500 Dundas Street East zoning amendment for 35-storey mixed-use tower; sent to council without recommendation

transit

500 Dundas Street East zoning amendment for 35-storey mixed-use tower; sent to council without recommendation

The committee considered a zoning amendment to permit a 35-storey, 413-unit mixed-use building at 500 Dundas Street East near College subway station. A councillor moved to refer the item to council without a staff recommendation, citing unresolved questions about TTC capacity and housing affordability. The motion passed.

not yet heardToronto City Council · Wed, Jul 29You can weigh in

Who did what

Councillor Dianne Saxe (Ward 11, University-Rosedale) movedMoved to refer to City Council without staff recommendation; stated unresolved concerns about TTC capacity and affordability

From the floor

“I want to send it to council without recommendations, please. I have work still to do.”Councillor Dianne Saxe (Ward 11, University-Rosedale)

“We don't think we have TTC staff in the room, but we know that they did review this application and they have not raised any issues specifically with this.”City staff

“The college parks, the college station does get very very crowded. On what basis can the TTC say that they can take four more very large buildings in this precise location”Councillor Dianne Saxe (Ward 11, University-Rosedale)

Also in this item

• TTC did not attend the committee meeting to defend its adequacy assessment for a major development directly above College subway station, despite a councillor raising specific concerns about crowding.

• New market-rate units in the building will not be subject to rent control, though replacement units for displaced tenants will be.

The journey

Wed, Jul 8 · Toronto and East York Community Council · forwarded without recommendation

Wed, Jul 29 · Toronto City Council · not yet heard

→ referred onward

Time to act

You can weigh in

Residents can depute to City Council when this item appears on the council agenda (date not stated in transcript). The lack of a staff recommendation may indicate the application is contested and a council vote is not predetermined.

Decision

Referred to City Council without a staff recommendation. The application itself was not approved or denied at committee; the decision on whether to permit the zoning amendment passes to council.

On video

Jump to this item in the meeting video

Why is this story here?

Big deal at city hallA 35-storey, 413-unit building is a multi-year commitment with wide reach in a downtown location. It changes the zoning and character of the site permanently, and density decisions are hard to reverse. The decision touches housing supply and transit use across the city, not a single bounded site. This meets the test for Stakes 2: undoing it would cost real money and political capital, and it is not easily redirected.Felt nowResidents near College station and Dundas, and anyone using that subway corridor, will experience the crowding and street-level changes this building creates. The TTC crowding concern is a live issue for weekly commuters. Housing supply in downtown Toronto affects rents citywide. A recognizable group (downtown residents, transit users, people seeking rental housing) feels this directly and now, even though the final decision is pending. Salience 2 is earned by present effect: people notice the construction, the density, the transit pressure.

Stories are ordered by how much weight a decision carries and how directly it reaches daily life. They rise as a decision date approaches and fall as they age.

Official title: 500 Dundas Street East - Zoning By-law Amendment Application - Decision Report - Approval · meeting video