A newly formed residents’ group celebrated a small victory earlier this month when a proposal for a nine-storey condo in Forest Hill’s lower village was rejected.
The mixed-use building was denied by Toronto city council on July 12 because it failed to conform to the official plan and is inconsistent with the Forest Hill Village Urban Design Guidelines. The guidelines dictate that no building should be above four storeys on that part of Spadina Road.
Armel Corporation first presented the plan last October to develop the 46-unit building at 390–398 Spadina Rd., just north of Montclair Avenue. The site is currently occupied by a deteriorating two-storey building that has sat empty for years and the former Village Idiot Pub.
“The main issues were height and density. It’s way too high for that site, and density, then, of course, is related to that,” said Ward 21 councillor Joe Mihevc. “[Forest Hill] Village is a low-rise environment, and part of the character of the area is that sense of village that predominates,” he said. “[Armel’s] proposal was way out of keeping with what’s in the neighbourhood. I think that’s the basis upon which staff objected to it, and why, frankly, I think it was the right call. It belongs on St. Clair,” he added.
Many local residents had voiced their discontent about the proposal, stating that a nine-storey building would clash with the area’s small-town esthetic. Despite these concerns, Armel did not amend the proposal.
In November, Joe Hill, Lisa Newman and Marcia Gilbert established the South Forest Hill Residents Association (SFHRA) to combat this kind of development.
“Our suspicion, since the developer apparently kept promising to revise his proposal and never did so, is that the developer will ignore the city process and go directly to the Ontario Municipal Board,” said Newman. We have therefore incorporated as an association in order to ready ourselves to fight this proposal at the OMB if necessary.”
If Armel ends up taking its proposal to the Ontario Municipal Board, SFHRA will be forced to raise funds to support its campaign.
Armel Corporation did not respond to requests for comment.
