The neighbours came armed with close to 100 letters of objection.
They were worried about everything from garbage to parking, and how renters would change their quiet East Willowdale neighbourhood.
In an uncertain world, one man said, all they wanted was to retreat into the tranquility of their single-family homes.
The fate of the lot at 226 Olive Ave., near Finch Ave. East and Bayview Ave., was the subject of impassioned debate for almost two hours at a mid-September meeting of North York’s committee of adjustment.
The new owners wanted to tear down the simple one-storey home and build a fourplex plus garden suite. Babak Memarchi, the son of the owners, said the plan is to build a multi-generational family home, and that neighbours’ concerns have been addressed.
Their vision is allowed under the city’s multiplex bylaw, passed in 2023 to encourage more affordable housing options beyond the city’s core, against the backdrop of a bitter housing crisis.
But because the proposal went slightly over what was permitted, for, among other things, landscaping and lot coverage, it had to clear the committee of adjustment first, the panel that makes decisions under the Planning Act about property developments.
Although committee members warned the neighbours they were only there to discuss these variances, they came ready to question the very right of multiplexes to exist on their street.
For decades Toronto was characterized by uneven growth, the centre crammed with highrise condos, while many neighbourhoods were reserved for single-family homes.
The new bylaw was supposed to change that, bringing more housing types to communities out of reach for many.
But a Star analysis found that of the 577 multiplexes approved since the bylaw was passed, the majority are in the same, more densely populated areas, while the suburbs aren’t pulling their weight.
Some say it’s been too much change too soon and the city hasn’t planned enough for the impacts of added density.
Others believe this type of housing is sorely needed for everyone from aging boomers to young families. But experts point out there are still zoning differences that contribute to the uneven adoption, as well as the fact that North York, Scarborough and Etobicoke — that simply aren’t as used to density — are only gradually figuring out how to implement it.
While many in Toronto’s core shrug at the site of a new development sign, the Olive Ave. plans are just one example showing the difficulties of densifying these neighbourhoods.
Multiplexes cluster in old Toronto, York
The Star found that both approved and total applications are clustered in the already dense old city of Toronto, and York, particularly in the old city’s west end.
Davenport, York-South Weston, Parkdale-High Park, University-Rosedale, and Toronto-St. Paul’s were the wards with the most approved applications.
Don Valley East, Don Valley West, Toronto Centre, Scarborough North, and Scarborough Agincourt had the least.
Toronto Centre is already dense with tall condo towers, while the other four wards are more suburban, with many single-family homes.
The numbers come from the city’s open data site, and include multiplexes with application dates between May 10, 2023 (when the new bylaw was approved) and Aug. 28, 2025. The data does not include duplexes, as it was hard to untangle the difference between them and basement suites.
Davenport had 101 approved applications, double the amount of approved applications as the second highest ward.
Willowdale had 19 approved applications, which don’t include the 226 Olive Ave. pitch as builders apply for permits after approval from the committee of adjustment.
Etobicoke-Lakeshore had 34 approved applications, the most of any ward outside the old city of Toronto and York.
Etobicoke Centre had just 10; a recent proposal for two side-by-side fourplexes there was rejected at the committee of adjustment after an outcry earlier this year.
‘Neighbours are scared … but this is the way of the future’
The original squat red brick property at 226 Olive Ave. was built in the early ‘50s by an Irish immigrant named Mike Nestor, who lived in a rooming house before buying the lot, his son John Nestor recalls.
Willowdale was still “the sticks,” John said, so much so that his mother hated it there.
But slowly the city crept north.
By the time Mike died last year at the age of 97, Willowdale was part of Toronto, and the neighbourhood was slated for change.
John and his brother sold the property for $1.52 million in 2024, according to property records.
Throughout the long committee of adjustment hearing about the home’s fate, residents voiced concern that the proposal to make one home into five represented overdevelopment.
“The variances were very minor, they were worried about it changing their street, that it’s not appropriate where they’re living for there to be multiplexes,” said Jonathan Benczkowski, the agent for the owner at the committee.
“Neighbourhoods are scared and I understand it because this is something new, this isn’t something we’ve seen before. But this is the way of the future.”
The Olive Ave. neighbours responded to questions from the Star from the official email address they set up for media inquires.
In an emailed letter, they outlined many of the points they made at the committee of adjustment hearing, including expressing doubts that the city is ready for the increase in demand for services.
They also said the proposal was a “disguised rooming house in a residential family neighbourhood,” calling the city’s planning policy “lazy” and “one-size-fits-all.”
“If you wanted to make a rooming house you would just make a rooming house,” Benczkowski said.
The new owners have made plans for parking with two spots in the backyard, noted Memarchi, who expressed frustration with the situation.
The passionate response that the Olive Ave. proposal received is in contrast to the reaction to a recent fourplex-plus-garden-suite in Toronto’s Harbord Village, built by a pair of architects.
When asked earlier this year about the neighbours’ reactions, the builders of the Harbord Village fourplex said they were mostly positive as residents were used to both renters and homes with multiple apartments.
The project is in the city’s downtown University-Rosedale ward, which had 46 multiplexes, according to the data.
In fall 2022, the provincial planning act was changed through Bill 23 to require all municipalities to allow a minimum of three units per lot.
And in spring 2023, Toronto’s new bylaw made multiplexes — duplexes, triplexes and fourplexes — allowed in neighbourhoods across the city of up to three storeys, without required parking.
A proposal to permit six units was watered down in June of this year, after pushback from residents and some councillors. They will be allowed only in the old city of Toronto, East York and Scarborough North. Sixplexes are still possible citywide if approved at the committee of adjustment—which is why there are a handful on the Star’s map.
Jamaal Myers, councillor for Scarborough North, said while there’s a financial incentive to build multiplexes downtown where rents are higher, a big part of why the rollout has been gradual in his ward is because people simply aren’t used to density.
According to the Star’s map, there were just five approved multiplexes there so far.
This type of housing is sorely needed, Myers added, as the population is dropping, and some schools are under capacity, while seniors are faced with homes they can’t keep up with.
“A lot of them would like to downsize but there’s nowhere to downsize to,” Myers said, noting the thousands of empty condos in the city are often too expensive.
Yet getting the kinds of homes that are needed in his ward has been very difficult so far.
Multiplexes as of right? Not exactly
There’s another reason why more multiplexes are popping up downtown: the rules vary, depending on where you live.
Damien Moule, a member of the housing advocacy group More Neighbours Toronto, said despite the new bylaw, there’s still a key difference in the zoning layered on top of the new regime: lot coverage restrictions.
They dictate how much of the lot can be covered by a building, said Moule, who has done his own mapping on the issue.
“In the old city of Toronto and the old city of York, where there are no restrictions on lot coverage, you can take up much more of the lot with the multiplex,” he said.
Carola Perez-Book, a project manager with the city’s zoning and committee of adjustment section, said the city recently updated the multiplex bylaw to reflect a lot coverage of up to 45 per cent for multiplexes; old Toronto still allows any lot coverage.
In addition to these differences, about four per cent of Toronto properties aren’t covered under the multiplex bylaw, mostly because these properties were going through some sort of application process when changes were introduced.
Perez-Book added the city is working to bring the remaining areas into line and at least three units are still allowed on these lots under the province’s Bill 23.
Benczkowski also represented an owner at 3 Balford Ave., who wanted to turn it into a fourplex and garden suite.
But because the land fell under an old Scarborough bylaw, he had many more variances he needed approval for from the committee of adjustment and was met with objection.
Neighbour Michael Miranda was concerned about the impact of the owner having to “squeeze” the garden suite onto the lot, and congestion from added cars.
“Yeah, you can use transit, but let’s get freaking real, right?” he told the Star. “There’s just not enough parking.”
The owner, Adnan Kobir, told the Star there is good bus service in the area and residents won’t need cars.
Multiplexes are supposed to be allowed across the city, he added.
“But in my real world experience of having to do the leg work, I’ve had to do a lot. There’s a lot of runaround for something that’s generally accepted, that’s supposed to be standard,” he said.
The Scarborough committee of adjustment approved the plans earlier this fall, with three parking spots.
A way forward?
The city’s Perez-Book said the multiplex uptake has been gradual so far, as expected.
“For the most part, there haven’t been impacts that can’t be addressed on a site specific basis.”
She added staff were mandated by council to report back by the end of the year on any necessary changes to approval processes, including examining sewer and water capacity and basement flood risk.
They are also looking into potentially limiting the number of on-street parking permits per eligible address in zones that are at or near capacity.
In a followup email, city staff added there is room within neighbourhoods to strike a balance between character and growth, and adding gradual density could help attract new residents, assist older people to age with their families, stem population loss, support local retail and make better use of infrastructure.
Myers, the Scarborough councillor, said in general, residents in his ward understand why this type of housing is needed. They have “valid questions” about things like parking and garbage, “that we’re working through right now.”
But, as the outrage over the home on Olive Avenue shows, change is hard.
People like things the way they are.
North York’s committee of adjustment voted to approve the fourplex-plus-garden suite application there, with conditions around trees and parking.
Shouts of “shame on you,” rang out inside the North York Civic Centre after the decision on the lot was made last month.
Its future is still uncertain, however. In late September, its opponents filed an appeal.
