By Patti Pokorchak The Lake Promenade Tenants’ Association
Long Branch residents stage June 8 demonstration against a massive tower complex planned.
On June 8 at 3:00 p.m. there will be a demonstration in opposition to a massive development at 220, 230 and 240 Lake Promenade and 21 and 31 Park Boulevard.
Neighbourhood residents will meet in the park at the intersection of Long Branch Avenue and Park Boulevard.
Tenants and neighbouring homeowners have united to fight Canada’s largest-ever demoviction that threatens the environment and local infrastructure, stability for residents and loss of 548 affordable rental units.
Residents are pushing back on a proposed condominium development of 2,300 units that would demolish five apartment buildings on the property. This development would mean a loss of 548 rent-controlled units during a housing crisis.
Residents say about 550 tenants will have to be relocated during the 15-year construction phase.
The development proposes two towers up to 40 storeys tall on a quiet residential side street. This would increase the property’s houses roughly 1,000 people.
There are environmental concerns, including destruction of some of the neighbourhood’s cherished tree canopy, as well as lack of City transit and infrastructure are some of the issues raised by the tenants and neighbours.
This former cottage community is a historic lakeside neighbourhood in the southwest part of Etobicoke, where thousands of residents are uncertain about their future as construction for this proposed development could take up to 15 years to complete.
Enough is enough warn Long Branch residents of the planned community.
“My building would be the last of the five buildings to be demolished, but I’m expected to live here while they demolish the others around me for up to 15 years of construction,” said resident Roberto DiCosta. “My new baby will spend his entire childhood surrounded by construction noise and breathing dangerous pollutants.”
Other senior tenants say they are stressed about relocation, “I moved into this building when I was seven years old. And now in my senior years, I’m suddenly expected to move. I don’t have the energy to do this” says Elaine, a long-time resident and one of the first to be relocated.
The application for the planned development was submitted in April 2023, and has since faced much pushback from the locals. The application was ultimately not approved by the City of Toronto and has been appealed to the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT) with a four-week hearing scheduled for September, 2025.
While the tenants and local homeowners have been voicing their disapproval, parties who are also opposing this development proposal include the City of Toronto, Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA), the Long Branch Neighbourhood Association, and Lake Promenade Tenants’ Association.