Community groups rally against condo development proposed for edge of east Toronto ravine

Community groups held a rally on Aug. 11 to oppose a proposed condo development at the northern edge of Glen Stewart Ravine.

Chanting ‘Protect our Ravine!’, dozens of east-end residents and supporters gathered along Kingston Road on Monday morning to loudly express their opposition to a development proposed for a property on the northern edge of Glen Stewart Ravine.

A developer wants to build an 11-storey condominium on the site, which borders the 11-acre greenspace just west of Beech Avenue.

Considered by many as a beauty of the Beach, Glen Stewart Ravine runs from Kingston Road to Queen Street East, between Main Street and Victoria Park Avenue.

“There is an incredible amount of biodiversity in this beautiful piece of quiet that we find in the middle of the city, and, and it’s really important that we protect these spaces,” said Jennifer Pilkington, of the group Protect Our Ravines.

This revised proposal comes 10 years after a smaller-scale version was first submitted to the city.

The developer, Gabriele Homes Ltd., now wants to construct 99 housing units and ground-level retail. The proposed project is five storeys higher than the six permitted as of right, and is without the standard setback on the ravine side.

“It’ll set a precedent for every other developer that wants to encroach on our ravines and public spaces. … there has to be a line drawn somewhere,” added Floyd Ruskin, also from Protect Our Ravines.

Group member Michael Genin said the developer is “so off base” with what they’re proposing, and it has “really riled up a lot of people.”

This week, the city will be sitting down with Gabriele Homes Ltd. and Toronto and Region Conservation Authority for the first of three mediation sessions.

The goal is to broker an agreement on the application, which will otherwise go to an Ontario Land Tribunal hearing next year at the request of the developer.

“We requested mediation to facilitate a collaborative discussion to respond to City Staff’s and the communities’ concerns. We feel this is the best way to manage ecological integrity and sensitivities of this development while generating new homes to help address our cities housing crisis,” Gabriele Homes Ltd. told CTV News Toronto in a written statement.

Beaches-East York Coun. Brad Bradford, meanwhile, said “balancing with the ecological integrity of the Glen Stewart ravine is very important.”

“That’s why there’s policies in place from the Toronto Region Conservation Authority that dictates setbacks from the ravine to protect it. That’s going to be very important, as this application works through the cycle to make sure that we can protect those setbacks, protect the ravine, and still provide opportunities for the type of housing that we need to see here in Toronto,” he said.

The Protect Our Ravines group insists they are not anti-development – just that this location is not the place for this project.

With files from CTV News Toronto’s Natalie Johnson