Campaigners fighting “density creep” hit back on Thursday at developers they say are bending the rules, days after suffering a severe social media backlash that called them NIMBYs.

Marcia Visser, the Density Creep Neighborhood Alliance (DCNA) group spokesperson, apologized for the original comments and stressed their campaign is against the developers, not the potential new neighbours on Keewatin Ave. in midtown Toronto.

“Developers shouldn’t be allowed to throw away the rule book. It’s not the neighbours who are the elitists,” Visser said.

All 80 units of the Trolleybus Urban Developments proposal would stand 14.6 metres tall. The maximum height permitted under zoning laws in the area is nine metres. Developers propose setbacks of between 6.5 and 7.5 metres from the street. The minimum required by law is nine metres.

Trolleybus still requires city approval. However, the homes are already listed for sale.

The Keewatin Ave. site is part of the city’s Neighbourhoods Action plan, which requires developments to “respect and reinforce the existing physical character of the neighbourhoods” including: the height and dwelling type, the size and configuration of lots and setbacks of buildings from the street.

Visser was adamant that this is not an isolated issue that only affects Keewatin Ave.

“If this proposal is approved, it sets a precedent that developers can throw out the rule book, and this will start happening in neighbourhoods across the city.”

Online ridicule of the DCNA’s Save Our Streets campaign began after group member Lisa Goodwin was quoted in Monday’s Star as “really concerned” that her property value would fall thanks to the influx of houses valued at “only” $500,000 in an 80-unit, four storey townhouse development that would replace eight properties at 200-214 Keewatin Ave. in near Mt. Pleasant Rd. north of Eglinton Ave. E.

Goodwin and Visser were branded prime examples of Nimbyism (Not In My Backyard) for opposing a new development simply because it was nearby. The address Densitycreep.com was even purchased and redirected to the Nimby Wikipedia page.

“I started this initiative because I felt people were not having a voice and there was no local input into this development,” Visser said. “The developers proposals are egregious, overzealous and outside of the official plans.”

She said the group is not trying to prevent development, especially affordable units that could help cure Toronto’s well-documented housing problems. Waiting lists for affordable housing have risen for the past 10 years to a high of 168,000 people waiting four years on average in 2014.

“We want a voice that ensures neighbourhood values of safety and community are maintained,” Visser added. “This is not about property values.”

The lowest priced one-bedroom apartments in Trolleybus’s proposal costs at least $369,000. The majority of condominiums are priced well above the city average of $407,612, and some at more than $1.5 million.

“The developers have been going door-to-door telling people the application has been approved, it is going to happen, and do you want to sell your homes? Every piece of information they were telling residents is untrue.”

Trolleybus say their Keewatin Ave. proposal “provides much needed housing options in Sherwood Park that would otherwise be unattainable for today’s homebuyer.”

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A public consultation for the project will be held on June 2.

Of the social media reaction, Visser said, “It was unfortunate. I don’t understand some of the personal, vindictive comments. If you know me and what this community is, the reaction doesn’t reflect that.”

For her part, Goodwin said her concerns were not about property values and she “didn’t even realize I’d said that. It certainly wasn’t my thought.”

Trolleybus has several other projects in the works, including a 10-storey development in Davenport, a luxury townhouse at Bayview Ave. and McKee Ave., a 50-unit project at Old Harwood Ave. in Ajax, multi-unit development at Queen St. E. and Leslie St., 16-storey tower at Eglinton Ave. W., a 25 store, 255-unit property at Church St. and Colborne Lane and 34-storey, 438-unit tower at 155 Redpath Ave.