Item - 2025.EY25.26

The Etobicoke York Community Council:

1. Directed the Director, Development Review, Etobicoke York District, in consultation with CreateTO, to report to the October 21, 2025 Community Council meeting with a summary of:

a. The CreateTO sale of City property to the applicant, and the process used to plan the entire site using the public and private public lands;

b. The Council-approved development concept for the site and the performance metrics contained within the Council decision on 2021.EY25.1;

c. The multitude of Committee of Adjustment applications, Council decisions and other applications and decisions, and their cumulative effect on the Council-approved development concept and performance metrics;

d. Pending decisions by various authorities including the Ontario Land Tribunal, Council or the Committee of Adjustment;

e. The status of retail or non-residential uses planned for the site, including the grocery store;

f. Actions taken by the applicant to date to create the 587 new housing units approved in 2021; and

g. Federal, Provincial or Municipal commitments on affordable housing or other incentives for the site.

2. Requested the Director, Development Review, Etobicoke York District, to make a presentation to the October 21, 2025 Community Council meeting on the matters contained in Part 1 above.

The development site at Richview Square Plaza located at 250 Wincott Drive and 4620 Eglinton Avenue West has a long and complicated history, and also remains active through various applications to Council and to the Ontario Lands Tribunal. There are a number of connected Committee of Adjustment decisions, with the latest as recent as September 11, 2025, which allowed for a new residential floor above the approved metric height limit of one of the buildings.

The original open air retail plaza has existed for many years serving as the heart of the community by providing local goods and services to residents. In 2018 an application was made to request high density residential development on the mixed-use site. The planning process continued through to 2021 with several iterations, extensive community involvement, and a special real estate deal through CreateTO to sell the City-owned lands along the Eglington Avenue frontage to provide a single cohesive assembly.

In July 2021 Council approved a plan with three new mid-rise buildings A/B/C at equivalent heights of 11/11/12 storeys containing a grand total of 587 units, new non-residential space, a new park and POPS and affordable housing units. A significant portion of the retail plaza, building D, was retained.

Since the 2021 Council decision, there have been numerous changes, requests to the Committee of Adjustment and appeals to the Ontario Land Tribunal. With each change, Council’s vision for this site under the 2021 real estate deal and the planning decision has been incrementally replaced with the developer’s own aspirations.

In January 2023, the applicant requested to rezone buildings A and B from 11 storeys each to taller ones, now 24 and 29 storeys, representing a very significant departure from the mid-rise solution originally supported by both by Council and the surrounding community. This application is currently under review by City staff.

At the centre of this development project is a City real estate deal where public land was sold to have a better planning outcome, a complete community, and to meet City building objectives, within the context of the comprehensive mid-rise plan. That plan is quickly disappearing, and a number of questions and concerns persist among community members who are exasperated with the barrage of changes and a departure from a shared vision that included a public land deal.

The community and other participants in the various decision making processes deserve a comprehensive accounting to where this development project is today, and what the pending decisions are from the various authorities. This piecemeal planning approach is eroding public trust and is an unsustainable way to shape the future of our City. It also raises questions about the best use of public land resources and a reconciliation of results. In light of all of these activities and changes, I am requesting the support of the Community Council to urgently bring clarity on the current status of this site and to allow for better preparations for upcoming decisions.