This Petition is to the City of Toronto Planning Department (Attention: Tiffany Ly, Planner) and to the Councillor of Ward 13 Toronto Centre, Chris Moise to deny the request to amend the Zoning By-law submitted by Streetwise Properties Inc. This proposal is requesting multiple By-law zoning Amendments for a 10-storey mid-rise mixed-use building with retail at-grade and 86 dwelling units at 505, 507, 509 Parliament Street. 

The applicant is proposing a building height of 36.6 meters which is nearly double the length of the Parliament Street public right-of-way. Describing the proposed development as a mid-rise building is inaccurate according to the City of Toronto’s definition of “taller than a typical house or townhouse but no taller than the width of the street’s public right-of-way”. Additionally, the current By-law permits a maximum height of 14 metres.

Area residents and businesses are concerned about the visual and physical size, scale design, and lengthy construction of the proposed development and the resulting impact on the safety and quality of life of pedestrians, patrons and residents in the surrounding area.

We, the undersigned members of the community want to express our strong opposition to a large building development project in our neighbourhood. Furthermore, the proposal is misleading, contains multiple errors and fails to comply with By-law and building performance standards.

Specifically, we are concerned about the following:

• The size and height are significantly out of scale with the surrounding residential area and is incongruent with buildings in the block context plan.
• Error in selecting Arthur Goss Laneway 27m away, rather than the actual property line, 3.3m away at Broadcast Lane to calculate 45-degree angular plane for maximum building height. It also doesn’t meet setback standard at rear or sides of building.
• The height and design are not sensitively integrated with heritage buildings in the context of Heritage Conservation Districts. Parliament Street is surrounded by HCDs and this has been deemed a site of historical significance by the Preservation Board.
• 50+ balconies will be overlooking residential properties on Broadcast Lane, Arthur Goss Lane, Metcalfe St. and Carlton St. with insufficient and non-existent setback and step back to sides and rear.
• Residents are disappointed that amid an affordable housing crisis, this proposal does not designate any units as affordable rent geared to income.
• Concerns about the impact on traffic congestion and already limited street parking in the immediate and surrounding vicinity.
• City services and emergency vehicles cannot currently access the laneway due to narrow width.
• Some homes in the vicinity will be without light from 12 noon onwards due to the proposed height and resulting shadow cast to rear of building.
• Unease amongst residents about the precedent-setting for future developments on Parliament Street between Gerrard and Wellesley streets.
• Impact on structural integrity of neighbouring 130+ year old homes during construction. Long term impact on property values. 

The signatories of this petition believe that there are better alternatives when it comes to housing development on this site. 

• There are at least 10 recent examples of development precedents along Parliament Street that went through great effort, care, and expense to maintain the character of the local neighbourhood. These examples have been respectful of the By-law and profitable to the developers (e.g., Winchester Hotel, L’Avenue restaurant).

We propose:

• Low-rise housing that is compliant with current height bylaws, setbacks, privacy and heritage significance.
• Use actual property line at Broadcast Lane to calculate angular plane. This would limit the height to a more appropriate scale.
• Housing (e.g. townhouses) that fronts onto Broadcast Lane to create a “street or boulevard” feel consistent with the current laneway.
• Some units that are designated as affordable/rent geared to income.
• Plan to address issues related to traffic flow, safety, congestion, public transit, street parking, noise, privacy and access to light for those residents and businesses whose properties, lives, and livelihoods are adjacent to the site and surrounding area.

For all these reasons, we the signatories strongly oppose this planning application and approval of a building permit.