Leaside residents opposed to large-scale development near Eglinton Avenue East and Laird Drive are gearing up for another fight. A number of high- to mid-rise buildings are slated to be built over the next few years, including a condominium proposed for the corner of Vanderhoof Avenue and Brentcliffe Road and another at Brentcliffe Road and Eglinton Avenue East, near the new Metrolinx transit line. The new additions add to local fears that the increased density could lead to more traffic and congestion on Leaside’s residential streets. 

Carol Burtin-Fripp, vice-president of the Leaside Property Owners Association, said that the condominiums are so large they would create a “new community in themselves.” She worries that the local roads, school and sewage systems will not be able accommodate the sudden influx of newcomers. “Even if the buildings were attractive, they’re still too big,” she said.

But Ward 26 councillor John Parker said that population growth in the area is inevitable, especially now that Eglinton is poised to become a new transit hub.

“With the Metrolinx project, [Eglinton and Laird] is going to be in turmoil for the next few years,” he said. “There would be development in any event.”

Although Parker hopes no more big-box retail comes to the Eglinton and Laird area, like the SmartCentre superstore development that caused controversy this summer, he is not against greater population density in Leaside.

“The city of Toronto is going to grow. We have to accommodate that growth in existing urban areas,” he said. Although he is not against condos on the transit lines, he said he will also work to preserve Leaside’s small residential streets.

But Burtin-Fripp said that too many condos will harm the area’s small-town character. “The developers say that everyone wants a Leaside address,” she said, “but by overdeveloping the area, they are killing the goose that lays the golden egg. We’ll end up with a different community.”