Willowdale housing project given go-ahead after tribunal dismisses neighbourhood concerns

The City of Toronto can now move ahead with building supportive housing in Willowdale after residents who fought against the project were overruled.

The narrow swath of green space on Cummer Avenue east of Yonge Street became a flashpoint in the debate over where to build housing for Toronto’s unhoused. Neighbours raised concerns to the Ontario Land Tribunal about City Council’s decision to permit dozens of modular homes next to a public housing facility for seniors. On January 2, the tribunal dismissed the appeal saying the city’s proposal “represents good planning and is in the public interest.”

“I think people are very disturbed and very concerned,” said Eric Gillespie, the lawyer who represented the Bayview Cummer Neighbourhood Association, LiVante Holdings (Cummer) Inc., and Voices of Willowdale Inc. which opposed the project, saying the site is not a good fit.

“It’s not a case of having any opposition to the people coming, it’s just trying to respect the real fundamental needs of a vulnerable population – the seniors in Toronto.”

The three-storey complex planned for 175 Cummer would include up to 60 units of deeply affordable housing and on-site supports on the front lawn of Willowdale Manor.

Advocates point to the new million-dollar homes across the street from the proposed development and believe this was all a case of “not in my backyard.”

“The seniors here at Willowdale were used as props by the people who were against this project,” said Mark Richardson, a volunteer with the advocacy group HousingNowTO.

Willowdale Coun. Lily Cheng disagrees with that assessment.

“For me there’s an opportunity to better serve the seniors that are already here rather than just plopping something down that’s independent,” she tells CityNews.

At the heart of the project is a housing crisis and those in support say there needs to be some understanding.

“There were two sites that were announced on exactly the same day for modular housing and rapid housing back in 2021. People moved into one of those sites down in East York this time last year. Right now we’re still looking at an empty field,” said Richardson.

The City is now working to restart construction on the site and in the coming weeks will begin looking at potential providers to operate the building once complete.