Peter Norman

The appellant appealed under s. 69(3) of the Planning Act seeking a reduction in application fees paid for a draft Plan of Subdivision.

The appellant paid over $3.2 million in fees between 2016 and 2024 and sought a refund of approximately $1.5 million, arguing the fees exceeded the municipality's anticipated costs.

The Tribunal found that the Engineering Review Fee was unreasonably based on an outdated, higher construction cost estimate and ordered a refund of $638,668.56.

The Tribunal also ordered a refund of $113,991.10 for Landscape Review Fees that were improperly charged under the 2024 Tariff.

However, the Tribunal found the remaining residual fees were reasonable and connected to the municipality's costs for processing the complex application.

The City of Ottawa expropriated the claimants' property for the Stage 2 Light Rail Transit project.

The parties disputed the highest and best use and market value of the property.

The claimants argued for a high-density two-tower development valued at $13.2 million, while the City argued for a lower-density development valued at $5.48 million.

The Tribunal found that the claimants' proposal was not legally permissible or financially feasible and failed to screen out the influence of the LRT scheme as required by the Expropriations Act.

The Tribunal determined the highest and best use was a single 17-storey tower and set the market value at $8,053,290, less a $269,000 deduction for environmental remediation costs, resulting in a total compensation award of $7,784,290.

The applicants sought a determination of the value of their lands under s. 42(10) of the Planning Act to calculate the correct cash-in-lieu of parkland payment.

The applicants had paid $13,520,539.95 under protest and sought a refund based on a lower land valuation.

The Tribunal preferred the evidence of the applicants' appraisers and economists, finding that a 12.5% downward adjustment for the COVID-19 pandemic and a 7.5% adjustment for view/shadow encumbrances were reasonable.

The Tribunal determined the market value of the lands to be $111,660,000 and ordered the City to refund $4,698,173.95 for the parkland payment, plus $9,686.08 for overcharged appraisal fees.