As an experienced city councillor, it is rewarding to be notified immediately following the municipal election that your efforts in fighting a controversial development application were successful.
The Skymark Plaza near Don Mills and Finch Avenue had a proposal to replace the small plaza with a mixed-use development, comprised of four condominium towers, with heights ranging up to 34 storeys, and some commercial space, overall much taller than the existing buildings.
When this application was filed, I met with many residents who were concerned with the plans to build more condominium buildings within the plaza site. These plans would have had a significant impact on the thousands of in-area residents, obstructed the views of neighbouring condominiums and increased traffic. The Skymark community was originally designed as a small plaza with a ring of residential towers around the outside.
Over many meetings with residents, the developer and City of Toronto staff, I expressed these concerns and worked against this development plan. I recently heard that the property owner withdrew their application for rezoning. This means that the files are closed and there is no request for changes to the plaza at this time.
It is good to see that this property owner listened to the concerns expressed to them about the proposal. It is another example of our success in reducing or eliminating development applications that are not in character with the community.
