Developer Orchard View Holdings has struck a settlement with the Avenue Road Eglinton Community Association (ARECA) and the Stanley Knowles Housing Co-operative on the condo slated for the corner of Orchard View Boulevard and Duplex Avenue. The deal came out of a hearing at the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) last month, shortly after the groups rejected a $100,000 offer to walk away from their appeal.
At issue in the development plans, as approved by city council and subsequently appealed to the OMB, was the appropriateness of the 20-storey height and the transition to the adjacent low-rise neighbourhood, as well as how the development (which would have been built 3.6 metres from the property line) would affect the light and view for Stanley Knowles residents.
The settlement was reached and accepted by the provincial appeal board on the second day of the hearing. City council will be required to ratify the bylaw amendment that was agreed upon in the settlement.
While the details of the settlement are still confidential at this stage, Patrick Smyth, a member of ARECA, provided the following statement: “Changes and corrections were made to the bylaw relating to the NEON development. Based on those changes, it was no longer necessary for Stanley Knowles or ARECA to continue our appeal.”
He said the group did not challenge the development believing it could be stopped. Rather, it sought to change the configuration of the building as well as draw attention to some of what he described as inequities in what is meant to be a public process.
“ARECA was right to challenge this development application. It’s what community associations must do if they claim to represent their constituencies,” Smyth wrote. “In this case it paid off.”
Local councillor Karen Stintz was away on vacation and not available to comment. Adam Brown, the lawyer representing Orchard View Holdings, was also unreachable prior to press time.