Dear residents,
I want to provide you with an update related to the development application at 2405-2417 Lake Shore Blvd W, which is currently under appeal at the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT).
As you may be aware, OLT appeals are legal proceedings that effectively remove development applications from the municipal approval process and the OLT becomes the decision making body. Additionally, information that would typically be available to the public in the municipal review process is required to remain confidential during the appeal process.
In this case, the process has included:
- Appeal by the applicant to the OLT prior to consultation – When the City receives a development application, the City of Toronto Official Plan requires a Community Consultation Meeting (CCM) to be held. This application was appealed to the OLT before a CCM could be scheduled, which removed that obligation from the applicant.
- Additional information session held by my office – Residents were justifiably upset by the lack of planned consultation, and I coordinated with City Staff and the applicant to hold a special Information Session for community members on May 8, 2024. Because of confidentiality restrictions due to the OLT appeal process, we were mostly limited to sharing public information about the initial application, with some additional updates agreed upon by the applicant.
- Confidential changes to the initial proposal by the applicant – During an OLT appeal, the applicant is permitted to make changes to their development proposal with their appeal submission. In this case, the applicant made significant changes in their appeal submission, which were not shared at the information session on May 8, 2024. These changes were confidential, and could not be shared publicly unless agreed upon by all parties to the appeal including the applicant.
- Updates as permitted through my email newsletter – During this appeal, I have done what was within my power to keep the community informed while adhering to the confidentiality requirements of this legal process, including an update shared through my email newsletter on May 19, 2024. If you’re not already signed up to receive my newsletter, I encourage you to sign up here!
- Mediation between the applicant and City staff at the OLT – Since receiving direction from myself and my fellow members of City Council on October 11, 2023, City Staff have attended the OLT in opposition to this application and engaged in mediation efforts with the applicant. Mediation efforts have been based on the priorities indicated by the City Council which can be found in this report. These priorities reflect many concerns that community members and organizations have shared – like the inclusion of a portion of Amos Waites Park in the proposal. Often, mediation efforts are supported by City Council with the goal of finding a mutually acceptable middle ground, and avoiding the risk associated with a contested hearing at the OLT.
- Meetings between myself and City Staff and the applicant – Through this appeal process, I have met several times with City Staff, and once with the applicants' team. In these meetings, I have taken a firm stance with respect to what is appropriate development at this site, informed by the feedback I received from community organizations and residents, the Mimico by the Lake Secondary Plan, other City Planning policies, and feedback from Staff.
- City Council accepted a settlement offer arrived at through the OLT mediation process – Mediation concluded recently with a report to the July 24–25, 2024 City Council meeting. This item at Council included a Request for Direction from Staff with a recommendation from the City Solicitor to accept a confidential settlement offer, supported by City Staff who conducted the mediation. This item was adopted by Council.
- Up next: a settlement hearing at the OLT, not a contested hearing – Because Council adopted this recommendation, the OLT appeal will now proceed to a settlement hearing, not a contested one. I will share an update on the outcome of this hearing in my email newsletter as soon as I am able to.
In this mediation, we achieved many of the priority outcomes we heard from the community.
Where the mediation process started – In the applicant’s confidential OLT appeal submission, many elements that were of concern to the community remained (like the inclusion of a portion of Amos Waites Park and the height of the base building along the street frontage and park), and there were also significant changes to the initial application (like an increase in the proposed tower height from 33-storeys to 42-storeys). Because this submission is confidential, I am only able to share these additional details with you today because I asked for and received permission from the applicant once Council approved the recommendation to accept the settlement.
What we achieved together in the approved settlement –
- Rental replacement units have been secured to ensure existing rental housing stock is maintained.
- Complete removal of the proposed usage of a portion of Amos Waites Park, including appropriate building setbacks from the park.
- A 9-storey mid-rise building along Lake Shore Blvd W, which sits on a 6-storey podium with improved massing, height, and setbacks to provide a better pedestrian experience than the original proposal.
- A 34-storey tower, which is set further back on the subject site and has appropriate separation distance from the mid-rise building. The tower design does not result in negative shadow impacts on the neighbourhoods to the west.
- Base building heights that provide transition to the park, the lake, and adjacent neighbourhoods.
- Two new public streets that are in accordance with the Mimico by the Lake Secondary Plan and are appropriately located and sized, with the intended purpose of providing connectivity to the lake and Superior Avenue.
The OLT appeals process places the City in a difficult position, and I want to thank City Staff for achieving significant improvements through their hard work during the mediation process. I believe this settlement proposal represents a significant improvement over the original appeal submission, which would have been under review and potentially approved had this appeal proceeded to a contested hearing and the OLT sided with the applicant. This settlement proposal addresses many concerns I’ve heard from residents, especially considering the changes made by the applicant between the initial application to the City and the confidential appeal submission.
Thank you for your interest and engagement on this development application and appeal – without your feedback, we would not be able to advocate so strongly for local needs and desires through these processes.
Yours in community service,
Councillor Amber Morley
Ward 3, Etobicoke-Lakeshore
