Public Meeting on Feb 23, 2021
“Erecting a 9-storey 29.5 meter high condominium building in our residential neighborhood will significantly deteriorate the quality of life of all the local community members and violate our rights of privacy. Not only will this proposed change to the by-law highly affect the landscape of our residential community which currently has no buildings higher than 4 stories nearby, if built, the proposed building will overshadow our private homes and put our properties under risks of flooding and landslides during and after the intended construction. Having such a high-raise in our private resident neighborhood, will increase the noise and pollution levels in our area and also overload the existing infrastructure of our area, as there is a low supply of grocery stores in the immediate proximity, as well there are not enough medical, educational and other facilities in the area. This will also significantly decrease the value of the private properties, including ours, located in close proximity to the address.”
“This proposed amendment will be in favor of the developing company Frontdoor Developments Inc. and other parties involved in the project but against the members of the local community that have resided in the area for a long duration of time. We are strongly against the planned change to the current Zoning-By-Law change”
S.O. – local resident
Public Meeting on Jan 16, 2024
” This new proposal in fact includes some minor changes (less residential units – 142 before, 134 now; less car parking spaces – 157 before, 56 now; less bike parking spaces; 9-storeys before, 7-storeys now with a higher lot coverage locating the building much closer to the residential property lines).
We are strongly against the resubmitted proposal to erect a 27 meter 7-storey building which, if adapted and fulfilled, will:
– Highly affect the landscape of our residential community which currently has no buildings higher than 3 stories nearby
– Significantly deteriorate the standards of living and safety of the community members and owners of the households located in proximity to the address, – – By increasing the traffic in our neighbourhood make life of the residents unsafe. Over recent years there were several road accidents at the Bathurst St and Ellerslie Ave intersection. In 2018 one of our community members was killed by a truck at that intersection.
– Shadow out our properties for 3-4 hour during the light day time. The properties at Carscadden Dr. (#9 – #25) are situated at a lower grade (~2 meters) compared to the lot terrain, resulting in prolonged shadowing beyond the reported duration. The study fails to consider this gradient and the proximity of the revised massing to the West property line, rendering its findings invalid. Re-evaluation is necessary considering this lower gradient and altered proximity to assess the true impacts accurately.
– Increase the noise level in the neighbourhood
– Increase the level of pollution in the area including light pollution (at night time lights from the building will shine in our bedrooms)
– Loss of privacy for residents and owners of #1 – #25 Carscadden Dr. (people staring at us from balconies)
– Put our properties under risks of flooding and landslides during and after the intended construction
– Violate our privacy rights (the intended 7-storey condominium building will be less than 10 meters from our backyard hanging with its windows over our house).
– Significantly decrease the value of our property during and after the construction period.
There are at least two factors which were not considered in the Applicant’s studies:
– Elevation of the ground level at 4700 Bathurst compared to 23 Carscadden, which is 2.1 meters higher
– Combined shadow effect we will have from the proposed 7-storey condo building and the other four surrounding us buildings located at 19/21, 30/32, 34 and 36/38 Carscadden Drive will be more significant than the one indicated in your study.
The concluding statements in the report falsely state that the “majority of shadowing falls within the subject property itself” and that the “impacts are mitigated by appropriate building setbacks and reducing the mass”. Contrary to this, the proposed development significantly impacts adjacent West properties due to severe shadowing during key morning hours, amplified by the lower gradient, building height, and decreased proximity to the West property line. In essence, the shadow impacts from the proposed development are unacceptable, especially during crucial times of the day for neighbouring properties (#9-#25). The combination of a 2-meter lower gradient, building height, and reduced proximity exacerbates these issues beyond acceptability.
We also have 10 trees and over 50 shrubs and plants (some of them very rare) in our garden growing at the backyard within 6 meters from the 4700 Bathurst property line. These beautiful cherished by us trees and plants, most probably, will not survive the close construction (there are 3 trees in diameter of over 30cm within 1 meter from the property line) and will die after in the obscured by the proposed 30 m high building environment. In fact we have 10 trees and over 50 shrubs and plants (some of them very rare) growing within 6 meters from the 4700 Bathurst property line. I am sending you attached a detailed report on the trees, shrubs and plants we have at our backyard now. In general, we expect that more than 10 trees and many shrubs will die at our property and close to the property line only during and after the proposed construction. In total there will be more than 30 trees lost at 4700 Bathurst and the adjacent properties.
S.O. – local resident
Public Meeting on Jan 26, 2026
Hosted by Jennifer Combs, City Community Planner
Introductions, Presentations (by Developer team)
Opening words of Councillor Pasternak: “I realized that for the property owner this is the second run through and for the first one that quite clear that the community had deep concerns about the density of this site. I share those concerns and I think that’s the conversation we have to have as we are going forward. At the same time we want to hear everyone’s opinion whether it might be density, traffic, shadowing or those kind of issues.”
Questions and Comments (facilitated Discussion) :
“Good evening everyone. I live on Carscadden street just behind the site. I am speaking on behalf of many residents in the community who opposed to this proposal. A community petition opposing the development has already gathered over 600 signatures, reflecting the deep concerning in the neighborhood. Its opposition is based on planning record and what the site can realistically support. It is our view that this proposal should not be approved or submitted and the scale being sought is fundamentally inappropriate for this location. I’ll highlight four core issues tonight.
First is the parking feasibility – the proposal provides only 60+ parking spaces where the applicable zoning requires over 150, a shortfall of nearly 90 spaces. Justification relies on assumption that City staff has already indicated – do not apply to the application. It is not a minor variant, it is a structural deficiency and we will see as being impact surrounding neighborhood streets.
Second, transportation impact. The Transportation analyses does not demonstrate its current post-covid conditions and be fully accounted for. The transportation impact must be evaluated on the actual proposal being advanced today not to the original proposal from 2020. Until that is done clearly and defensibly the approval would be premature.
Third is the public realm along Bathusrt Str. The submission acknowledges that the utilities and plant cycle truck and limited street width prevents the delivery of the tree planting and soil volumes that the City typically expect. These physical constraints prevents delivery of a functional public realm and should limit the scale of development of this site.
Fourth is the transition impact. This site is in a low rise residential area. 12 storey building represents a significant escalation and creates permanent overlooking privacy impact that cannot be mitigated.
So, taken together these are no issues that cannot be resolved by minor refinement. They go to the core question of appropriateness. Our request to City staff is straightforward – do not advance this application and the scale proposed. A substantially reduced form or a refusal is the only outcome that reflects responsible planning and the live reality of this area. Thank you.”
Local resident I. V.
*****
“…I am a homeowner of a house on Carscadden Dr. I fully agree with the previous speaker… This project if implemented will have a negative impact on life of our community. … Parking, with only 61 spaces for residents, it would be impossible to accommodate the need of future residents. We think that more than 200 vehicles owned by residents will be parked in the area surrounding this new building, if built.
We also think that this 36 – 37 m high building will overshadow, completely overshadow our homes on Carscadden Drive and also overshadow the townhouses on the other side of Bathurst Str. We think that it will also have negative effect on the environment, more than 40 trees will be removed as a result of a construction and in general, this submission, this proposal I would say is the most aggressive from the all 3 proposals made in the recent 5 years… I would call for as the previous speaker, City planning to review the project and come with very professional expertise on this proposals”
S.O. – local resident
*****
“I represent the Elerslie townhomes community and we are also very concerned of the proposed 12-storey condo building project. The proposed building is 4 times higher than our townhouses. We have several concerns in regard of the proposal and shadowing is one of them. The shadow study shows that if the proposed project completed, we will not see the sun at all. The second concern is sewage. We constantly have floodings at the Bathurst & Farel intersection. I am not sure how the proposed building would effect this critical situation in our neighborhood. The third concern is traffic. It’s very intensive during the rush hours at Bathurst and the existing sidewalks are narrow and not safe for either cyclists or pedestrians. With no grocery stores in the area and unreliable TTC service the building residents will have to buy cars which they will not have parking space for in their condo building. This will also exaggerate the parking problem already existing in our neighborhood. In general, in our opinion the livability and quality of life of the community will worsen with the proposed construction. There is no any high-rise in this family oriented community and I don’t see any reason why we need to have a 40-meter building in our neighborhood. This project will have a negative effect on the property value of our community members who are, actually, thinking to move due to this expected construction.”
local resident L.D.
*****
Question to Councillor Pasternak: If there is a vote call today, would you approve or disapprove this plan, as it is submitted right now?
Councillor James Pasternak: I would be happy to answer this question. I would vote against this proposal, as it is right now.
*****
“At previous meetings I showed my opposition to previous applications for 9 and 7-storey building and now, surprisingly, we have a proposal for 12-storey building. In my opposition to the proposed project I support the previous speakers’ concerns. My main concerns are the height of the building, the parking problem and reduced number of parking spots in the proposed building (as the previous speaker mentioned, they need 190 parking spots and they propose only 63 – the rest cars will park in our streets what’s unacceptable), the shadowing is also another issue. The potentially increased traffic at the Bathurst and Carscadden intersection, which is a very dangerous one, is a big concern. Several accidents took place there in 2018 and one of our neighbours was killed there in one of the accidents.
The number of cars at Bathurst during the rush hours is much higher than showed in your calculations. I invite you to come to Bathurst during the rush hours and look how much cars go South and North in heavy traffic in the morning and afternoon and you will see that right now the traffic is crazy and not moving.
The other concern is that for my neighbors living across Bathurst this building will be like an iceberg in front of their homes.
In conclusion I want to say that I am opposing the proposed construction.”
local resident R.S.
*****
“As the proposed design of the building suggests there will be more residing families, I don’t understand why the parking space should be reduced. The proposed number of parking spaces is not enough and where is that suggested the residents’ cars will be parked? We will see over 140 cars parked at our streets at the location not close to the Subway.
Another comment which came from my family is the height of this proposed building. I am not against the progress but if you look at these streets, you will not see any building higher than 4 storey. So, 12-storey building would be completely out of the character of our neighbourhood.
When I look at the petition against this construction signed by hundreds of people it comes to mind that people put their life into their homes which are semies, singles or townhomes in this area and this 12-storey proposed building will negatively impact their quality of life. I don’t see that the developer or the applicant take that into their consideration. As one of the callers just said that the mental health is just as important as anything else.
In general, I am against the proposed 12-storey building and I would really want to understand where the proposed building residents’ cars will be parked.”
local resident
*****
“I would like to echo everything against the proposal plus have some comments relating to the initial plan. I see that there are many-many shortfalls between what the intensions of the official plan is and what this project reports. High quality public transit is essential and I don’t see that. We have heard about the heavy traffic in the area, we have heard about the lack of the parking spots.
The second objective of the official plan is to create an area which is a mixed used type area which fosters more the community. We don’t see that at all in that proposal. What we see is, basically, small units built at the cheapest price to maximize the revenue. I see nothing what integrates with the community. I see zero what relates to community planning or whatsoever. The proposed project is, basically, a warehouse for people. Just maximize the density and height and sell the units. We don’t see anything about the public housing, efforts are zero here. This doesn’t meet with the intent of the official plan at all. Secondly, I would encourage the City Planning Department and the Councillor to look closely at how things will be planned in terms of progression of other areas matching this project better.
In terms of planning this proposed project will create future slams. The builder wants to build the proposed building at a site which is completely unappropriated for that.”
local resident M.
*****
“I work for a developer and I have gone through these things a big number of times on my own projects. However, even I am pro-development, obviously, as I work for a developer, but… I understand possible impacts of the proposed building for the community more than the average person would because of my professional background. The shadow studies what really impacts the townhouses across the street around the development shows the shadowing time incorrectly. On that reason the mental health impact from the shadowing on the residents will be increased. The completed shadow study shows only the bear minimum. Secondly, the proposed project is not in compliance with the ongoing Bathurst Avenue Redevelopment project and the developer should be aware that the proposed 12-storey building would not be in compliance with this project.”
local resident N.
*****
“This project will negatively affect life of our neighbourhood. It will have negative effects on the our privacy, the area traffic, parking, etc. The proposed building residents will look directly into my backyard and my house windows. This project will host too many residents, with a few parking spaces in teh building they will park their cars in our neighbourhood and make it unsafe. I don’t want a 40-meter high concrete building shadowing over my backyard.”
local resident G.
*****
“We are strongly opposing the proposed 12-storey condo building project. We had a lot of discussions in this regard within our community and over years we have not had anyone in our community who would support the proposed project. I agree with all the previous speakers who were in opposition to the project.”
family Siman
*****
Closing words of Councillor Pasternak: “I think we are on an agreement that the application is very problematic for this site. …. I think, what we have to do is to respect the opinion of the local community and their various concerns. The site has no high level transit and it sits on a small footprint for the proposed project.”