The new owners of a 5.3-acre parcel of land located at 175 Goddard St., near Overbrook Place and Maxwell Street (north-west of Bathurst and Sheppard), have applied for a zoning bylaw amendment and a draft plan of subdivision to build 66 semi-detached dwellings. At a recent public meeting, local councillor James Pasternak says some of the roughly 100 residents who attended expressed concerns about the compatibility of constructing semi-detached dwellings in a neighbourhood characterized by single-family homes.
“I do have some of the same concerns about semis in a single-family detached neighbourhood,” he said. “At the same time, I don’t want that vacant parcel of land to sit barren, so we have to find some kind of middle ground.”
Pasternak said he plans to continue working with the owners and residents toward this and would like to see some sort of Section 37 of the City of Toronto Planning Act — for securing community benefits from developers — contribution earmarked for area community centres and parks.
The property originally had approvals in place to build 34 single-family homes. But planning consultant to the owners, Michael Goldberg, said that, after doing due diligence, it was determined that the parcel of land could handle more housing.
“The City of Toronto Official Plan has policies that guide development for sites such as this one and including for a change of housing type, from singles to semis,” he said of compatibility concerns. The owners are currently considering what they heard at the meeting.
Resident Mitchell Bernick, who supported the previously approved application for single detached homes, is unhappy with the new proposal. He cited compatibility and density as the biggest issues. Bernick also pointed to the application to add residential units to Bathurst Manor, only blocks away.
“We kind of feel pinched between this [latest] development becoming higher density than was originally proposed to us,” Bernick said. “It doesn’t transition well, there’s no multi-unit homes within that established part of the neighbourhood.”