A SETBACK FOR KINGSETT CAPITAL

When the Toronto and East York Community Council met on September 25, it was assumed that KingSett Capital’s zoning application to build a multi-storey luxury tower on the site at 214-230 Sherbourne would pass without difficulty. City planning staff were supporting the developer’s proposal and a recommendation to the full City Council to approve the application was expected, as usually happens in such cases.

230 Fightback and others in the local community have been fighting to stop this condo development and win social housing at the site. On the 25th, a lot people attended to make powerful and heartfelt presentations challenging the developer’s destructive plans.

Some of the politicians on the Community Council repeated the standard line that the City has limited powers and that any effort to reject the application would be overturned at the provincial level. Still, apart from strong community pressure, there were several factors that made it more difficult than usual to accept this developer’s profit hungry plans.

The City had actually put in a bid for the site but were outdone by KingSett and its enormous wealth.
The plan had been to create deeply affordable housing at this location as part of a Dundas Sherbourne revitalization plan but, once the developer muscled City Hall out of the picture, that part of the plan had been dropped under murky circumstances. It is also clear that the Dundas
Sherbourne intersection is in the very heart of a hard pressed community and that a luxury development there will drive out services and increase the pace of dispossession very considerably.

To everyone’s surprise, including KingSett’s, the Community Council voted to send the matter to the City Council with no recommendation. Furthermore, they did so with a unanimous recorded vote.

This was a major upset and we are now making plans to try and ensure the application goes down to defeat in the Council Chambers next month. We will be asking for support in the fight we take up over this.

Mayor Chow and others on Council who claim to be progressive housing advocates can’t be allowed to dodge this issue. To approve such an application would be to deepen a housing crisis that is harming communities and putting people on the streets. If the developer goes to the province to get approval for the project, Chow should challenge it politically and fight the commodification of housing. To simply rubber stamp harmful projects like this and then claim that provincial legislation leaves no choice is just wretched. A progressive mayor would fight the developers and would most certainly stop handing them public funds and assisting their brand of redevelopment.

We are asking our supporters and allies to help increase the level of community pressure by calling or emailing Mayor Chow’s office and the local Councillor, Chris Moise, to urge them to oppose KingSett’s application.

We shall do all we can to stop this zoning application from going through but, whatever the result of this round in the fight, we are determined to ensure that no condo is built at 214-230 Sherbourne and that it becomes a site for a social housing development that will meet the needs of the community.