Parkdale restaurant cap scrapped
Jacob Wharton-Shukster, owner of Chantecler, said regulations such as the cap “drive out small businesses.” Limitation from 2013 will be reviewed by city in five years
Toronto City Council has rescinded a regulation that limited the number of restaurants permitted in Parkdale.
The cap, which began in 2013, allotted 25 per cent of properties along Queen St. W. to the category of “eating establishments,” in an effort to turn the tide of what wasa “crisis,” Council- lor Gord Perks said.
The strip was overrun with people pouring out from late night spots, disrupting the surrounding community, he said.
“Urine, feces, vomit on people’s property,” he said. “There were windows smashed, cars smashed. It was sort of like a mini John St. We implemented some planning controls to deal with the crisis.”
The strip, between Dufferin St. and Roncesvalles Ave., was divided into four quadrants, the result of a year- long planning study, Perks said, during which there was a freeze on new eateries.
Three of the sections were restricted to about 25 per cent for restaurants. The easterly portion, near Dufferin St., was at roughly 33 per cent, Perks said.
A City Planning report, produced in April, says the number of “eating establishments” decreased during the cap from 71 to 64.
But such decline, it says, is “more likely” connected to changing market forces, both in Parkdale and Toronto, including increased land value, commercial rents, a dip in vacancy rates and “new trends related to the business operation of the restaurant industry.”
Certain bylaw restrictions will remain, including a maximum floor space of 200 square metres and a prohibition of back or rooftop patios, according to the report. The decision will be reviewed in five years, Perks said.
“The crisis diminished … so you yy remove the planning con- trols,” he remarked.
Anna Bartula, executive director of Parkdale Village BIA, said it’s a good thing “to move on,” noting “a few dozen” businesses that wanted to take root in
the neighbourhood didn’t pan out. But this can’t be attributed entirely to the cap, she said.
Bartula said Queen St. W. near Dufferin St. is heavy with foot traffic compared to the west end of the strip.
“We do have restaurant and bar owners ( closer to Roncesvalles Ave.) who wished there were ww more restaurants and bars because they feel that brings in more people at night,” she said.
Namgyal Jampa, co- owner of Shangrila, a Tibetan restaurant located closer to Roncesvalles Ave., said he’s mainly concerned about rent increases, which ww could be compounded if new restaurants crop up.
“If more restaurants come, it means more competition,” he said.
His restaurant’s rent went up by about 40 per cent this week, he said. Jacob Wharton- Shukster, who ww owns Chantecler, located near Dufferin St., hopes the removal of the cap will mean more businesses and a decrease in unused storefronts.
“What happens is when you have bylaws like this is it drives out small businesses, as demonstrated by the study, in favour of … generic businesses,” he said.
Ric Amis, secretary of the Parkdale Residents Association, which initially lobbied for the cap, has mixed reviews on whether ww it lived up to its man- date.
“It had more to do with the economy, than whether it was effective or not,” he said. “There was a downturn in the market.”