Residents’ persistent effort to block condo tower pays off
Patty Winsa – Toronto Star
Two years and hundreds of hours of work seem to have paid off for the Eglinton Park Residents’ Association, which won its struggle against a developer applying to rezone two city blocks.
The Ontario Municipal Board released its decision Tuesday, turning down an application by Top of the Tree Developments to designate the northeast corner of Montgomery and Duplex Aves., northwest of Eglinton Ave. and Yonge St., as highrise residential, blocking its proposed construction of a 25-storey condo building there.
“We believe we had a significant impact on the outcome, because if you read the decision, there’s quite a lot of reference to the residents who attended the OMB hearings,” says association chair Jordan Applebaum.
Many of the 100 members spent hours in neighbours’ basements, compiling written submissions, building the presentation and even choreographing it, says Applebaum, an investment adviser who has lived in the area for four years.
We “strategically selected who would present, how it would flow, and we were warned not to be redundant or superfluous,” Applebaum said. “We weren’t lawyers or experts. But (according to a city planner) we put together by far the best presentation by any residents’ group the city had seen.”
City council turned down the developer’s rezoning application in 2008, which resulted in the fight going to the OMB. The residents’ association had been anxiously awaiting a decision since the five-week hearing ended last March.
“It was a hard fight at the OMB and we were worried how the decision would be rendered,” said Ward 16 Councillor Karen Stintz, who opposed the development.
Stinz defeated incumbent councillor Anne Johnston in the 2003 election after the 31-year veteran of municipal politics backed the controversial Minto towers, which now stand 39 and 54 storeys high on the east side of Yonge St.
“If we had allowed this building to proceed as envisioned, it would have destabilized the neighbourhood,” says Stintz, who felt the tower was too big for the site and would have isolated some homes not purchased as part of the plan.
“It was a difficult fight – the city didn’t recommend the change, neither did council, and the community was not supportive,” she said.
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