As if the OMB is going to rule against the developer.
No, they'll get to build their solid 6-storey east-west aligned block on top of a slope that overshadows the neighbourhood to the north without being forced to step it down on the north side or break it up into two buildings to let sunlight through. The OMB only respects the property rights of would-be developers, not those of existing property owners who are living there. You guys criticize the locals for taking it to the OMB, but frankly, what do you expect them to do? They're about to have what for them will be a 6-storey wall with only a 7.5 m setback planted on top of a 1-storey podium (the hillside) go up behind them. This development will basically wipe out the resale value of their homes and permanently overshadow their backyards, and, for much of the year (i.e. winter when it really matters), their houses too.
That's not to say I think the allowed FSI 1.0 is sensible either, but we've gone from only permitting a ~1-2 storey building covering most of the site to a 6-storey building covering most of the site at each floor level (FSI 4.9). Hoping to get something that might be sensible, like FSI 2.5 with a stepping down on the north side, is clearly unreasonable.
Just like down the road at 300 Richmond, what we'll end up with is a large box that more-or-less fills the entire building envelope with little in the way of building articulation or stepping back at upper levels. We're starting to see more of this - the entire building envelope is getting completely filled and the FSI just ignored (not helped of course by unreasonable FSIs in the first place). Yes, yes, I know that FSI can also yield towers-in-the-park, but until someone comes up with something else to prevent big boxes it's about the only reasonable control there is. There is no FSI in residential neighbourhoods where only setbacks and heights control things and look at what we get - monstrosities like that found on Kirchoffer Ave. where a pair of semis went in with each semi in excess of 3000 sq.ft. This is possible because it fills most of the building envelope without FSI to restrict it. That's what having no "FSI dinosaur" gets you.
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