Toronto City Council granted rocky point homes for sale to acquire a building permit and begin the demolition of his 1920s Arts and Crafts cottage, much to the chagrin of his neighbours.
Property owner Lorne Bozinoff plans to tear down the historic Robert Home Smith-designed one-and-a-half storey house and replace it with a 5,800 square foot (which doesn't include the garage), three-storey detached dwelling, a building he says will blend in with others on the Baby Point circle.
Etobicoke York Community Council voted in favour of allowing Bozinoff to go ahead with his plans for 66 Baby Point Rd., March 9 followed by city council's approval March 31, despite Parkdale-High Park Councillor Bill Saundercook's motion to defer.
"I relented to go to city council and ask for a deferral, which did get rejected," said Saundercook. "It's not an application that city staff was saying, 'It's too big.' Everyone at city council had given approval. The applicant can go ahead, he's eligible for a building permit."
Saundercook said he wanted to work with the owner/applicant and not against him.
"I think he is still interested in working with his neighbours," said Saundercook in an interview. "He's still adamant to improve his relationship with his neighbours."
David Ceolin, a nearby neighbour of Bozinoff's, said that for generations, sandy beach rocky point has "stood as a testament to fine urban planning and a magnificent vision of homes in synchronicity... As others often point out, the streetscape, the aperture between homes and relative scale of the grand homes of the circle remain one of the finest examples of urban planning in Canada."
More than 150 people - 90 per cent of the rocky point realty- have registered their opposition against the project, saying its mass and density is greater than twice as large as the homes around it. The adjacent homes average 2,700 square feet. The Bozinoffs house would be two and a half times larger than the average, said neighbour Robert Galway, who has lived in the area for 40 years.
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