Proposals abound on York Mills Road

[attach]5249[/attach]For years a concrete slab has sat in an empty, fenced-off lot at the northwest corner of York Mills and Lesmill roads.

However, what the site will become in the future is up to the Ontario Municipal Board.

The vacant lot is surrounded to the north and west by an industrial property currently used by Don Park HVAC and redevelopments on both sites are under consideration by the OMB.

The Don Park site at 840-842 York Mills Rd. could potentially turn into a Home Depot while the vacant lot at 850-858 York Mills Rd. would see a retail plaza built if the board approves.

The Home Depot site is going to the board in January, while an appeal date for the smaller corner site, which would be the little retail plaza, has not yet been set.

The Home Depot development originally submitted a proposal for the site in 2007 but the city found it to be in violation of the growth plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe area.

The OMB disagreed and last November, the development won the first phase of its appeal. The second phase of the hearing, which will discuss the planning merits of the proposal, is scheduled for Jan. 9, 2012.

[attach]5250[/attach]The vacant lot is owned by Kingsberg Properties Limited who submitted their original proposal for the site in 2009.

At first it wanted to use the site for a seniors residence, which was not permitted in an area zoned for commercial use.

That was followed by an application to rezone the lands to permit a 15-storey hotel along with medical buildings and a restaurant, which was refused by the city’s planning division.

The latest proposal, a 5,500 square metre retail plaza, was discussed at a public consultation meeting held on Oct. 5 and is headed to the OMB because no decision was made on the plan within the allowable time limit.