An application to tear down the home on the site of 1 Hedgewood Rd. has some residents along the street in an uproar, despite the North York Committee of Adjustment’s (COA) unanimous decision to reject the application on Oct. 20. 

The development proposal was submitted in conjunction with the application sought to demolish the existing home on the property, which backs onto the edge of a ravine, and construct a three-storey, 8,176-square-foot detached house with a garage. 

The existing home on the site was built in 1910.

Graham Alloway, who resides on Hedgewood Road, attended the COA meeting to oppose the application. 

“The main grounds [for the rejection] was that it was an overbuild given that lot size and lot configuration,” said Alloway.

The application was also opposed by Ward 25 councillor Jaye Robinson.

“Of particular concern are the requested variances for increased height, reduced setbacks along the front and north side yards and the lack of setback from the stable top-of-bank,” Robinson said in a letter to the COA. 

“Combined with the requested variance for increased height, these proposed variances would have an extreme and negative impact on the immediate neighbour.”

The York Mills Valley Association (YMVA), which advocates on behalf of residents in Hogg’s Hollow, submitted a letter in support of the application citing that “there are many three-storey homes on the street and that it would fit into the streetscape of Hedgewood Road.”

York Mills Valley Association’s chair, Diana Selarno, was also the architect of the proposed development. But documents show that Selarno recused herself on Oct. 3.

“I made it very clear that I was the architect and that I was directly involved,” said Selarno. 

It is unknown whether the owners of the property will look to appeal the decision.