It’s been a long and difficult haul but on May 15th, the Toronto East York Community Council voted unanimously in favour of approving the development application at 1960-62 Queen East. Community residents were on hand at cityhall to share their frustration with the planning and consultation process, a frustration all members of the Community Council share, and I hope to address with the Vision Study  kicking off next month.

Looking from the outside, it seems almost impossible that a six storey condo development on Queen East could provoke this kind of interest and outpouring. But as you know, Beachers are passionate about our community.

For most, the charm of this neighbourhood is the small town feel, its front porch culture, and a tree-lined walk down to the lake. It’s special – the residents know it, tourists know it, retailers and developers know it.  Heck, even dogs know it. And so it’s hard for us to give up on this special character and welcome new buildings that seem more ‘downtown’ than the beach.

But we also understand that we live in a city and development is coming. 145 condo building are going up across the city right now. 100,000 people are arriving here each year, and we’ve all got to live somewhere. Preferably not in prime farmland. And turns out, many of the buyers of these condos already live in the Beach already – they just want to downsize and age in place, to live near the neighbours and networks they’ve nurtured over decades.

So there’s a lot of good reasons to add housing in the beach. The problem is how to do it properly. And that’s where it gets tricky.

So first, I want to set a few things straight. The building proposed at 1960 Queen East cannot be stopped. There is simply no planning tool available to us to prevent the developers from building a six storey condo. The precedent has been set and the mid-rise guidelines are firmly in place on Queen St East. The Official Plan prevails and the guidelines are there to protect Queen Street from further height and density, not inflict it.

So voting ‘no’ on this application is not an option without risking an expensive and dubious legal battle with the OMB. I simply refuse to roll the dice on this neighbourhood and risk getting an even bigger building.

So this is the best we can do, and relative to the rest of the city and the density they’re dealing with, this is not a bad building. Not all six storey buildings are created equal, and this one has a green roof, a living wall, privacy planter boxes at the rear, it exceeds the parking requirements and splits the retail space at grade. The developers have agreed to design changes requested by the community, including adding more brick at the base and most importantly, a step-back at the third storey.

It should be remembered that developers are partners and stakeholders in city building. They contribute millions each year to the vibrancy of our parks, social housing, public spaces and amenities. And they provide housing, retail and employment spaces essential for the continued vitality of the city. Reserve Investments is no exception.

But none of this takes away from the fact that change is not easy for any community. Planning and intensification is fraught, it’s emotional, it’s technical, it’s legal, it’s big money and high stakes.  People have a hard time trusting the current planning process, for good reason.

A lot of this anxiety stems from the language of planning which is incredibly confusing.  As of right, Committee of Adjustment, rezoning, statutory meetings, angular planes, step backs and the scariest three letters known to humankind – OMB.

No wonder people feel excluded from the process – it feels like you have to have a planning degree to be heard above the din of jargon and legalese.  And that’s if you have the time to pore over the drawings, follow the consultation process, and craft emails and deputations. The city definitely needs to come up with a better way to listen to constituents, because the community must be heard.

One result of listening to my community is getting a Visioning Study of Queen Street East commissioned this past January. It will begin this spring and be completed by November. I have asked that no further rezoning applications be granted until it’s in the can and all the stakeholders have been consulted. We need to hear from everyone about what makes the Beach distinct and also what kind of development and design can people live with.

I commend the people of the Beach for engaging with this process rigorously, and it’s because of the insights and pressure they’ve applied, that we have a better building today. It’s not the building some people want, but it is a building that most of us can live with.

I’d also like to thank the planning department. They devoted an astonishing amount of work to this application. Even the acting chief planner, Gregg Lintern, was heavily involved, which incidentally, is not normally the case. I thank the planners for being responsive and available to my residents with their questions and comments.  Answers were given, even if the answers weren’t always the ones that people wanted.

What I’ve learned through all this, is that the planning process is bewildering for everyone. And it’s not doing our city and neighbourhoods justice. Everyone needs and deserves more accountability, more clarity, more consultation.

So it’s time to turn the page in planning.

·       Our developers deserve greater clarity and timely responses.

·       Our planners and lawyers can no longer be subverted by the OMB.

·       Our communities should not be asked to become planning experts to defend the heritage and scale of their neighbourhood.

·       We need planning tools that fit the job – tools that allow for intensification and growth, but that fit the character of the neighbourhood.

My hope is that everyone will now put their energy towards the Queen East Visioning Study. I want all stakeholders to be involved, to get on the same page, and once and for all, create design guidelines that we can all agree on. I am calling it ‘the beach bible’.

The Visioning Study will be supported by planning staff, the community, businesses, my office and all future developers. And hopefully that means we won’t go down this road again. And we might even be able to use our free time to enjoy the amazing city we live in.

Please stay tuned for further e-updates on the vision study and how to add your voice to this important community conversation.