Fowler Construction Company Ltd. v. Ramara (Township), 2021 CanLII 49334

ISSUE DATE: June 04, 2021

CASE NO(S).: PL190391, PL190392, MM20028

The Ontario Municipal Board (the “OMB”) and the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal (the “LPAT”) is continued under the name Ontario Land Tribunal (the “Tribunal”), and any reference to the Ontario Municipal Board or Board or Local Planning Appeal Tribunal in any publication of the Tribunal is deemed to be a reference to the Tribunal.

PROCEEDING COMMENCED UNDER subsection 22(7) of the Planning Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. P.13, as amended

Applicant and Appellant: Fowler Construction Company Ltd.

Subject: Request to amend the Official Plan - Refusal of request by Township of Ramara

Existing Designation: Rural

Proposed Designated: Mineral Aggregate Extraction

Purpose: To permit the expansion of the existing licensed quarry area

Property Address/Description: 7723 Rama Road

Municipality: Township of Ramara

Approval Authority File No.: OP-1/17

LPAT Case No.: PL190391

LPAT File No.: PL190391

LPAT Case Name: Fowler Construction Company Ltd. v. Ramara (Township)

PROCEEDING COMMENCED UNDER subsection 34(11) of the Planning Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. P.13, as amended

Applicant and Appellant: Fowler Construction Company Ltd.

Subject: Application amend Zoning By-law No. 2005-85 - Refusal of Application by Township of Ramara

Existing Zoning: Rural (RU)

Proposed Zoning: Mineral Aggregate Extraction (MAE)

Purpose: To permit the expansion of the existing licensed quarry area

Property Address/Description: 7723 Rama Road

Municipality: Township of Ramara

Municipality File No.: Z-8/17

LPAT Case No.: PL190391

LPAT File No.: PL190392

Heard: March 4, 2021 by video hearing

APPEARANCES:

Parties

Counsel/Representative*

Fowler Construction Company Ltd.

Kim Mullin and Monica Poremba

Township of Ramara

John Ewart

County of Simcoe

Marshall Green

Rama Legacy Alliance

David Donnelly

Morgan Fletcher (Student-at-Law)

Adam King

Celeste Phillips*

MEMORANDUM OF ORAL DECISION DELIVERED BY M. A. SILLS ON MARCH 4, 2021 AND ORDER OF THE TRIBUNAL

1The was the first Case Management Conference (“CMC”) in the matter of appeals by Fowler Construction Company Ltd. (the “Applicant/Appellant”) from the refusal of the Council of the Town of Ramara (the “Town”) of applications for an Official Plan Amendment (“OPA”) and a Zoning By-law Amendment (“ZBA”) for the lands described as Part Lot 40, Concession Broken Front, in the Geographic Township of Rama, and known municipally as 7723 Rama Road (the “Subject Lands”).

2The Subject Lands are located 3 kilometres south of Highway 169 at the northeast corner of Rama and Switch Roads. The Subject Lands maintain an existing quarry with a licensed area of 17.4 ha and an extraction area of 12.4 ha (the “Fleming Quarry”). The Fleming Quarry, which has been in operation since the mid 1970s, contains a high-quality aggregate product that has been approved by the Ministry of Transportation and is used for skid-resistant surfacing of provincial highways.

3The Subject Lands comprise a total area of approximately 35.5 hectares (“ha”) in area and are currently designated “Rural” by the Town’s Official Plan and zoned “Rural” by Zoning By-law No. 2005-85. The Applicant is proposing to re-designate and re-zone 8.70 ha of the Subject Lands to facilitate an expansion of the existing licensed quarry area.

4The purpose of the applications is to designate and rezone the Subject Lands to permit the proposed expansion. In effect, the proposed OPA will designate the Subject Lands to Mineral Aggregate Extraction and the ZBA will rezone the Subject Lands to Mineral Aggregate Extraction.

5The aggregate licence application has also been referred to the Tribunal by the Minister of the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment, pursuant to s. 11(5) of the Aggregate Resources Act. That file (MM22028) has been administratively consolidated with the appeals of the OPA and the ZBA.

6The Tribunal received Party Status Requests Forms in advance of this CMC from the following individuals: Patricia Sanderson; Allan Millard; and Oscar Lukach. As Objectors to the proposed aggregate license appeal all three individuals are in effect parties to file MM220228. For reference purposes, the complete list of Objectors has been compiled and is now entered into the Tribunal’s file as Exhibit 3.

7Ms. Sanderson and Mr. Millard have confirmed that they are confident that all of their issues will be appropriately dealt with by Mr. Donnelly. Mr. Lukach said he only wants to make a submission at the hearing. Mr. Donnelly offered to assist Mr. Lukach with that and has agreed to contact him directly.

8Objector Adam King is being represented by Celeste Phillips. Ms. Phillips is to contact Ms. Mullin in regard to any additional issues to be included in the Draft Procedural Order (“DPO”) on behalf of Mr. King.

9A DPO was prepared and submitted to the Tribunal in advance of the CMC. The parties anticipate that a 5-week hearing will be required, and have requested that a second CMC be held in late July 2021 to finalize the DPO, and a 25-day hearing be scheduled, preferably in about mid February 2022.

10Accordingly, a second CMC by video has been scheduled for Thursday, July 15, 2021 at 10 a.m.

11Parties and participants are asked to log into the video hearing at least 15 minutes before the start of the event to test their video and audio connections:

https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/300732021

Access code: 300-732-021

12Parties and participants are asked to access and set up the application well in advance of the event to avoid unnecessary delay. The desktop application can be downloaded at GoToMeeting or a web application is available: https://app.gotomeeting.com/home.html

13Persons who experience technical difficulties accessing the GoToMeeting application or who only wish to listen to the event can connect to the event by calling into an audio-only telephone line: +1 (647) 497-9391. The access code is 300-732-021.

14Individuals are directed to connect to the event on the assigned date at the correct time. It is the responsibility of the persons participating in the hearing by video to ensure that they are properly connected to the event at the correct time. Questions prior to the hearing event may be directed to the Tribunal’s Case Coordinator having carriage of this case.

15A 25-day hearing is scheduled to proceed by video beginning Tuesday, February 21, 2022 at 10 a.m.

16Parties and participants are asked to log into the video hearing at least 15 minutes before the start of the event to test their video and audio connections:

https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/304369917

Access code: 304-369-917

17Parties and participants are asked to access and set up the application well in advance of the event to avoid unnecessary delay. The desktop application can be downloaded at GoToMeeting or a web application is available: https://app.gotomeeting.com/home.html

18Persons who experience technical difficulties accessing the GoToMeeting application or who only wish to listen to the event can connect to the event by calling into an audio-only telephone line: +1 (647) 497-9373. The access code is 304-369-917.

19Individuals are directed to connect to the event on the assigned date at the correct time. It is the responsibility of the persons participating in the hearing by video to ensure that they are properly connected to the event at the correct time. Questions prior to the hearing event may be directed to the Tribunal’s Case Coordinator having carriage of this case.

20No further notice is required.

21This Member is not seized, but will be available for case management purposes subject to the availability of the Tribunal calendar.

“M. A. Sills”

M. A. SILLS

vice-chair

Ontario Land Tribunal

Website: olt.gov.on.ca Telephone: 416-212-6349 Toll Free: 1-866-448-2248

The Conservation Review Board, the Environmental Review Tribunal, the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal and the Mining and Lands Tribunal are amalgamated and continued as the Ontario Land Tribunal.