A decision on a proposed development threatening the future of an iconic downtown restaurant and dive bar has been put off until later this summer.Music and nacho lovers packed into City Hall on Thursday to show their support for Sneaky Dee’s, the beloved dive that’s called Bathurst and College streets home since 1990, with passionate deputations from resident after resident urging council to block the 16-storey development.“I’ve been coming to Sneaky Dee’s for over 15 years; it means everything to me,” said one of the deputants sporting a Sneaky Dee’s tattoo. “I’m a local musician, I love this place with all my heart. To see this proposed development kind of breaks my heart.”“I feel that Sneaky Dee’s is more of a home than any apartment you could possibly build. To some people, Sneaky Dee’s may just look like an old graffiti-covered building, but to many of us, it is the most important place on earth,” said another speaker.Councillors who frequented Sneaky Dee’s in their own youth want to see the landmark preserved in all its graffiti’d glory.“These are the kind of things that create Toronto’s identity,” said Coun. Josh Matlow. “You wouldn’t want to see the Eiffel Tower redeveloped, and I really refute the idea that you need this debate between building housing and protecting what we value. The best projects can do both.”The developer says the venue will be allowed to stay until the building is demolished and return to a new basement space.“This development includes 1,200 square metres of non-residential gross floor area, which has been designed for the future and returning tenants of this building,” said Clay Janzen, a senior planner with the Goldberg Group.But the developer’s promise isn’t enough for the Sneaky Dee’s community; they want to see something binding that would guarantee the venue gets to return in its current form.“There’s nothing on paper, and until there’s an agreement signed, dated and sealed legally binding? I don’t believe a word they say,” said one of those opposing the development.“It’s incredibly frustrating when we have a successful music venue that is so well loved, and serves so many different audiences and has done so for so many years, in trouble, threatened,” said Coun. Dianne Saxe, who cautioned that whatever decision is made, the deck is stacked against communities thanks to the provincial government.“We have the power to refuse the application, but it doesn’t stop the application, because the [Ontario Land Tribunal] is full of pro-development people and the rules have been stacked against us so that almost all the time, if the city turns something down, the Ontario Land Tribunal approves it anyway, and quite often, they make it worse.”A decision on the future of the development, which was first submitted in September 2020, has been deferred until July 8 and 9.