Tuesday, October 9th, 2007 ::: Screw-Ups
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Welcome back to Screw-Ups where we focus on Buildings Department errors with respect to Billboard Permits. Today, Abcon’s sign at 2 St Clair Avenue East:

On July 17, we wrote this letter to the property owner:

The sign was removed shortly thereafter. However, we do expect a re-erection, at which point we we’ll have to nail Dundee at a different level:

In June 2003, Abcon obtained a variance to erect a much smaller, much lower, non-illuminated painted mural on this wall. Here is the City Council decision:

Despite the fact that City Council approved a variance for a painted mural, the Buildings Department issued a permit for a vinyl fascia sign to Abcon’s Mike McKague:

But not only did Buildings issue a permit for the wrong type of sign, Abcon didn’t obtain a height variance for the mural sign. The only variance Abcon obtained was a size variance. Now look at the staff report listing the variance:

The funny thing is, the approved mural was 49.14 square metres… and the by-law allows murals to be 100 square metres! That’s right. Abcon obtained a variance it didn’t need (size), for a sign it didn’t want (painted mural) and didn’t obtain the variance it needed (height) for the sign it wanted (fascia). Abcon then obtained a permit for the sign it wanted but didn’t get approval for. Meanwhile, the sign appears to be located within 60M of CBS Outdoor’s roof sign across the street, and the 60M variance wasn’t obtained either. This is why the Auditor General needs to report on just what the fuck the Buildings Department is doing.

Section 11AA

But wait! That’s not all the variances that Abcon required but did not obtain. This portion of Yonge Street is protected by Section 11AA of the Signs By-Law. This section bans all third party signs and applies to lands in the following area:

Of course, this isn’t the only sign located in this area that obtained a permit contrary to 11AA; and those other permits will have to be revoked along with Abcon’s. This is the exact wording of 11AA:

The idea was to have an uniform type of signage for this neighborhood but the law was never enforced. But it’s still on the books and any permit for a third party sign issued after October 20, 1995 to land in that area will be revoked.

Dundee’s property at 2 St Clair Avenue East isn’t registered to Dundee. It’s registered to 151 BSW Limited Partnership. Large property owners create a dummy company for each of their properties. When the property is sold, the dummy company changes hands, but the property stays in the name of 151 BSW Limited Partnership. In this way land transfer tax is avoided because the registered ownership never changes.