AFTER 7 YEARS OF COMMUNITY ACTION DEVELOPER COMMITS TO $200K IN TENANT COMPENSATION AND $1M FOR AFFORDABLE HOUSING
After 7 years of sustained community action, BSäR (Queen) LP has committed to $200k in compensation for former tenants of 1521 Queen St West and $1m for affordable housing in Parkdale!
The Story of this Win
Unlawful Evictions
In the summer of 2015 BSäR (Queen) LP purchased 1521 Queen Street West and pushed out tenants and occupants of the former Queen's Hotel, an unlicensed rooming house in Parkdale. Read more about this incident in this CBC article, this J4QH video and or this former tenant's story. The cascading impacts of this incident have had severe health impacts for survivors who were displacement or became homeless. Losing a home is losing security, medical help, safety, community, care, and understanding. The tenants of Queen’s Hotel were a community, and this eviction fragmented ties that helped keep people alive.
The Community Response
In response to this incident and the broader crisis of rooming house loss in Parkdale, a sustained community response led to multiple community initiatives, affordable housing projects, and policy changes. Some highlights include:
- In 2015, around 100 tenants and community members gathered at PARC for a public forum to discuss community responses to the evictions.
- Due to tenant testimony, BSäR was charged under the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006, and pleaded guilty for four counts of recovering possession of a rental unit unlawfully. They were fined a total of $14,000.
- In 2017, PNLT undertook Parkdale Rooming House Study, and subsequently launched the Parkdale Rooming House Preservation Strategy.
- in 2018 PNLT, PARC, PCLS and Woodgreen launched the Parkdale Proactive Eviction Prevention program.
- In 2018 the City of Toronto launched the Parkdale Rooming House Acquisition Pilot project, funding the acquisition of 26 Maynard Avenue by PNLT.
- In 2019 the City of Toronto passed Official Plan Amendment 453 - Polices to address the loss of affordable dwelling rooms.
- In 2019 former tenants, local residents and organizations formed the Justice for Queens Hotel Coalition, demanding the replacement of the estimated 27 affordable dwelling rooms that were de-tenanted from 1521 Queen in 2015.
- in 2021 the City of Toronto launched the Multi-Unit Residential Acquisition Program (MURA), to support the non-profit acquisition and preservation of small at-risk affordable rental buildings.
- In Jan 2022 Justice for Queens Hotel Coalition launched this video and held a memorial at the site of 1521 Queen St West.
The Development Application & Appeal
In 2019 BSäR (Queen) LP submitted a development application to the City to redevelop 1521 Queen St West with 78 market residential units. At two public community consultations, local residents, former tenants and organized groups (Justice for Queens Hotel Coalition, PARC and PNLT) raised concerns about the development proposal and shared community demands. Read this article. Former tenants and community members also deputed at the City's Planning and Housing Committee (pictured below).
Before the City completed its review of the development application, BSäR (Queen) LP submitting an appeal to the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT). In 2021, supported by the Justice for Queens Hotel Coalition, PNLT sought Party status in order to:
- Fight for good planning and housing justice by arguing that this development should provide affordable housing.
- Fight for good planning by arguing that the developer should provide compensation for former 1521 QSW tenants who lost their housing since BSäR (Queen) LP took ownership.
The Settlement
In 2022, the parties to the appeal, including the BSäR (Queen) LP, the City, and PNLT, engaged in without prejudice settlement discussions which resulted in the applicant making a settlement offer to resolve the Appeal, which was recently accepted by PNLT and Toronto City Council. Read the City's decision here. The Settlement allows for:
- $1 000 000.00 to be provided to the City of Toronto to support affordable housing in Parkdale through the MURA program, a new funding program designed in consultation with PNLT that supports non-profits to acquire and preserve small affordable rental housing buildings. Distributing this funding through MURA will ensure that there is a transparent, equitable, and fair process for allocating these funds to an affordable housing project here in Parkdale.
- $200 000.00 will be provided to the City for disbursement to PNLT who will in turn disburse it to former tenants and occupants (limited to persons detenented by BSAR (Queen) LP from 1521 QSW in the summer of 2015).
- $10 000.00 to pay for staff time and expenses to allow PNLT to locate and contact former 1521 tenants eligible for compensation.
- $50 000.00 to pay for a new BikeShare station at or near 1521 QSW
- Some relaxation of requirements on the size and shape of BSäR's building, slight reduction of setbacks from queen street for higher stories, and some reduction of lot allowances to enable the building to come closer to its rear lot line.
Why a contribution to affordable housing off-site?
The Parkdale Community Benefits Framework, which PNLT supports, stipulates that all new developments of 8 stories or less should include at least 30% affordable housing on site. However, in this case PNLT supported a settlement that provided funds for off-site affordable housing for the following reasons:
- Offsite replacement housing will be non-profit owned and operated, and will remain affordable in the long-term, and will specifically target and benefit low income community members.
- Offsite replacement will likely be accomplished by the acquisition and preservation of small rental buildings which we know are crucial to preserve from being lost to predatory landlords.
- Former tenants of 1521 QSW, who were available for consultation, expressed that under the circumstances they did not want to live in a building owned by BSäR (Queen) LP.
- Distributing the $1mm in funding for affordable housing through the City's MURA program ensures that a fair, equitable and transparent process will be used to allocate the funds to a non-profit housing project in Parkdale.
A Win, and A Compromise
PNLT is very proud that a sustained community mobilization has led to a substantial settlement that will provide compensation to former tenants and much needed funding for affordable housing in Parkdale.
We also recognize the shortfalls of this settlement. It does not provide the full extent of the justice (27 affordable dwelling rooms on site) that tenants and the community demanded through the Justice For Queens Hotel Coalition. We also recognize that the final development does not meet the Parkdale Community Benefits Framework affordable housing expectations. We thus understand that this settlement represents a compromise which may frustrate some community members. We too are frustrated:
- We are frustrated that provincial and municipal planning policies enable violent and exclusionary development.
- We are frustrated that developers so vigorously resist developing the affordable housing that our communities so obviously need.
- We are frustrated that the planning approvals process does not adequately empower community.
- We are frustrated that these systemic failures mean that communities have no choice but to compromise.
But we also commit to channelling our frustration towards future community mobilizations, organizing, and efforts to create more equitable and just planning policy.
Gratitudes
We would like to thank everyone who took part in community actions over the past 7 years. Your efforts have resulted in tangible benefits for the community! In particular we would like to thank:
- All the impacted tenants who have been a part of community actions including protests, community research, legal proceedings, media advocacy, mediation and mutual aid.
- PARC
- Parkdale People's Economy
- Justice for Queens Hotel Coalition members
- Parkdale Community Legal Services
- Gord Perks
- Bhutila Karpoche
If you have any questions please get in touch with us at info@pnlt.ca
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