Queen East tops off at four storeys

Dennis Hanagan –

A final report for the Queen Street East/Leslieville planning study recommends a maximum height of 14 metres (four storeys) for buildings fronting on Queen.

Anything above that would have to be set back for a total maximum height of 20 metres (six storeys).

“There was a long thoughtful process around the height knowing that 14 metres is the actual height that there is under the zoning,” councillor Paula Fletcher told Toronto and East York community council (TEYCC) at its June meeting.

As for the maximum 20 metres it “would not be the starting point because the tendency for those who like to build buildings is to start at 20 metres and go up rather than to look at the street and its character and determine what fits,” said Fletcher.

In June 2013 council told its planning department to study Queen E. between the railway crossing at Jimmie Simpson Park and Leslie St. in consultation with the community “in order to develop urban design guidelines that respect the area’s unique built character.”

The study was initiated in part because the 2010 council-approved Avenues and Mid-rise Building Study did not apply to Queen E.

“There was a lot of battling back and forth at our advisory committee which was well represented by businesses and residents and those who wanted more,” Fletcher said.

“I’d say the business community certainly wanted a lot higher than simply six storeys. I think that was our plan for a Leslieville compromise.”

However, two Empire Ave. residents told TEYCC in correspondence they weren’t pleased with the 20-metre decision, one saying it was out of scale with the surrounding residential neighbourhoods.

Fletcher said an overarching aspect of the study discussions related to people being able to afford to live in the area.

It was “the notion of an inclusive community that everybody can afford to live in, that is not changing all the low-end rentals in our community, that everyone is welcome,” said Fletcher.