Well, the City didn't take long dispensing w/this one.

A Refusal Report is headed to the January meeting of TEYCC:


Some tidbits from the above:

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* note the angular plane reference here, no, that is not a mistake, the angular plane is gone...........except.........where specified in SASPs.... (Secondary Plans) which this area is subject to.

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* thanks to @DSC pointing out that the agenda was up.
 
Article on the rejection by TEYCC, along with commentary from Councillor Moise:

 
Of course this is going to the OLT.


A few excerpts behind the paywall:

Advocates believe developers in the neighbourhood are watching how these cases unfold to see if they, too, can pursue large projects that city council would likely reject. The appeals come after changes by the Doug Ford government that advocates say have given developers more confidence to win at the OLT.
In 2021, the province merged the existing Local Planning Appeal Tribunal, Environmental Review Tribunal, Board of Negotiation, Conservation Review Board and Mining and Lands Tribunal into one body: the OLT. The Ford government created it in an effort to resolve land planning disputes faster and increase housing suppl
The Village has experienced a growing wave of development over the last 15 years, and with it a permanent loss of LGBTQ venues and heritage features, Langille said.
“Everyone feels like it’s a golden ticket, and they want to cash in,” Langille said, adding that developers don’t have connections to the community and KingSett, in particular, has bought and sold several properties in the area.
Langille said she had been excited to work with Graywood on its original application, but the highrise later proposed by the developer would “dominate the entire landscape of the Village” and contribute to the loss of its unique character.
The latest design “rises straight off the street” without adequate setbacks, towering over the nearby buildings with materials that don’t match the neighbourhood, Langille said.
Coun. Gord Perks, chair of Toronto’s housing and planning committee, said generally most developers would prefer the certainty of getting approval from the city, rather than going to the OLT and involving a third party. But there’s a “particular struggle” on Church Street, he said.
He added the city manages growth in a way that improves the livability of Toronto, designating certain areas as suitable for highrises and others for midrise development. It also makes considerations for areas, like the Village, that have social and cultural importance to the city.
 
I see some parallels in this opinion piece to the controversy surrounding this development.

Want Vibrant Cities? Save Gay Bars.​


Germany’s reclassification of music clubs with demonstrable cultural relevance—places that focus on artists, program curation and innovation, like Berlin’s legendary Berghain nightclub—offers them the same legal status as concert halls, theatres, museums, and opera houses. They’re eligible for financial aid during future pandemics, operating permits in wider areas of the city, exemptions from noise limits, and, critically, tax breaks. Check it out: as cultural institutions, the tax rate for German gay bars dropped from 19 to 7 per cent, making them more financially viable and protecting them from future development pressures.
 

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