Affordable multiplexes in Etobicoke? Not if the neighbours have a say

It’s the latest in multiplex mayhem: a modest proposal for a pair of three-storey condo buildings on Kipling was kiboshed after officials bowed to the wrath of local homeowners. Proposed by developer Peter Plastina’s company Grand Communities, the pair of multiplexes at 1090 Kipling Avenue in Etobicoke would have offered a total of eight family-friendly two-bedroom condo units at the affordable-for-Toronto price of $800,000 each.

The planned buildings were one metre taller than city zoning rules allow, which, according to Plastina, was in order to let more light into the basement unit. “Somebody has to live down there,” he says. Plenty of other buildings on the road stood that high, and city officials seemed ready to make another exception.

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That is, until 15 of the buildings’ would-be neighbours came complaining. Their letters toured the greatest hits of NIMBYism: The buildings are out of character. The construction would be disruptive. One even questioned how the potential future residents of a four-lane road with three TTC bus routes and a subway station would get around.

With the neighbourhood up in arms, that minor height variance was suddenly a much bigger deal than Plastina and company had expected. Last summer, the city’s committee of adjustment voted to turn down their application, and this April an appeal board doubled down on the decision, again citing that pesky extra metre.

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In the end, it seems like a victory for the NIMBYs, but possibly a Pyrrhic one. Plastina’s company still owns the property, and he’s now holding out for even more housing: a six-storey multiplex, which council may soon allow citywide. If that happens, Plastina hopes his neighbours won’t be able to stop him. “They didn’t like this proposal,” he says. “I don’t know how they’ll respond to the next.”