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Appeals of zoning by-law amendment dismissed without a hearing for failing to disclose land use planning grounds.
The Agnew Lake Property Group brought a motion to dismiss appeals of a Zoning By-law Amendment passed by the Township of Nairn and Hyman.
The appellants raised concerns regarding road access and the creation of utility lots.
The Tribunal found that the proposed Zoning By-law Amendment only made minor corrections to lot areas to align with an approved draft Plan of Subdivision, and did not affect road access or permitted uses.
The Tribunal concluded that the appeals did not disclose any apparent land use planning grounds and had no reasonable prospect of success.
The motion was granted and the appeals were dismissed.
The court found the plaintiff was wrongfully dismissed and awarded significant aggravated and punitive damages due to the employer's bad faith conduct.
The plaintiff, Craig Johnston, Chief Building Official for the Municipality of Arran-Elderslie, was summarily dismissed for alleged conflict of interest and deceit.
The Municipality claimed just cause based on Johnston designing and inspecting projects within the Municipality and allegedly concealing these conflicts.
The court found that Johnston was indeed in a conflict of interest but that the Municipality was estopped from relying on it due to its prior knowledge and approval of his private design work and its failure to appoint a backup inspector.
The court also found no evidence of deceit or fraud on Johnston's part.
The dismissal was deemed wrongful, and the court awarded damages for breach of contract, aggravated damages for the bad faith manner of dismissal, and punitive damages for the high-handed conduct of the Municipality.
