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Toronto Defers Vote on Plan to Demolish Iconic Sneaky Dee’s

The delay keeps developer assurances and community demands unresolved while provincial planning rules could restrict what the city can do.

Overview

  • Community members, musicians and students packed a City Hall meeting to oppose a Goldberg Group plan to demolish the Bathurst and College building that houses Sneaky Dee’s and build a 16‑storey condo.
  • The developer says arrangements would let Sneaky Dee’s stay until demolition, help find interim space and offer commercial rooms in the new building, but has not provided a legally binding guarantee that the venue will return.
  • City councillors expressed sympathy for the venue but warned that provincial planning law and the Ontario Land Tribunal often limit Toronto’s ability to block or alter developer proposals.
  • Council postponed a final decision to July 8 and 9, leaving the venue’s fate unresolved and giving opponents time to build petitions, deputations and political pressure before the vote.
  • Sneaky Dee’s supporters point to the bar’s role as an affordable live‑music incubator and student hub since 1990 and say losing it would erase a rare cultural space in a market facing repeated condo development pressure.