Annex resident shocked at proposed condo near scene of derailment

A woman who lives in the Annex is angry that a developer is pushing to build twin 29-storey and 15-storey condo towers near the Canadian Pacific train derailment that happened at Howland Avenue and Dupont Street Sunday morning.

"I thought this is ridiculous, this is a joke," said Wendy Keene who has lived near the proposed development site for more than 25 years. "It's kind of unbelievable, isn't it?"

The proposed development at 328 Dupont St. would see a combined total of 560 residential units and the proposed buildings would be between half a metre and two metres off the rail line property.

The minimum allowable distance the building can be from the rail line is 30 metres, and it can only be eight storeys high, after city council adopted recommendations from the Dupont Street Study in August 2014.

The 328 Dupont twin condo tower proposal was rejected by the city and went to the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) for mediation, but there has been no public resolution yet.

Keene was one of dozens of neighbours who spent much of the day last Sunday watching CP crews clean up as the Transportation Safety Board (TSB) investigated the derailment.

• Crews clean up freight train derailment in midtown Toronto
• 'A failure in the system': How 2 trains derailed in midtown Toronto

The TSB said there were no injuries and none of the dangerous goods on board one of the trains exploded or leaked out.

"I am more keenly aware that a derailment could happen and that we might not be as lucky next time. That next time it could be something bigger," Keene said.

 "If there were buildings there it would affect more people and it would be probably harder to get people out [in case of an emergency] because there would be greater congestion."

The proposal at 328 Dupont St.  joins a list of four other proposed condo developments also seeking approvals on Dupont Street between Ossington Avenue and Kendal Avenue.

Those buildings are at 840 Dupont St., 740 Dupont St., 500 Dupont St. and 420 Dupont St.

Those four condo developments proposed were as high as 12 storeys, four storeys above the allowed limit, so the city rejected them as well and they went to mediation at the OMB.

After mediation, the OMB approved those four at a maximum of nine storeys, but now they still need site plans to be approved before they can be built.

The board also will allow them to be 20 metres off the Canadian Pacific corridor, only if the developer is able to demonstrate it can create the same level of safety as would be achieved with the normally required 30 metre distance, with things such as train crash walls.

'It's not acceptable,' says city councillor

Coun. Joe Cressy called the OMB's approval of the four buildings an "appropriate compromise".

"Some people would like to see two storeys and lots of developers would like to see 30 storeys. We as a neighbourhood felt confident that 9 storeys was a good number," he said.

Right now, the 29 storey and 15 storey condo towers at 328 Dupont Street and through mediation the OMB will have the final say, Cressy said.

"The Ontario Municipal Board is an undemocratic, unelected body that unfortunately is in the final decision making place," he said. "Just because you're at the OMB doesn't mean you lose. In fact, as a city we tend to win just as many times as we lose."

The OMB said since it is an impartial adjudicator it cannot comment on the story.

CBC News was not able to connect with the developer or owner of 328 Dupont St.

Cressy said he and city staff will fight to make sure the towers will not go ahead as proposed.

"This proposal at 328 Dupont doesn't respect it. We think the board will side in our favour," Cressy said. "The proposal is way too high. It is way too close to the tracks and it's not acceptable."

Sarah Phipps, a senior city planner with the City of Toronto, echoed Cressy's concern with the development.

"Twenty nine storeys and 15 storeys in this location is not acceptable and certainly a setback of only 0.5 metres from an active rail corridor is not something that we want to encourage or we think is appropriate," she said.