After nearly two years of debate about whether new retail and service establishments should be allowed in residential areas, a small Toronto business has confirmation it can continue serving coffee to customers.
Finch Store, a west-end grocer that was stuck in a zoning dispute with the City of Toronto over its decision to make espresso drinks, has finally received its licence for refreshments and takeout after council adopted a motion in November to allow corner stores and cafes in some residential areas.
The city had told Finch Store owner Yana Miriev in 2023 that her shop at 42 Dewson St., near College Street and Ossington Avenue, was not in an area zoned to permit refreshments. This was despite the fact that the city had told Miriev earlier that year that her existing licence allowed her to add “any services” when she inquired if she could install an espresso machine.
“It’s something I consider as a miracle,” Miriev said about receiving the licence under the new bylaw. “It’s just because of the fact that it became so public and so many people were following the situation.”
Toronto began considering a bylaw change in May 2024 that would allow more businesses like Miriev’s to operate in lowrise residential areas as part of an effort to make dense neighbourhoods more walkable and better-serviced. The city received some enthusiastic responses and conducted a survey finding majority support, but it also heard from many residents’ associations raising alarm over potential unintended consequences, such as an influx of bars and cannabis shops in their communities.
When a Toronto resident took to social media to highlight Finch Store’s licensing troubles, Miriev’s case gained widespread attention — especially as observers noted that the city saw the value in allowing businesses like Finch Store to operate.
Miriev previously told the Star that a bylaw officer came into her shop in 2023 — after she got the green light to serve coffee — saying the city had received an anonymous complaint about the espresso machine.
Soon after, the city asked her to voluntarily downgrade her licence, but she declined. Later, in February of 2024, the city said Finch Store was “not operating in compliance” with the zoning bylaw and that her licence would be subject to a hearing at the Toronto Licensing Tribunal.
But then City Hall began considering zoning changes that would allow more businesses to operate in residential areas.
Finch Store’s case prompted public outcry, and the city deferred enforcement. The city told Miriev that Finch Store could continue selling coffee until it reached a decision, or until its licence to make refreshments came up for renewal in 2025, whichever came first.
By the time the licence came up for renewal last summer, however, the city still hadn’t made a decision about the bylaw. Instead, Miriev was given three-month extensions to her licence, pending the bylaw decision.
It wasn’t until November 2025 that council voted to allow corner stores and cafes on residential portions of some major streets citywide and designated “community streets” in Old Toronto and East York — including Dewson Street.
Now, Miriev says the stress and uncertainty of the last two years is finally gone, and she can now plan for the future.
“Spirits are up, so we can make more, we can plan more and give more to the neighbourhood, to the customers,” she said.
Dan Seljak, who first put a spotlight on Finch Store’s dispute with the city in social media posts and an online petition in June 2024, said the shop’s new licence feels like “a complete victory.”
While the bylaw was watered down — originally, it proposed allowing neighbourhood retail on any corner lot in residential areas, or beside parks, schools or commercial sites — Seljak said it has “opened a crack” in the door for broader changes.
He advocated for Finch Store by writing a letter to the city with 3,000 collected signatures and giving deputations at City Hall in support of the proposed bylaw. He also worked to raise public support for the zoning change by running community tours in Seaton Village about the success of existing neighbourhood retail.
Still, he says he doesn’t anticipate the bylaw having a major uptake given the difficult economic conditions small-business owners are facing.
“This is going to be a benefit we see over like 15, 20 years, so I’m staying more focused on the excitement and success around the one business that has certainly been saved,” he said.
The city, for its part, told the Star it doesn’t have any monitoring data to share about the uptake of licences under the bylaw given that it “only came into force recently.”
