The date was July 17th, 2007.

Toronto Mayor, David Miller, had been pushing for a municipal land transfer tax, even though residents of the city already paid a provincial land transfer tax upon the purchase of real estate, and this was to be Mayor Miller’s baby!

But after a lengthy debate, the vote went against Mayor Miller: 23-22.

That probably should have been the death of the Municipal Land Transfer Tax (MLTT) right then and there.

But those who knew politics also knew that this tax was going to come to fruition, no matter what, no matter when.

And in October of 2007, another vote on the MLTT was held at Toronto City Council, and this time it passed: 26-19.

Had that vote failed, even by a wide margin, Mayor Miller would have held a vote a few months later.

This tax was coming, no matter what.

The point of this story is simply that sometimes, right or wrong, you can’t fight what’s going to happen.

I was going to use my Napster example as well, but I’ve gone there so many times on TRB.  Music was going to be digitized, no matter what, and no matter what Metallica or anybody else had to say about it.  Shutting down Napster simply gave us Limewire.  It was going to happen.

So far in 2022, I think I’ve talked about the “Bayview/Broadway” condominium development several times.

March 21st, 2022: Just How Dense Should Our “Densification” Be?

May 5th, 2022: Welcome To Toronto: A City Of NIMBY’s

In the first post, I talked about the proposed 25-storey condo tower on the southeast corner of Bayview & Broadway.

In the second post, I outlined the massive opposition to the project by residents of North Leaside.

In both posts, the TRB readers primarily sided with city planning, the developer, and progress.

The overwhelming sentiment seemed to be: “Why would we spend billions of dollars on a massive subway project on Eglinton Avenue if we’re not going to allow densification within 600 meters of that subway?”

I agree.

Once upon a time, I might have tended to side with residents of Leaside, who pay upwards of $5M for their homes, pay huge property taxes, and shouldn’t expect to have a 25-storey eyesore built in their face.

But having matured, having watched this city “grow” into the ticking time-bomb that it’s become, I have come to see that densification at an intersection like Bayview & Eglinton, and up to Broadway Avenue in this case, is what the city needs.

The residents of Leaside don’t agree.

Full disclosure: I don’t know anybody in North Leaside who is opposing this project, personally.  But I grew up in south Leaside, my office is on Vanderhoof Avenue, and I have roots in this community.  Eventually, residents will find these blog posts and probably send me angry emails, but whatcha-gun-do?

Last week, I received a copy of Leaside Life in my mailbox.

It’s a cute little publication, chock-full of ads for real estate agents (I counted seven!) and with stories from the community.

But there’s also a monthly column by a chap named Geoff Kettel that always deals with development.

Here’s the article from last month:

“Gearing Up For A Big Fight At Bayview & Broadway”
Geoff Kettel
Leaside Life, August 2022

If you want to win, you need to be prepared, and that takes both a plan and resources.  “We are working on a plan and now we need people to state their opposition, and invest in our success.”

That was the strong message given to those attending the recent meeting of the Bayview Broadway Group (BBG), the residents’ group formed in opposition to the 25-storey tower proposal at the southeast corner of Bayview & Broadway.

Participants heard that the group is moving to incorporate as Bayview Broadway Good Planning Incl, has hired a reputed planning lawyer, and is working to hire a top-notch land use planner.  And there may be other experts needed.  So, this will cost a couple of six figures – a not insignificant amount of money.  The fundraising starts now!

First will be the Case Management Conference (CMC) on August 12.  This is to establish who will be a “party” with full legal rights to speak and be involved in all stages of the process, and who will sign on as “participants,” who will have to submit a written statement 10 days before CMC.  The BBG will file as a party, and they will want to demonstrate the widespread opposition to the development as reflected by a large number of participants statements submitted.

The City is expected to file as a party in opposition, but City Planning’s final report did not make it to committee in this term of council.  Because of the municipal election, their final report will not be brought to a committee and council meeting until early 2023.  The CMC will establish the hearing date, expected some time in 2023, and the hearing is likely to take a week or more.

The BBG has two critical requests of Leaside residents (and those on the west side of Bayview): first, please consider writing and submitting a participant statement elaborating your concerns; second, and importantly, dig deep with your contribution to the BBG cause.

To follow up and get more details on both of these requests, contact bayviewbroadwaygoodplanning@gmail.com

So, you’re saying you wanna fight, are ya?

Wow.

I expected opposition to the development at Bayview & Broadway, but not to this extent.

The residents are incorporating!  Wow!

Where have we seen this before?

Well, did you read the two blog posts above?

After you’re finished reading this post, take a gander at this one: Welcome To Toronto: A City Of NIMBY’s

As noted in the blog, residents of Cedarvale, Forest Hill, Lawrence Heights, and York Township formed a corporation in 1970 called “The Spadina Review Corporation” and successfully killed the Spadina Expressway, now known as Allen Road.

Leaside residents, per the Leaside Life article above, are fundraising to pay their legal bills.

This isn’t going to end well.

Why?

Well, because I think they’re going to lose.

Why?

Well, here’s where the childish yet rather apt “LOL” would speak volumes!

Check out this article from blogTO last week:

“Block Of Fancy Toronto Houses Would Be Torn Down For A Pretty Cool Condo Tower”

From the article:

Another high-rise project is in the works for the condo-packed midtown Toronto area, and this one would spell the end of a group of relatively pricey two-storey semi-detached houses.

Because even large single-family homes aren’t immune from the condo boom.

The recent development application aims to bring a 34-storey condo tower to 2 Glazebrook Avenue, a site extending west from Bayview Avenue, two blocks north of Eglinton Avenue East and the future Leaside Crosstown Station.

Currently occupied by a group of semi-detached McMansion-style homes known as The Manors of Armour Heights on Bayview, plans call for the demolition of all but the western pair of semis, erasing the eastern two-thirds of the 1995-built housing complex.

Gairloch Developments hopes to replace the block with a condo tower featuring a design from Gabriel Fain Architects incorporating curved edges and precast concrete brick panels with a striking bond pattern that projects off the tower’s corners.

The tower would include 434 condominium units, planned in a mix of 314 one-bedrooms, 69 two-bedrooms, and 51 three-bedrooms. Townhome units would be included along the ground floor on Glazebrook, maintaining a somewhat neighbourhood-feel for the side street.

I’ve already used “LOL” so let me use another expression in attempts to sound young:

oh, snap!

And may I add: daaaaaaaamn, son!

This is truly LMFAO.

While Leaside residents are fighting a proposed 25-storey condo development at the corner of Bayview & Broadway, a development application was submitted to build a 34-storey tower across the street!

You can’t make this up, folks!

It’s case of, “…..hold my beer.”

HERE is the link to the development application via the City of Toronto.

And here are the two sites:

Apologies if I don’t sound sympathetic here, but I just can’t get over the irony.

Irony?  Is that the right word?  Or is it karma?

I don’t know.

But this is literally a case of, “While you were sleeping…”

On the east side you’ve got a proposed 25-storey development where five run-down houses currenty sit.  That site is a mere 260 meters from Bayview & Eglinton, which seems like it’s “on the subway line,” if you ask me.

On the west side, you’ve got a proposed 34-storey development where a bunch of 1995-built townhouses lay on Glazebrook Avenue.

Kudos to whoever pulled off the consolidation or “land assembly” for that block of townhouses, and I sure hope the folks in #’s 22, 24, 26, and 28 weren’t holding out!

But can you wrap your head around the irony here?

Residents of Leaside are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to fight a 25-storey development, they’ve hired a lawyer a “reputed planning lawyer” as well as a “top-notch land use planner,” per Leaside Life, and have incorporated as a group to fight the development, and while all this is happening, a developer decides to submit an application for a much larger condo across the street.

Maybe the Leaside residents need to know when to fold ’em?

Something tells me they’ll keep pushing though, even though they’re going to lose.  It won’t be long before somebody buys the Esso station at 1840 Bayview Avenue and submits an application to build a condo there.  And on, and on, and on.

The developer who submitted the application for the 34-storey tower on Glazebrook, by the way, is Gairloch Developments, who is no stranger to Leaside.

Gairloch Developments is currently completing a 44-unit boutique building at 1414 Bayview Avenue as well as a 198-unit building called “Leaside Commons” just south of Bayview & Eglinton.

I don’t know that who the developer is, will ultimately matter in terms of the approval process for the Glazebrook site, but something tells me that a developer who is currently working on not one, but two developments in Leaside, likely has the road map for development in the area.

Look, if I were living in a $4 Million house on Bessborough Drive in North Leaside, I wouldn’t want a condo being built on either of these sites.  But don’t these people know that this is going to happen?

Sorry, folks.  Know when to fold ’em.  Otherwise, you’re just going to waste time, energy, money, and emotion over the next five years of your life…