(04-05-2016, 01:35 PM)MidTowner Wrote: The application should be rejected, not because the density limits would be exceeded (those are too low), but because it would be taking commercial amenities away from the people living here. The building was approved as it was for various reasons- because it was within the density limit, which is not a particularly good reason, but also because much of its parking was to be underground, and it was to have a certain amount of commercial/office space to serve both the building’s population and nearby residents.
I think this line of reasoning is kind of crazy. There are no current commercial amenities there - commercial zoning does not mean that such uses will appear, because ultimately it's also subject to market demand. In Northdale in particular, the city listened to the reasoning that the zoning should be a lot more flexible with commercial uses on the ground floor along streets other than big arterials. And not only does the zoning have that, it also requires convertible frontages along some side-streets, so that commercial uses in the future are not precluded. There's a lot of possible commercial spaces.
Which is to say that the flip side of flexible mixed-use zoning is that it can (and should, IMHO) have multiple uses depending on the actual market demands in the neighbourhood. Right now there's a fair number of empty, new ground-floor commercial spaces in and near Northdale, plus more coming with the Sage development at Hickory/Lester, among others. There is not a clear municipal rationale for forcing spaces to remain commercial-only if there are more in-demand uses for them.