Toronto City Council has rescinded a regulation that limited the number of restaurants permitted in Parkdale.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 was, at one point, a “crisis,” Councillor 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 over the course of 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 remove the planning controls,” 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 cannot 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 more restaurants and bars because they feel that brings in more people at night,” she said.

“That really speaks to how polarized our membership has been because it really depends on where you are located.”

Namgyal Jampa, co-owner of Shangrila, a Tibetan restaurant located closer to Roncesvalles Ave., said what he’s mainly concerned about is rent increases, which could be compounded if new restaurants crop up around him.

“If more restaurants come, it means more competition,” he said.

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His restaurant’s rent went up by about 40 per cent this week, he said, a problem which should be addressed by implementing commercial rent control.

Jacob Wharton-Shukster, who 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. “Being forced out, or being forced to make decisions, based on goofy city regulations is very antithetical to the idea of creating a city that has independent spirit, that has art, culture and community.”

Ric Amis, secretary of the Parkdale Residents Association, which initially lobbied for cap, has mixed reviews on whether it lived up to its mandate.

“It had more to do with the economy, than whether it was effective or not,” he said. “There was a downturn in the market.”

He said there were two reasons the association lobbied for the cap: “We had these licenced establishments starting to infiltrate into the Queen St.,” and the makeup of the street was changing.

“We did not want a nighttime culture to dominate.”

Could the cap’s removal could open the floodgates to gentrification?

Amis said it’s a “wait-and-see kind of thing.”

“We don’t just want to be at the whim of developers and just run shotgun over us. This isn’t the Wild West. This isn’t a ghost town. There’s a community here.”