Committee

WHAT WE DO…

A key pillar of the Vision and Mandate of the LPRA is “to consider and promote all matters regarding the collective welfare of Lawrence Park and its preservation as a residential park area.”

If you are considering a renovation or rebuild within Lawrence Park, we encourage you to look at our Guiding Principles and Tips for Residents (below). The LPRA maintains a Development Committee, a goal of which is to help neighbours work together and reach consensus on development issues.

The Chair of the Development Committee can be reached at Development@LPRA.ca if you have any questions.

Guiding Principles

Tips for Residents

Click here to see an archive of “What’s Happening in Lawrence Park” posts relating to development in our neighbourhood.

COMMITTEE OF ADJUSTMENT MEETINGS:

The North York Panel of the Committee of Adjustment reviews applications for minor variances for construction in our neighbourhood. This panel meets every two weeks, usually on a Thursday.

The meeting schedule is available online.

Detailed Information on any current variance application can be obtained by searching the City of Toronto Application Information Centre at this link http://app.toronto.ca/DevelopmentApplications/mapSearchSetup.do?action=init. Street address is required.

The Development Committee of the LPRA is available to help you understand this process if you are interested in construction on your property or have questions about proposed development in the neighbourhood. Please email Development@LPRA.ca with questions.

DEVELOPMENT NEWS:

The latest updates from our neighbours…

49-51 Lawrence Avenue and 84 Weybourne Crescent

Committee of Adjustment Hearing March 21

Since the OMB decision to reject the apartment building/townhouse application on these 3 Lawrence Park lots the original developer has sold the lands. The new owner/developer has applied to the city to sever three historic 15×45 m Lawrence Park lots, each fronting on Lawrence Avenue East to create six 7.5x 30 m lots fronting Lawrence Avenue and two 7.5 x 45 m lots fronting Weybourne Crescent (essentially three lots become eight) and to construct eight semi-detached houses of varying dimensions. A site plan is shown above.

The Floor Space Index (FSI) of the homes on Lawrence Avenue is almost double the permitted amount; the FSI of the proposed homes on Weybourne Crescent exceeds the by-law by about one third the permitted amount. Deviations of 30+ % or almost 100% should not be regarded as minor. Six driveways would be connecting to Lawrence Avenue East (currently 2) and two driveways would be connecting to Weybourne Crescent (currently 1). As well, the severance would create a precedent along Lawrence East and may result in the doubling of driveways along the block to Mount Pleasant and beyond. Further, the construction of 8 homes would result in a significant loss of green space and tree canopy – the hallmarks of Lawrence Park – landscaped open space and significant mature trees – would be decimated.

The proposal does not reinforce the pattern of land use in our area and the FSI variances are not minor. As such this proposal is not good planning and should be refused or modified. The Lawrence Park Ratepayers Association intends to express its concerns to the Committee of Adjustment in an effort to have this proposal modified.

I encourage you to examine the plans for this application to form your own opinion. Details of the proposal can be found on the City of Toronto Application information Centre Website – We will post information on the LPRA website at: https://lpra.ca/future/development/

If you have concerns about the impact on our community of this application, please:

1) Write to the the Committee of Adjustment c/o Application Technician Brendan Clapp Brenden.Clapp@toronto.ca with a copy to our City Councillor, Jaye Robinson’s office councillor_robinson@toronto.ca and to development@LPRA.ca to outline your concerns, and

2) Attend the Committee of Adjustment Hearing on March 21, 2019 and present your concerns directly. Community involvement is very important in this context.

Janet Griffin
LPRA Development Committee