Talbot appeal is over

[attach]3129[/attach]After four years of steady activity on a plan to redevelop the heritage [url=http://www.mytowncrier.ca/talbot-apartments-battle-is-finally-over.html]Talbot Apartments[/url], Leasiders may finally hear silence.

It appears the applicant, ADMNS Kelvingrove Investment, has exhausted all means to tear down the existing three-block apartments on Bayview Avenue and replace the complex with an eight-storey condo and 52 townhouses.

However, the owner’s application was denied at both city council and the Ontario Municipal Board. As a final possibility, the owner appealed to the Ontario Superior Court, but on Nov. 3, the appeal was dismissed.

Madam Justice Harriet E. Sachs wrote in her four-page decision that she disagreed with the developer’s claim the OMB had made legal errors,saying it had acted appropriately under the law.

Carol Burtin Fripp, a member of the Leaside Property Owners’ Association, which fought the application, said she’s especially pleased that Justice Sachs awarded the association and the city legal costs. The association will still have to fundraise further to cover heritage advisor fees.

Justice Sachs ordered the property owner to pay the city and LPOA $7,500 each.

But a question still remains in the Talbot Apartments saga.

Peter Venetas of Context Development, which represented the site’s owners, said in late November his client has not given a response for next steps.

“We don’t know what the owner will decide to do with the Talbot property now that the motion has been denied. But the main thing is that, with this judgment, the property is safe from demolition,” Burtin Fripp wrote in an email.

Councillor John Parker is confident this is the end of the road for this application.

“The current owner exhausted opportunities to pursue redevelopment,” he said.

The apartment complex’s heritage status applies to the buildings, but not the rear of the site or open space, Parker said.

However, city planner Lynne Poole said there isn’t any potential for new development, as the rear garages serve a purpose by supplying parking.

She said Nov. 23 there’s been no new application filed on the site.