Cynthia MacDougall

The Ontario Land Tribunal issued an amending decision to correct a technical or typographical error in its previous decision dated August 1, 2023.

Pursuant to Rule 24.4 of the Tribunal's Rules of Practice and Procedure, the Tribunal amended the appearances list without prior notice to the parties.

In all other respects, the original decision remains unchanged.

A Case Management Conference was held regarding multiple appeals to the City of Toronto's comprehensive Zoning By-law No. 569-2013.

The Tribunal received status updates on various phases and topic-specific appeals, including parking, cemeteries, multi-tenant housing, places of worship, propane storage, and school boards.

Several appeals were noted as withdrawn or resolved.

The Tribunal scheduled dates for the submission of motion materials and written hearings to resolve Phases 3 and 4, as well as Appeal No. 62.

A further Case Management Conference was scheduled for November 6, 2023.

The applicant brought a motion to dismiss an appeal of an Official Plan Amendment (OPA) that facilitated a 25-storey residential development.

The appellant, a self-represented local resident, argued the development's height was out of character with the neighbourhood.

The Tribunal granted the motion and dismissed the appeal without a hearing, finding that the appeal focused entirely on building height, which was regulated by a Zoning By-law Amendment that the appellant had failed to appeal.

As the OPA only addressed floor space index and the appellant lacked expert planning evidence, the appeal had no reasonable prospect of success.

At a second Case Management Conference regarding an appeal of the City of Toronto's failure to make a decision on an Official Plan Amendment application, the Tribunal substituted CF Sherway Tru Rec Inc. as a party and granted party status to Home Depot of Canada Inc. and Amexon Realty Inc. The Tribunal also scheduled a motion to determine whether to consolidate this appeal with the Sherway Gardens Appeal, and scheduled a third Case Management Conference.

The Ontario Land Tribunal held a Case Management Conference regarding appeals of the City of Toronto's Official Plan Amendment No. 469 (Sherway Area Secondary Plan).

The Tribunal substituted CF Sherway Tru Rec Inc. as a party, finalized the Procedural Order and Issues List for the upcoming seven-week hearing, and scheduled a three-day motion to address the scope of Cadillac Fairview's appeal and a potential consolidation with another appeal.

This was the first Case Management Conference regarding an appeal by Cadillac Fairview from the City of Toronto's failure to make a decision on an Official Plan Amendment application for 25 The West Mall.

The Tribunal granted party status to SmartCentres REIT, Fima Development, and Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited.

A motion to consolidate this appeal with the Sherway Gardens Appeal was scheduled, along with subsequent Case Management Conferences.

The Ontario Land Tribunal held a first Case Management Conference regarding multiple appeals of the City of Guelph's Official Plan Amendment No. 79, which introduced the Clair-Maltby Secondary Plan.

The Tribunal granted party status to Timberworx Custom Homes Inc. and provisional party status to Foundation for the Support of International Medical Training Inc. A second Case Management Conference was scheduled to finalize the Procedural Order and Issues Lists, and an eight-week merit hearing was scheduled to commence in January 2024.

The City of Toronto brought a motion for partial approval of Official Plan Amendment No. 469 (the Sherway Area Secondary Plan) following a partial settlement with several appellants.

The Tribunal approved the motion, bringing unappealed portions of the OPA into force and approving specific modifications on a plan-wide basis, while preserving site-specific and precinct-specific appeals for future adjudication.

The Tribunal also scheduled a further Case Management Conference and a seven-week hearing for the remaining appeals.

The applicant appealed the City of Toronto's failure to make a decision on a zoning by-law amendment application to permit a mixed-use development.

At the third Case Management Conference, the parties advised the Tribunal that a settlement had been reached in principle.

With the consent of all parties, the Tribunal scheduled a settlement hearing for December 17, 2021, and removed a self-represented party's issues from the list following his withdrawal.

The Ontario Land Tribunal held a first Case Management Conference for multiple appeals against the City of Toronto's adoption of Official Plan Amendment 469, the Sherway Area Secondary Plan.

The parties indicated a desire to pursue mediation and requested a second CMC to report on settlement efforts.

The Tribunal scheduled a second CMC and directed the appellants to provide draft issues lists and a draft procedural order in advance.

The applicant appealed the City of Toronto's refusal of its Official Plan and Zoning By-law Amendment applications to permit a 59-storey residential tower.

Following a prior Tribunal decision approving the development in principle, the parties finalized the form of the Zoning By-law Amendment and executed a Section 37 Agreement.

The Tribunal allowed the appeals in part and directed the City to amend the Zoning By-law in accordance with the finalized settlement.

The applicant appealed the City of Toronto's refusal of a zoning by-law amendment to permit a 29-storey mixed-use building on a small mid-block site on Bloor Street West.

The City and local residents' associations opposed the development, arguing it represented an overdevelopment of a small site, lacked appropriate tower setbacks, and would create negative shadow and sky view impacts.

The Tribunal allowed the appeal in part, finding that the proposed canyon form tall building represented an appropriate optimization of the site and a transit-supportive intensification that was consistent with the Provincial Policy Statement and conformed to the Growth Plan.

The Tribunal concluded that the proposed access arrangements were functional and the building's massing and lack of side yard setbacks did not create unacceptable adverse impacts in the downtown context.

The moving parties sought leave to appeal a decision of the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal (LPAT).

The City of Toronto, which took the same position as the moving parties before LPAT, did not appeal and took no position on the motion.

The Divisional Court dismissed the motion for leave to appeal and ordered the moving parties to pay costs of $15,000 to the respondent developer.

The moving party sought leave to appeal a decision of the Ontario Municipal Board that dismissed its appeals against the City's official plan and zoning by-law amendments for the redevelopment of a hospital site.

The moving party opposed the demolition of the old hospital building, raising environmental, affordable housing, and heritage preservation concerns.

The Divisional Court dismissed the motion for leave to appeal, finding no good reason to doubt the correctness of the Board's decision on any of the raised issues.