Proposed luxury home in Toronto drawing controversy

Seven Knightswood Road in Toronto. (Google Maps)

TORONTO -

A proposed home in Toronto that originally would exist mostly underground, and received pushback from the area’s city councillor, has had its plans revised.

The owner of the property, located at 7 Knightswood Road in the Don Valley’s Hogg’s Hollow neighbourhood, applied in 2020 for permission to build a new home with a two-storey basement.

Toronto real estate agent Marco Momeni told CTV News Toronto the decision to build extensively underground, is “a luxury trend that is often used to bypass height limits on construction.”

“In cities such as Toronto, there are so many restrictions when it comes to constructing … homes — one of them is the height,” Momeni said. “So sometimes, they build a multi-level basement.”

The original application for 7 Knightswood proposed that the home be permitted to extend almost 8 metres deeper than City of Toronto bylaws usually allow.

Currently, homes are permitted to be 19 metres deep and the original proposal for 7 Knightswood had a depth of just over 27 metres.

The original application also requested permission to extend the length of the home by 10m more than city bylaws usually allow.

That application was approved in November 2020— the city deemed the variances to be minor.

However, after the application to extend 7 Knightwoods 8 metres deeper was approved, the developers changed their plans, resubmitting the design and proposing the basement be only one storey with a 10 ft ceiling.

City Councillor for Don Valley West, Jaye Robinson, says that homes that are built too deep have “serious environmental impacts.”

“The serious environmental impacts are well-documented,” Robinson told CTV News Toronto on Friday, adding that they could result in “reduced soil permeability, increased runoff, compromised foundations in neighbouring homes, and added stress on stormwater infrastructure.”

Robinson says the original plans at 7 Knightswood were approved “despite objections from Urban Forestry and the community” and that she will be bringing the issue in front of city Council at the next opportunity.

However, Momeni says that, because such homes are a thing of luxury, you shouldn’t expect to see a surplus of them in your neighbourhood anytime soon.

“It's not for everybody … I don't believe it could be built everywhere.”