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When Is a Variance No Longer Minor?

At some point, you probably have seen a notice from the Committee of Adjustment about a development application near you. The reason you are receiving the notice is because, in the application process, an examiner has decided there are elements in the application that exceed what the current bylaws permit.

In legalese, these are called “Minor Variances”.

In our experience at the Committee of Adjustment and TLAB, so-called “minor” variances can often be anything but what most people would consider minor. We’ve seen variances that are double or triple what the bylaws permit. Because the legal framework for minor variances is vague, these minor variances are the underlying source of the most debate in development applications.

A recent example is the proposed development between Long Branch Avenue and Thirty First Street calls for condo towers that are 30 storeys tall – very different from Long Branch’s low-rise character and taller than any other building in the neighbourhood.

Planning and Housing Committee Item – 2024.PH9.13

On January 29th, the councillor for Ward 11 is presenting a proposal for the Planning and Housing Committee to implement a bylaw that defines how far a design element can deviate from the standard before it no longer qualifies as a minor variance. It will be well worth sitting in on the presentation to see if our Planning Department will agree to move forward with a plan to provide clear guideliness to developers on the definition of “minor variance”.

Here’s a link to the agenda item. https://secure.toronto.ca/council/agenda-item.do?item=2024.PH9.13

The Planning Act allows municipalities to adopt measures to define limits on what can be called minor, so what Councillor Saxe is proposing is consistent with the regulatory framework.

Thus far, Toronto’s Planning Department has apparently decided to take a wait-and-see approach.

Oakville’s Town Council tried to introduce limits on minor variances a few years ago, but this did not go through. It seemed Toronto wanted to see how the concept went over in Oakville before considering it for our City.

Here’s What You Can Do

Maybe now we’ll see some action. But don’t hold your breath. Let our councillor – and Deputy Mayor – Amber Morley know how you feel about minor variances and submit your thoughts and feelings to the Planning and Housing Committee.

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LBNA Now on YouTube

Over the past several weeks, we have been producing videos for the 2020 Long Branch Virtual Tree Fest.

We created several that are related to tree canopy preservation and stewardship and several of these are instructional videos on how to care for the trees in your yard.

To enable these to become resources, we posted them all to a new YouTube channel for the LBNA, and we invite you to click here to browse the videos we have available.

If you find the videos helpful, please subscribe to the LBNA YouTube channel so you can be notified when we have new content to share.

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Severance of 70 Thirty Sixth Street Refused at TLAB

On July 3rd., 2019, the Toronto Local Appeal Body (TLAB) released its decision on a proposed severance of 70 Thirty Sixth Street. Mr. Ted Yao, who was the presiding member for TLAB, refused the appeal in a 23-page decision order.

The owners of 70 Thirty Sixth originally applied to sever the property into two lots and build two new homes. In addition to being opposed by owners of neighbouring properties, the application was opposed by Urban Forestry and Councillor Mark Grimes. City Planning expressed concerns over the severance and variances in their July 24, 2017 Planning Report and recommended deferral. The Committee of Adjustment refused the application on December 7, 2017.

The owners subsequently appealed the Committee of Adjustment decision and the appeal went to TLAB.

At the request of Councillor Grimes’ office, the City assigned one of their lawyers to the appeal and 8 residents were accepted as Participants for the hearing so they could be heard.

The Long Branch Neighbourhood Association (LBNA) was also granted Participant status as well as the right to lead and cross-examine witnesses and make closing submissions. Behind the scenes, the LBNA supported the residents with coaching and preparation, review and filing of documents. The LBNA also liaised with City Legal to coordinate our respective cases and to avoid unnecessary duplication.

The entire hearing required 6 days from July 26, 2018 to June 19, 2019. The number of days was a reflection of the complexity of the case and the elapsed time from start to finish was a function of having to schedule more days than originally planned and finding dates that worked for all Parties.

In his decision, Mr. Yao stated, “the area contains a significant proportion of 50-foot lots, especially in the eastern part of Mr. Ciecura’s (the applicant’s expert planning witness) study area, for which a severance would be destabilizing to the lot fabric.” and “the proposed design is an abrupt change in character, particularly not respecting side yards and lot size characteristics.”

Another factor was the impact of the proposal on the tree canopy in Long Branch. The application proposed removing a healthy, protected private tree and injuring/removing a healthy protected city tree. 

Mr. Yao concluded, “a suitable growing environment for trees will not be enhanced, nor will there be an increase in an existing (tree) canopy.”

This was the second refusal of a severance application on Thirty Sixth Street following a full hearing. In March 2018, the TLAB Chair, Ian Lord, issued a refusal of an application at 38 Thirty Sixth Street. In November 2018, the owners of 32 Thirty Sixth abandoned an appeal of a proposed severance. In May of this year, the Committee of Adjustment unanimously refused variances sought by the owners of 30 Thirty Sixth after their application for severance had been granted by the OMB in 2018, but refused the variances associated with the proposed homes.

A positive side effect from the process was that the neighbours got to work together as a team towards a common purpose and this helped forge new relationships as well as reinforcing existing ones.

As Mr. Yao stated in his decision, “Strong communities are those where people want to live.”

To see the full text of Mr. Yao’s decision, click here to view and/or download a copy.

To see the status of other severance applications in Long Branch, click here to visit our page summarizing severance applications over the past 10 years.

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We’re Hiring: Forester – Urban Forest Inventory

If you are a student, between the ages of 18 – 30 years old who loves trees; would like to work in Long Branch this summer and is going back to school in the fall we would like to hear from you!

You will be assisting the LBNA (Long Branch Neighbourhood Association) in developing an inventory of the trees in Long Branch, and educating the community on the benefits of preserving and growing our Urban Tree Canopy.

This neighbourhood was an exclusive cottage community in the late 1800’s featuring densely treed lots. Many of these trees survive today. This project will include identifying Heritage Tree nominees to join the first three which are now officially recognized by Forests Ontario in Long Branch; assisting with the Long Branch Remembers program to plant 100 trees for our Veterans in Long Branch and assisting in the preparation of displays and other educational materials about the benefits of our Urban canopy for community events including the 1st Annual Long Branch Tree Festival.

As a member of two, 2 person crews, you will accurately record the Long Branch urban forest inventory, including species and tree health data on public & private land using digital recording and mapping software. You will also identify strategic areas to plant trees. You will assist in analyzing the tree inventory data collected and prepare reports on the findings. Training and technical support / mentoring will be provided through community partnership with the Faculty of Forestry, University of Toronto.

This project is funded through two Grants, one of which is from the Toronto Parks and Trees Foundation and the City of Toronto and the other from a Federal Summer Student grant to the community. The LBNA encourages students in forestry-related or arboriculture programs or environmental sciences or other related programs to apply, including applicants who are women, indigenous students; members of a visible minority and new immigrants/refugees.

Interviews have begun, but it’s not too late to apply.

Position start date will be Monday, June 3 for University/College students with one position available for a high school graduating student starting beginning of July.

If you are passionate about conserving and expanding urban forests, please email your resume and cover letter with why you are interested in one of these positions as soon as possible to Judy Gibson, Chair, Tree Canopy Preservation and Enhancement Committee, Long Branch Neighbourhood Association via email: longbranchnato@gmail.com

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Weekend Runway Alternation Program: Summer Trial 2019

Last year, as part of their commitment in the Six Ideas, the GTAA  tested Idea 5: Summer Weekend Runway Alternation Program. This summer, they are moving forward with a trial of the Summer Weekend Runway Alternation Program from May to September on Saturdays and Sundays only.

This program should give residents some relief from aircraft overhead every other weekend. This means that one weekend, communities may see fewer airplanes while the next they will see the same or a few more airplanes than they currently do.

Trial Details:

  • When: Weekends (Saturdays and Sundays) from May 25/26 to September 7/8, 2019
  • Time: 6:30 a.m. to midnight
  • Scope: East/West runways only; the North/South runways are not part of the trial but will be used if weather or safety dictates
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The East-West runways will alternate to give respite to the east/ west communities except during weather conditions that force North/ South use for safety.

Long Branch residents will be most affected at the downwind leg where they turn over us, and 4 other downwind legs: Don Mills, Vaughan/Richmond Hill, and Georgetown/ Halton Hills, and the surrounding communities.

The LBNA Airport Noise Committee is only one of several community groups that have decided to monitor this summer alternation and have people complain, when their weekend is inundated by airplane noise during those times periods of respite.

HERE’s WHAT YOU CAN DO

Contact the noise complaint office at Toronto Pearson.

The GTAA has an online tool called Webtrak that gives a near-real-time view of the sky above the GTA. Residents can use it to identify the aircraft that affected them and can make a noise complaint directly from the platform. 

Submit the complaint so GTAA has the data for our neighbourhood during Summer Weekend Alternation.

Get a decibel meter app for your smartphone so you can actually measure the loudness of the airplanes going overhead. This can add invaluable data to your complaint. Some options are Sound Meter Pro for Android and Decibel X for Android or iOS.

Send emails to our MP, James Maloney, every time – day or night – that you are affected by airplane noise regardless of weather conditions.  Mr. Maloney’s office will gather this information to submit to Transport Canada, on our behalf.

Contact our Provincial and Municipal representatives to include them in this process. We are told that by their offices they have no say, but when we asked the GTAA, NAV CDA and Transport Canada, we were told that they are included and informed and our input to the Province and the City is recommended. 

Thirdly, ask elected officials to create an Ombudsman, as other countries have, to arbitrate noise complaints. This could be modelled after the Australian  Airport Ombudsman

Last, say No to night flights during the hours of at least 12am to 6:30am. As other major airports have done.

Here are links for you to reach noise complaint sites and our elected officials

Noise Complaints

GTAA Noise Complaints https://www.torontopearson.com/en/community/noise-management/noise-management-program/noise-management-office/noise-complaint

Webtrak Reporting Service https://webtrak.emsbk.com/gta

Elected Officials

James Maloney, MP                                        James.Maloney@parl.gc.ca

Christine Hogarth, MPP                                 christine.hogarth@pc.ola.org

Mark Grimes, Councillor, Ward 3               councillor_grimes@toronto.ca  

Contact us airport.noise@lbna.ca if you’d like more information.

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Long Branch by the Lake a Success

Congratulations LBNA Social Committee on the success of the Long Branch by the Lake, a fundraiser for the Stop the 938 Appeal Fund, one of the continued efforts to preserve the character of Long Branch, particularly the mature tree canopy which is an important resource in our Neighbourhood.

Through the donations to the Stop the 938 Appeal Legal Fund https://www.gofundme.com/the-938-fundand the Long Branch by the Lake Fundraiser, we have raised almost 50% of our Goal.

The Long Branch by the Lake, driven by the LBNA Social Committee, was sold out with over 70 attendees at an LBNA members private party at the Long Branch Yacht Club for a social afternoon fueled by snacks, cocktails and comradery amongst neighbours. The spotlight auction item was a private boat cruise and barbeque on Lake Ontario and the raffle table was full with donations from members and local businesses. 

An objective of the LBNA is to support local businesses in Long Branch and on the Lake Shore. With this in mind, special thanks to Birds and Beans Coffee,Alive Yoga, Happy Bakers, Mibody Health and Fitness, Misty Mountain Teaand Cineplexfor donations to this event. Please remember to shop local and show your support for our local businesses.

The fundraising is ongoing. If you weren’t able to make this event, keep your eye out for the next one. Until then please consider donating to the 938 Fund and inviting your neighbours to become members of the LBNA.

Sincerely 

Christine, Judy, Jenny, Doe, Bill, Ken, Tyler and Ron

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