New townhomes built near a busy GO rail yard in Etobicoke must come with noise warnings for new purchasers, an agreement approved by city council says.

The notices are part of a settlement reached between the city, Dunpar Homes and Metrolinx, the provincial transit agency which operates the rail yard.

The deal was struck late last month and approved by city council at its last meeting, which heard secret advice from the city’s lawyers, seen by the Star, to accept the deal. The details of the settlement have now been published. It must still be approved at the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal (formerly the Ontario Municipal Board), which hears most land-use planning disputes. A hearing begins this week.

The settlement was reached nearly two years after council ignored unequivocal advice from city and provincial officials not to allow the 72-unit residential development on the Judson St. site, near Royal York Rd. in Mimico. The proposed townhomes sit just north of the Willowbrook rail-maintenance facility along the rail line, which is expected to do work around the clock — activity that produces light and noise, involving the revving of engines and testing of brakes.

The terms agreed to would see Dunpar pay Metrolinx $250,000 for noise-mitigation measures at the rail yard. Dunpar would also install sound barrier walls and upgraded windows for soundproofing.

The mandatory notice to prospective residents, which would be registered on the title of the home, will warn them that GO will not be responsible for any complaints or legal claims related to work in the yard or their right-of-way next to the development. Despite mitigation measures, noise may still bother residents who would be “advised to close the windows,” the notice will read.

Faced with future development applications, the city has also negotiated that the policy for the area should have council ensure any measures to deal with noise and other concerns are secured before approving any new development application.

Staff and Metrolinx both warned that the townhomes, proposed on the south side of Judson and backing onto the rail line, would conflict with the yard. Keeping the land for industrial, commercial and institutional use alone was recommended, to keep a buffer between residents and the yard.

Allowing residential neighbourhoods closer to the yard, council heard, could cause legal trouble that would prevent the rail facility from operating as required. Council was told it could affect the province’s plans to expand and electrify GO rail service, which is essential to Mayor John Tory building six new stations in what remains of a much-revised, 2014 campaign promise to build a “SmartTrack” service.

“The Willowbrook yard is a critical, critical facility for delivering on RER and SmartTrack,” former chief planner Jennifer Keesmaat told council in June 2016.

“In the absence of the opportunity to expand that facility, it is very difficult to, in fact, expand the transit uses along our heavy rail corridors in the region.”

Keesmaat warned the townhomes would not be “livable.”

Local councillors Mark Grimes and Justin Di Ciano, who has ties to the developer, successfully pushed to see the townhome proposal approved, saying it would get rid of the cement-batching plant that had drawn the ire of existing residents.

The vote was 20 to 16 to allow the townhome development. Tory voted in favour despite the concerns about the GO expansion and SmartTrack plans.

Keesmaat noted, at the time, that allowing the townhome development would put more residents near a “noxious” use than there are today in the form of the cement plant.

Metrolinx appealed the decision, as promised. That appeal has triggered more than a year of work for a city legal team.

Those against the decision have questioned the wisdom of council.

“We’re going to have to waste public money fighting each other about it,” Councillor Gord Perks said in 2016.

“This is one of the dumbest planning decisions I’ve seen in my career.”

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Di Ciano’s twin brother, Julien Di Ciano, lists Dunpar as a former employer. His Fountain Hill Construction and Consulting company was listed on public corporate documents at a building owned by a numbered company registered to Dunpar’s president John Zanini.

Di Ciano told council in June 2016 that, after getting legal advice, it was “crystal clear” he did not have a conflict of interest on the item and that he looked forward to the debate. When it was time to discuss and vote on the item, Di Ciano was absent.

He previously told the Star he has no “professional or financial relationship” with Dunpar.

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