Waxman's Attempt.

Nor DA or I got inside on our first trip here, so any hazards on the interior are unknown. The house has no sensors or cameras, and there is no broken glass surrounding the property. There is a neighbour on the south side who smokes a cigarette once an house, and his little smoke spot is right in view of the side and back of the house. He saw me and shouted “HEY.” I responded as nicely as I could, “I’m an aspiring real estate photographer. I have permission from the home owner. How can I help?” Thank god I had read the development application and knew the full name of the current property owner. Otherwise I’m not sure my streak would’ve lasted. We chatted for a little bit and I asked him about the holes in the dog houses, he joked about how the dogs that had chewed them up never shut up. He finished with “good luck with your photos” and I continued to shoot exteriors before telling DA how close I was to fucking our whole day up.

This house was built in the 1960s or 70s and was owned by a dentist who had the house built just for him and his family. From what I can tell, he moved out of the house in June or July of 2018. Then a couple, Jordan Louis Waxman and Evelyn Waxman bought the house and did nothing but property maintenance as they attempted to get permits to build a new house on the lot. They made 3 attempts, the most recent being in Febuary of 2022 where they recieived letters of objection from 53 different people in the neighbourhood. Some of the reasons are absolutely stupid, like the proposed eavestrough is going to be 10cm to far to the south.

This theme dates back as early as 2019 when the Waxman’s attempted to first build the house. They recieved 13 letters of objection in which residents indicated that in their “63 years of living in the neighbourhood, they have never seen a building plan for such a displeasing house.”

In late 2022, after recieving a total of 66 letters of objection, 5 letters of support, going through the redesign of the house 4 different times, and over 3 years of back and forth in Toronto Local Appeal Labs, the Waxmans gave up and accepted the final ruling that unless the house designed followed every single design bylaw they would not have permission to build a new house, or even demolish the one that stands.