Mastercraft Starwood is appealing to the Ontario Municipal Board details about payments the developer must make to the city – to be used for community benefits – after city council allowed re-zoning for its SoHo Italia high-rise. How the figure will be determined is in contention.
Section 37 of the Planning Act allows the city to let developers build larger buildings than the zoning allows. The developer pays an extra cost to the city, which is then used for community improvements.
Mastercraft Starwood consultant Jeff Polowin says the company will make payments to the city, but they will be voluntary. The condo’s application, he says, was made before section 37 became law. The developer’s contention is that it should not affect SoHo Italia.
SoHo Italia and its 30 storeys were given the green light by city council in June.
“We can’t let the developers decide what they’re gonna pay for community benefits,” says Lori Mellor, executive director of the Preston Street BIA.
Mellor says residents never agreed with the high-rise’s construction, but they consoled themselves with the belief the developer would give something back. The fact that they’re now appealing, she says, isn’t fair.
One of the developer’s earlier ideas to give back to the community was the opening of an Italian museum on the tower’s first floor. That idea has since been scrapped.
Mellor doubts the city will put up a fight with Mastercraft Starwood, setting a precedent other high-rise developers might cite when they raise their towers.
“Suddenly, we will get all this height with no community benefit,” she says.