A recent decision to green-light four condo towers in North York is raising questions about development in Toronto’s ravine system, a vast network of natural space which has long been protected by the city.
The project, which would also turn a private golf course into 16 hectares of public land, was approved by the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT) last month, overturning an earlier city council vote.
The site at 155 St. Dennis Dr., near Eglinton Avenue East and The Don Valley Parkway, which is currently home to the Flemingdon Park Golf Club, is slated for redevelopment by Don Valley Reconnects.
The city and the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority say the site is an erosion risk, but the OLT does not agree. And while some ravine advocates celebrate the new public space the project would deliver, others are worried about the future implications for building in protected areas.
“This is another example of the provincial government stripping away municipal powers,” said park advocate Floyd Ruskin, who founded the conservation group A Park for All.
“It could set a dangerous precedent for allowing development in ravines everywhere.”
Don Valley Reconnects did not respond to requests for comment. On its website, it lists partners as Cityzen — known for Mississauga’s famous Marilyn Monroe towers — as well as Tercot Communities, and Greybrook Realty Partners.
Toronto city council voted to appeal the October OLT decision to Divisional Court, at its mid-November meeting.
In fall 2023, the city refused the zoning and official planning changes needed for the project.
A spokesperson for the city said in an email that staff recommended council reject the developer’s request “based on a comprehensive review of the Provincial Planning Statement and the City’s Official Plan with respect to the appropriate locations for growth, conservation of the city’s natural heritage and public safety in relation to natural hazards.”
The land is considered hazardous because, while the planned residential development is located outside of a flood hazard area, it’s on land at risk for erosion, council’s 2023 decision states.
“The portion of the site where development is proposed falls partway down a ravine wall, between the top of the Don River Valley and the bottom of the Valley created by the East Don River,” the city spokesperson added.
“The site is within the city’s natural heritage and green space system, which the Official Plan states should be protected from the impacts of development.”
According to the OLT decision, the developer is looking to build four “slender” highrise towers, from 42 to 56 storeys, with about 2,170 units of various sizes on about five per cent of the property.
The remaining 16 hectares would become public open space.
The tribunal did not conclude that the condo would be at risk of erosion.
In its decision, it said the city and the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) “presented no evidence that the development site is unsafe for development, including evidence of any identified hazard, or that development would aggravate those hazards.”
Meanwhile the applicant “presented compelling evidence to the contrary.”
The tribunal also disagreed that the city’s official plan “clearly prohibits development between the top-of-bank and the toe-of-bank of the Don Valley.”
The OLT decision states: “The light is amber, not red.”
The OLT also found the project offered a mix of needed housing, including affordable units, and is close to the Flemingdon Park transit station of the future Ontario Line.
In a statement to the Star, the TRCA, which was a party at the tribunal, said its policies, as well as provincial and municipal ones, don’t support “significantly intensified new development below the top of valley/ravine banks.”
“It was the position of the TRCA at the hearing that the proposed development is within hazardous lands of the East Don River Valley and may not provide safe access for future residents or for emergency services during times of slope erosion.”
The TRCA’s expert witnesses provided evidence of this during the hearing, which was rejected, the statement added.
“TRCA is of the opinion that the tribunal erred in its findings.”
In a statement to the Star, a spokesperson for the OLT said they don’t comment on active cases, but confirmed the city has filed a request for a review of the decision, which is under consideration by the tribunal.
They also confirmed both the city and the TRCA have a filed notice of motion for leave to appeal to the Divisional Court, and applications for judicial review.
Austin Spademan, a board member of the ABC Residents Association, which was also a party at the tribunal, supports the developers’ plan because of the public land component.
“Access to our own backyard is paramount. And with the golf course, you have a trail system that dead ends,” he said.
Spademan is also a board member of the Midtown Ravines Group, a group of resident associations that have come together to revitalize the ravines.
“Our decision to become a party is because we want to take away a private golf course and turn it into public land,” to “bring it back into some kind of natural state,” added John Caliendo, another board member with the ABC Residents Association.
Caliendo said the TRCA “failed in making their case,” at the tribunal.
One of the owners of the Flemingdon Park Golf Club, Vito Schiavone, told the Star he couldn’t comment on the status of the project. But he said it’s business as usual on the course for now.
In addition to the public land, the Six Nations of the Grand River would operate a 325-square-metre “cultural space” on the lower level of the project, according to the OLT decision.
The First Nation has treaty rights in the area, said Phil Monture, a member of the Six Nations of the Grand River, who testified as a factual witness at the OLT.
The cultural space will be a “wonderful education facility” that will be especially useful for tourists who don’t know much about the Indigenous history of the area, he said.
As part of the agreement with the developer, he said, the First Nation will get $1 million if the project is not built as compensation for their “time and energy,” Monture said.
That’s not the option they’d prefer, he said, adding the space “should be enjoyed by everybody.”
As Toronto’s new condo market struggles, a number of developers have been forced to pull the plug on high profile projects because they can’t get the buyers needed.
It’s not clear when the Flemingdon Park project might break ground.
Conservation advocate Ruskin noted that the “city takes protection of the ravines very seriously,” pointing to the Ravine Strategy.
“One of the key guiding principles is protect,” so it’s unfortunate, he said, that the tribunal has overruled the local decision making process.
“We respect our ravines. We cherish our ravines.”
