A virtual Community Consultation meeting
will be held on
Thursday, October 22, 2020
6:30-8:30 pm
For more information read the
Avenue-Lawrence-Community-Consultation-Notice
To review information on the application before the meeting, please visit https://aic.to/284LawrenceAveW. Materials, including drawings and consultant studies are located there under “supporting documentation”. If you’re unable to access the materials Online, please contact City Planning Staff. You can call or email them using the contact information provided in the Notice.
The Notice provides detail on how you will be able to Register to join Online or by Phone. You can submit comments/questions in advance by contacting City Planning staff or the Councillor’s Office.
On September 10th, North York Community Council adopted the Preliminary Staff Report for the Avenue and Lawrence Development. Throughout the process SAHRA has been working with three neighbouring residents’ associations affected by the proposal. The four groups sent a joint letter to North York Community Council which acknowledged the report and identified preliminary concerns.
Given the size of the site, the City is exercising its ability to require a public park on the property. The proposed development does not include a park and therefore changes to the proposal are necessary and expected. The new park is needed to accommodate the population growth that will result from the proposal as well as to address an existing need for increased parkland in the wider community. The proposal currently includes a privately-owned, landscaped open space. The City has confirmed this does not meet the criteria of a public park for several reasons.
Resident groups are also concerned that two tall buildings are proposed in a mid-rise policy area. The City is assessing this issue. In addition to the height, the upper levels do not include adequate terracing back from the street as required by City policies.
Finally, we are concerned about the pedestrian safety and traffic impacts of a 600-car garage and 5 truck loading spaces exiting directly onto both Avenue Road and Lawrence Avenue West, mid-block and without traffic signals.
Representatives from the SAHRA Board of Directors, as well as the three neighbouring local residents’ associations recently met with representatives from First Capital (the developer), Bousfields (community consultants), City Planning staff and the Councillor’s Office to discuss our concerns.
SAHRA will be at the meeting to continue to advocate for changes to the proposal to arrive at the best possible outcome for the community and we urge you to attend as well.
Upper Avenue Community Association Survey Results for the Avenue & Lawrence Development
The Upper Avenue Community Association (UACA) conducted a survey to understand the concerns the residents in their area (401 down to Lawrence/Bathurst over to Avenue Rd) had about the Avenue & Lawrence proposal. 286 residents responded to the survey. The responses showed that they were “overwhelmingly against the development as it is presently planned with particular concerns about the height and traffic”. UACA is sharing this feedback with Councillor Mike Colle, the City Planner, the developer and the three neighbouring local residents’ associations.
Here are the Survey Results.
Sep 28, 2020 – New!
An article by David Olsen for TRNTO on the proposed development at Avenue and Lawrence:
https://trnto.com/condo-development-avenue-lawrence/
Sep 26, 2020
On September 10th, North York Community Council adopted the Preliminary Staff Report for the Avenue and Lawrence Development. Throughout the process SAHRA has been working with three neighbouring residents’ associations affected by the proposal. The four groups sent a joint letter to North York Community Council which acknowledged the report and identified preliminary concerns.
A virtual City-led Community Consultation meeting has been scheduled for the evening of October 22nd. SAHRA will be providing community members with the time and the WebEx link in a subsequent email closer to the meeting date.
Given the size of the site, the City is exercising its ability to require a public park on the property. The proposed development does not include a park and therefore changes to the proposal are necessary and expected. The new park is needed to accommodate the population growth that will result from the proposal as well as to address an existing need for increased parkland in the wider community. The proposal currently includes a privately-owned, landscaped open space. The City has confirmed this does not meet the criteria of a public park for several reasons.
Resident groups are also concerned that two tall buildings are proposed in a mid-rise policy area. The City is assessing this issue. In addition to the height, the upper levels do not include adequate terracing back from the street as required by City policies.
Finally, we are concerned about the pedestrian safety and traffic impacts of a 600-car garage and 5 truck loading spaces exiting directly onto both Avenue Road and Lawrence Avenue West, mid-block and without traffic signals.
Representatives from the SAHRA Board of Directors, as well as the three neighbouring local residents’ associations will be meeting with the Developer to discuss our concerns. SAHRA will continue to advocate for changes to the proposal to arrive at the best possible outcome for the community.
Sep 10, 2020
The Preliminary Report was presented to the North York Community Council on Sept 10, 2020 and approval was given to schedule a Community Consultation Meeting together with Councillor Colle. The notice for the meeting is to be given to landowners and residents within 120 metres of the application site and to additional residents, institutions and owners to be determined in consultation with Councillor Colle.
The four local residents’ associations (Bedford Park Residents Organization, Lytton Park Residents’ Organization, South Armour Heights Residents’ Association and the Upper Avenue Community Association) submitted a letter on Sept 8th to the North York Community Council, Councillor Colle and City of Toronto Planning with our comments on the application. Our letter can be read here AveLaw RA Letter NYCC Sep 8 2020
Sep 6, 2020
The Planning Department published a Preliminary Report for this proposed development on August 18, 2020 – Avenue and Lawrence Preliminary Report Aug 18 2020. The report provides information and identifies a preliminary set of issues regarding the application.
The Preliminary Report will be presented to the North York Community Council on Sept 10, 2020. The Planning Department is seeking approval to schedule a Community Consultation Meeting together with Councillor Colle. The notice for the meeting is to be given to landowners and residents within 120 metres of the application site and to additional residents, institutions and owners to be determined in consultation with Councillor Colle.
Aug 2, 2020
On June 9th, 2020, Developer First Capital submitted plans to the City of Toronto for a major re development project at the northeast corner of Avenue Road and Lawrence. This development will be the largest undertaken to date for this section of Avenue Road.
Application Details:
- The total site is 2.7 acres, encompassing seven existing properties, extending from the 3-storey apartment building at 284 Lawrence West, winding west around the corner of Avenue Road and Lawrence up to, but not including, Royal Lighting. 284 Lawrence West itself borders 272 Lawrence West and 250 Lawrence West, which is being re-developed as a nine-storey condominium development (29.9 metres tall and 179 units).
- First Capital’s development application proposes two new condominium buildings referred to as “A” and “B”, and consists of 455 residential units. Details of these buildings are:
- Building “B”, at the corner of Avenue Rd and Lawrence, replaces Starbucks, Fancy Franks, veterinary clinic, the car wash, small fifteen-unit rental apartment building, Carlson Wagonlit travel, and CLLC Learning College. The proposal is for a 4-metre-high condominium (15 floors) plus 4m of mechanical requirements: in comparison to other buildings on Avenue Road, the highest condominium to date, including the two under construction, is approximately 25 metres. As a further reference point for the proposed height, the building at 3018 Yonge Street on the southwest corner of Lawrence, is actually 4 metres less than First Capital’s proposal. It is assumed that Pusateri’s would be the second level retail tenant.
- Building “A” is proposed at the current location of Pusateri’s and would contain ten floors – 8 metres. The first floor of this building will be approximately 7.6 meters tall.
- Both buildings do not meet the required setbacks, step backs, and height as shown in the illustrations with the blue line being City of Toronto Mid Rise guidelines and the red line being the Avenue Road Study reference. Shadowing that would be cast on the surrounding open space and the opposite side of Avenue Road needs to be reviewed.
- There is no public parkland dedication in the current proposal, as is required by the City.
- The proposal includes 605 parking spaces including retail and visitor parking. 600 of the parking spaces would be located in an underground garage.
- The transportation study completed by First Capital’s consultant (a requirement of the planning application) indicates that the impact on local traffic would be minimal, in spite of the additional 455 residential units and the delivery trucks servicing retail.
- Access to the development would be by two private driveways that enter/exit off Avenue Road and Lawrence. Unsignalized left and right turns are proposed to be permitted onto both of these streets within a short distance of the existing traffic light at Avenue Road and Lawrence.
All documents related to the Development Application submitted by First Capital are available for public perusal on the City of Toronto website – LINK. The file reference is 20 153975 NNY 08.
Resident Association strategy to review the First Capital Proposal and next steps:
The location of this development touches four Resident Associations. These are: Lytton Park Residents’ Organization, Bedford Park Residents Organization, South Armour Heights Residents’ Association and Upper Avenue Community Association
The Residents Associations are collaborating to ensure the development application proceeds in a way that is appropriate and respectful of existing and future residents. We have requested a meeting with the City Planner for the application and Councillor Mike Colle to discuss the application. The City Planning process requires a public community consultation meeting. The Resident Associations will inform the community via our respective newsletters when this meeting is scheduled.
We welcome your questions, comments, and input on this proposed development. You can email us at [email protected].