Brad Appleby

Peterborough Action for Tiny Homes (PATH) appealed the City's refusal of a Temporary Use By-law application to permit 24 transitional housing sleeping cabins on a property adjacent to an existing heavy industrial facility.

The central issue was whether the cabins should be classified as 'dwellings' or 'noise sensitive institutional purpose buildings' under provincial noise guidelines (NPC-300) for the purpose of determining land use compatibility.

The Tribunal found the cabins constituted dwellings, requiring more stringent noise mitigation.

Because the proposal introduced a sensitive land use immediately adjacent to a Class II industrial facility without adequate mitigation mechanisms, the Tribunal held it was inconsistent with the Provincial Policy Statement and did not conform to the City Official Plan.

The appeal was dismissed.

The appellant appealed the City of Peterborough's refusal of a zoning by-law amendment to permit an existing triplex.

The refusal was based on the Otonabee Region Conservation Authority's position that the property lacked safe access during a regulatory storm event, relying on 2014 draft flood plain mapping.

The Tribunal found that the 2014 flood lines had not been formally adopted into the City's Official Plan and were therefore not determinative.

Furthermore, the Tribunal accepted the appellant's engineering evidence that ground-truthed the model using a 2004 storm event, demonstrating that the site has safe access appropriate for the nature of the development.

The appeal was allowed.