OMB says City was involved in decision to build condo next to school

By Cristina Howorun and Roshni Murthy

The body that oversees land use and development appeals in Ontario insists they were not the sole party responsible for approving a controversial 35-storey condo tower next to a North Toronto public school.

The Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) says representatives from the City of Toronto were among a number of parties involved in the decision to approve a tower next to John Fisher Public School on Erskine Avenue.

The project has neighbourhood residents concerned after it was revealed that students of the elementary school would possibly need to relocate to another school during construction.

On Thursday morning, residents and local politicians protested outside of the school, demanding the OMB overturn a decision approving the build.

“We moved… to get closer to the school. So it’s basically moving to some place for nothing,” grade four student Tomas Roberts told CityNews.

“I understand, we live in the city, there’s going to be tall buildings. It’s the way [they] went about it,” said parent Jennifer during the protest.

But it’s that decision-making process that is now unclear. For nearly a week, city councillors and even Mayor John Tory, who attended this morning’s protest, have said the OMB forced the project upon the city.

The OMB said Thursday, though, that the settlement resulted from a mediated agreement between the developer, area ratepayer groups, and also the City of Toronto.

“The board is interested in empowering parties to come to their own decisions,” said James McKenzie of the OMB. “In this case the board facilitated that opportunity and when the parties were successful at doing that, they came before the board in a hearing and the board approved exactly what the parties had asked them to.”

Ward 25 Councillor Jaye Robinson, who has championed the neighbourhood case against the development, says City Council had no choice but to mediate.

“Ultimately, this development should never have been at the OMB in the first place. If the city had the power to make its own planning decisions, this application would not have been approved as City Planning opposed this development on public record,” Robinson tells CityNews in a written statement.

“The decision to pursue mediation was made at a working group meeting in June 2015 attended by city staff, neighbourhood representatives and representatives from the Parent Council of John Fisher PS. Had the residents rejected mediation and proceeded with adjudication – a hearing – at the OMB, it is extremely likely that the building would have been approved exactly as originally proposed by the developer,” Robinson says of council’s decision to pursue mediation.

“The settlement was approved by Council in December 2015 with great reluctance. No one – not the city, not the local residents – wanted this development”

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