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The motion, passed by city council, appeared on the agenda without any notice and was backed by the city’s head planner, Jennifer Keesmat, who released a staff report recommending that council approve an interim control bylaw, one of the most powerful land-use controls available to the city. The street has been the subject of heated debate in recent months with the possible arrival of a Walmart near College Street, and with the recent news that Honest Ed’s, at Bathurst and Bloor, has been put up for sale.

“In order to preserve the existing scale and character of the street until the Bathurst study is complete, we have put in place this interim control bylaw that will prohibit new retail and service uses as well as additions to existing retail and service uses for a period of one year for the lands on and flanking Bathurst Street, between Dupont Street and Queen Street West,” Mr. Layton said in a news release.

Speaking to the National Post at city council on Friday, Mr. Layton went further.

“We are trying to protect main streets on Queen Street, Little Italy, Kensington Market and Dundas West by restricting big-box retail,” Mr. Layton said. “The concern of the community is the appropriate size of retail on Bathurst.”

City staff will spend the next year determining what size of retail is appropriate, he said.

The Bathurst Land Use Study, which was launched in the spring and is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2014, identifies the north-south corridor as being worthy of closer study — with its sparse infill of retail and the decrepit homes that line it, the arterial road is expected to become more popular with developers in the future. However, the report notes, building on Bathurst Street presents an array of challenges because it cuts through a jumble of different land-use zones, including parks, commercial areas, hospital and school zones and residential areas.