SunriseChampion
Senior Member
Personally, I didn't think those townhouses would be built when I originally saw the lots for sale at the price they were at.
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Birch Cliff (Kingston/Warden)
- Thread starter Outerbeach
- Start date
Eug
Senior Member
Yeah, at $700000ish (I think), I was a little surprised too, but then again they are big, and I'm not sure how upscale the interiors will be either. Also, there are very close to the lake, and I suspect they'll have pretty good views of the lake from the 3rd floors and the balconies. Those must be strong selling points, esp. when the houses south of there aren't allowed to build higher than 2 stories AFAIK. Furthermore, it's only a 5 minute drive to restaurants at The Beach.
BTW, there are a couple of other empty lots close by on Kingston Road that are supposed to be getting townhouses too. It will be interesting to see if they get built within the next two years, and if so, how expensive the units will be.
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Yoshimura
Active Member
Eug
Senior Member
I fully support it. In fact I attended several of the meetings to voice my support.
That avenue is a "highway commercial" wasteland. There really is no reason in 2009 it should still be populated by motels and barren expansive parking lots.
That avenue is a "highway commercial" wasteland. There really is no reason in 2009 it should still be populated by motels and barren expansive parking lots.
Eug
Senior Member
I fully support it. In fact I attended several of the meetings to voice my support.
That avenue is a "highway commercial" wasteland. There really is no reason in 2009 it should still be populated by motels and barren expansive parking lots.
In fact, I don't know why it wasn't rezoned 10 years ago.
That avenue is a "highway commercial" wasteland. There really is no reason in 2009 it should still be populated by motels and barren expansive parking lots.
In fact, I don't know why it wasn't rezoned 10 years ago.
shabbasuraj
New Member
Thanks for the updates Eug.
I will try and get to the meetings...
Birchcliff/Hunt Club is definitely going through some changes.
I will try and get to the meetings...
Birchcliff/Hunt Club is definitely going through some changes.
Eug
Senior Member
The meeting info I posted was for the Cliffside part of Kingston Road, east of Danforth Avenue. That area is where the 1-2 storey strip malls, motels and acres of parking lots are.
So not really Birchcliff/Hunt Club (even though Birchcliff/Hunt Club and Cliffside are all part of the same City of Toronto neighbourhood). Actually, the Chine Drive part of the study is part of Cliffcrest, so yet another neighbourhood.
Anyways, I might not make this meeting, since it's at 1:30 in the afternoon during the week. The other meetings I went to were in the evening after work.
Eug
Senior Member
Granny
Active Member
Some great old memories come back seeing the picture of Andrews. Believe it or not, but back in the sixties, this was once quite the classy place to go for dinner. There was quite a rivalry between this place and the Bo-Peep a little further east. And then there was the little Stop 14 diner a little futher east still, by Midland Ave. Great Cherry cokes and toasted danish there. ..sigh.
Eug
Senior Member
Since nobody else posted this:
NOTICE OF ADOPTION OF OFFICIAL PLAN AMENDMENT NO. 79 & NOTICE OF PASSING OF ZONING BY-LAW NO. 1224-2009
TAKE NOTICE that the City of Toronto adopted Amendment No. 79 on the 4th day of December, 2009, by By-law No. 1223-2009. Zoning By-law No. 1224-2009 was also passed on this date.
Not really Birch Cliff though. It's Cliffside.
NOTICE OF ADOPTION OF OFFICIAL PLAN AMENDMENT NO. 79 & NOTICE OF PASSING OF ZONING BY-LAW NO. 1224-2009
TAKE NOTICE that the City of Toronto adopted Amendment No. 79 on the 4th day of December, 2009, by By-law No. 1223-2009. Zoning By-law No. 1224-2009 was also passed on this date.
Not really Birch Cliff though. It's Cliffside.
SunriseChampion
Senior Member
Is that stucco on the upper floor? Why?! They go ahead and use nice wood trim and not-too-shabby brick on the rest of the cladding and then mess it all up by using stucco. For the price they wanted, too!
As a construction worker, I'm going to go ahead and use this as a venue to share my sense of disgust with the cheapness and aesthetic of stucco. Thankyouverymuch!
As a construction worker, I'm going to go ahead and use this as a venue to share my sense of disgust with the cheapness and aesthetic of stucco. Thankyouverymuch!
whatever
Senior Member
The new streets might help break up those big blocks a bit, but I wonder if it'll spur much new development.
Eug
Senior Member
The streets alone won't, but the new rezoning (as of a couple of weeks ago) definitely will, although it will take decades. I guess I should have posted those details too. The City of Toronto page on this is here.
CLAUSE VIII – ZONE PROVISIONS is amended by adding the following:
17. Commercial-Residential (CR) Zone
(a) Permitted Uses
- Day Nurseries
- Dwelling Units
- Educational and Training Facility Uses
- Financial Institutions
- Fraternal Organizations
- Hotels
- Medical Centres
- Municipally owned and operated Parking Lots
- Nursing Homes
- Offices
- Personal Service Shops
- Places of Entertainment
- Private Home Day Care
- Recreational Uses
- Restaurants
- Retail Stores
- Retirement Homes
(b) Prohibited Uses
- Automobile Sales, including Auto Sales Rooms
- Automobile Service, Repair and Maintenance Uses, including auto
body repair and/or painting
- Automobile Service Stations
- Mechanical or Automatic Car Washes
- Single-Family Dwellings
- Two-Family Dwellings
- Duplexes
- Split Level Dwelling
(c) Supplementary Regulations
(i) For the lands between Claremore Avenue and Midland Avenue on
the north side of Kingston Road and for the lands between
Cliffside Drive and Midland Avenue on the south side of Kingston
Road: Dwelling Units, Retirement Homes, Nursing Homes, and
Private Home Day Care shall only be permitted on or above the
second storey, or where no portion of the dwelling unit is located
within 20m of the Kingston Road street line. For the purposes of
this supplementary regulation, the basement shall not be
considered a storey.
(ii) Townhouses are permitted in all locations with exception to those
lands within 20m of the Kingston Road street line.
This rezoning to mixed use commercial-retail-residential with marked increase in allowable density and height is what is important. This probably should have been done 15 years ago.
Heights have been increased to 8-11 storeys, not including one additional storey for mechanical. To get the north side 8 storeys or the south side 11 storeys, the developers have to get into an agreement with the city under section 37. (Otherwise the maximum heights are a few storeys shorter.) Densities for overall floor space can be up to 4.5:1 vs lot space. Up until last month, because of the severe zoning restrictions, the maximum heights were basically 2 storeys and much lower density, which meant absolutely nobody was interested in developing these lots. Interestingly though, in anticipation of this zoning change, numbered companies have apparently been gradually buying up parcels of land.
For those not aware: Note that the gas stations and used car dealerships that are already there are grandfathered in. That means a used car lot can be sold as a used car lot, but as soon as a piece of land is not a used car lot, it can never be a used car lot again.
That's why this sign went up months ago:
That sign no longer is there, but I don't know if it's because it's been sold or what.
Maybe a nice condo building will be built there, with some nice 1st floor restaurants.Some great old memories come back seeing the picture of Andrews. Believe it or not, but back in the sixties, this was once quite the classy place to go for dinner. There was quite a rivalry between this place and the Bo-Peep a little further east. And then there was the little Stop 14 diner a little futher east still, by Midland Ave. Great Cherry cokes and toasted danish there. ..sigh.
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T.O.Fanatic
Active Member
This is exciting! I grew up in Scarborough and found that this area was the only part that had urban potential. Nice to see shorter blocks a la Jane Jacobs.........hopefully no big box plazas get developed, the GTA has had enough of that.
Eug
Senior Member
Yeah, I don't know Scarborough as well, but this area does seem appropriate for this type of development. Also of note is the fact that the Kingston Road Transit Study is also recommending this stretch to get Bus Rapid Transit in dedicated bus lanes.
There is no funding for it at all, but at least the plan will be in place should funding ever appear, similar to what happened with the LRT plans. This would link up from Victoria Park subway station to the LRT at Kingston Road and Eglinton.