo buildings ranging in height from 12 to 27 storeys with 1,056 units.
The south parcel would contain 130 rental townhouse and stacked townhouse units and three condo buildings ranging in height from 12 to 24 storeys with 554 units. This parcel would also feature a 0.4-hectare (1-acre) park.
The owner would provide relocation assistance to tenants in the existing townhouses, and for eligible tenants, the right to return to a new unit and financial assistance with relocation costs.
But many residents in the community are leery of the development.
Some pointed out that while it was first proposed four years ago, it has only recently resurfaced after lying dormant for some time.
Others complained the $1.5 million being required from the developer for community improvements is inadequate, although Minnan-Wong argued more isn't required because the land is zoned for 750 units although there are only 245 townhouses now on the site.
Resident Dan Lim called the $1.5 million contribution "chump change."
While he said he understands development pressures, he said the scale of the proposed project would overwhelm the area.
"You're talking about substantially changing the neighbourhood," he said. "If I wanted to live downtown, I would have bought downtown."
Jo-Anne Wortley, who has lived in a townhouse for 26 years, is worried about losing a sense of community, school children having to be bused out of the area and traffic racing through the neighbourhood.
Don Valley East Councillor Shelley Carroll said it makes sense to revisit the density, which seems more in line with that required around the Sheppard Avenue subway and light-rail subway along Eglinton Avenue.
"There is never going to be a higher-order transit corridor on York Mills. York Mills will be a car area so the densities should be going north of it and south of it but not at it," she said.
"I don't think asking for one more kick at the can is asking too much."
