An ongoing dispute between the tenants of 330 Spadina Rd. and landlord First Ontario Realty Corporation will be heard in court on March 19. First Ontario Realty Corporation has appealed a 2010 decision of the Ontario Landlord and Tenant Board that awarded a number of tenants rent abatements for loss of enjoyment of their units during the construction of the adjacent Churchill Park condos.

In response, the tenants have filed a counter appeal. According to their lawyer, Richard Fink, the 14-storey condo building was built 30 metres to the north of the luxury apartment building, by a sister corporation of the landlord.

He said the suffering caused by this included problems with access to the building, dust and noise. For those facing the 14-storey condo building, there is the additional permanent loss of view.

“They used to look off at landscape, the parking lot, other buildings, trees,” he said. “Now they’re seeing what their neighbour’s eating for breakfast.”

A representative of First Ontario Realty Corporation declined to comment on the matter while it’s before the courts.

In the appeal filing, the landlord challenges that the Ontario Landlord and Tenant Board has the jurisdiction under the Residential Tenancies Act to hold it liable for inconvenience and loss of view to the tenants resulting from lawful, authorized development activity occurring on lands that are not part of the apartment residence and that it doesn’t own.