Locals are expressing concerns about a 29-storey residential building proposed for the northwest corner of Bayview Avenue and Sheppard Avenue, in advance of a public consultation meeting slated for late fall or early spring. Currently, the site across the road from Bayview Village Shopping Centre is occupied by a three-storey commercial building.
Owner Mallpaks Development has applied to tear it down to make way for a tower containing 220 units as well as a connecting five-storey office building and 320 parking spaces. The development requires an official plan amendment to remove the parcel of land from the Clairtrell Area Context Plan and to increase the permitted density from a floor space index of 3.0 to 4.33 and the height from 14 to 15 storeys to 29 storeys.
Michael Shulman, vice-president of the Willowdale Homeowners’ Association, lives one street north of the subject lands on Mallingham Court. Shulman acknowledged that the owner is within his right to put up a new building on the site, but Shulman raised concerns about the scale of the proposed development. With the height being roughly two times what the site is zoned for in the Clairtrell Area Context Plan, he is worried about the impact it would have on area traffic and property values.
“Traffic is just unbearable. This intersection has got to be one of the absolute worst in the entire city,” Shulman said. “If a 29-storey building comes in and 320 parking spaces are allocated, there are going to be 320 cars and it’s absurd to think anything other than that.”
Local councillor John Filion echoed Shulman’s view about the scale of the proposed development.
“It’s too big and it doesn’t conform to the planning policies for the area,” Filion explained. He would like to see the application revised. Joe Skapura, of Mallpaks Development, declined to comment on the project, indicating that plans for the site are still in their “infancy.”
