West-End Councillors Give Eau du Soleil a Thumbs Up!

By Penny Munoz

Against city staff recommendations, West-end city councillors have approved the amended proposal for the Eau Du Soleil condo development on the former site of Toronto’s iconic Beach Motel.

Empire Communities, the developers behind the 49 and 63-storey proposal had appealed their application for 2183 Lakeshore Boulevard West to the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB). Having been approved means that it might be possible to avoid this costly process.

City planning staff’s 29-page report on the application specified that the proposal isn’t in compliance with a number of criteria in the Official and Secondary plans and is also in violation of the heights and setback requirements outlined in the Etobicoke Zoning Code. Neil Cresswell, director of Community Planning for Etobicoke York District told councillors that staff’s concerns with the proposal were primarily based on their belief that the amendments negotiated between Empire and the local condo association would simply not suffice to put the towers in compliance. The amended version would change the tower heights from the original design, 46 and 66 storeys to 49 and 63 storeys with 1,285 residential units and over 170 public parking spaces.

“We have difficulties accepting the built form that is being proposed by the applicant – we think it’s fundamentally different than anything down there and we believe it should follow the pattern of development that was created through the precinct plan for the area...,” said Cresswell. “And we still have significant concerns with the wind issues created by that built form. We understand that there will be conversations about trying to ameliorate those, but we’re still unsure of that at this time.”

In approving the amended application, councillors hope to achieve a negotiated settlement, but Ward 5 Councillor, Peter Milczyn, who is a trained architect, said negotiations are unlikely to come to a settlement in such a short time frame.

“I just think a blanket approval of the settlement today in advance of a lot of the details that this proposal seeks to establish, but has not yet established, is giving a little bit too much away, too early,” he said. “The devil is in the details, and to say you’ll settle in a couple of weeks on issues like wind impacts is, I think, overly ambitious.”

The motion passed 7-1, with Councillor Milczyn being the only voice of dissent. Jim Reekie, president of the Humber Bay Shores Condominium Association who represents over 13,000 condo residents in the area said that the association had been in communications with Empire over issues concerning its members. Urging councillors to approve the amended proposal, Reekie said the association provided input on the proposal’s height, park area and public parking.

“We support an approach that would achieve a negotiated settlement,” he said, highlighting some of the concessions the association had been able to negotiate with Empire. “Overall, we support the design of the building, the public access to the park through a walkway and the pathways. We also support the 63-storey and 49-storey building concept, and we support the nearly 170 public parking spots that are going to be available to people in the community.”

It’s exciting to see local councillors in favour of two tall towers, especially with the designs that Empire Communities is presenting. Stay tuned - we’ll be keeping our eyes out for a final approval!