Ontario Land Tribunal
Tribunal ontarien de l’aménagement du territoire
ISSUE DATE: June 15, 2021
CASE NO(S).: PL200567
PROCEEDING COMMENCED UNDER subsection 34(11) of the Planning Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. P.13, as amended
Applicant and Appellant: BSAR (Queen) LP
Subject: Application to amend Zoning By-law No. 569-2013 - Refusal or neglect of the City of Toronto to make a decision
Existing Zoning: Commercial-Residential
Proposed Zoning: Site Specific (To be determined)
Purpose: To permit an 8 storey mixed-use residential building with ground floor retail
Property Address/Description: 1521 Queen Street West
Municipality: City of Toronto
Municipality File No.: 19247355 STE 04 0Z
OLT Case No.: PL200567
OLT File No.: PL200567
OLT Case Name: BSAR (Queen) LP v. Toronto (City)
PROCEEDING COMMENCED UNDER subsection 34(11) of the Planning Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. P.13, as amended
Applicant and Appellant: BSAR (Queen) LP
Subject: Application to amend Zoning By-law No. 438-86 -Refusal or neglect of the City of Toronto to make a decision
Existing Zoning: Commercial-Residential
Proposed Zoning: Site Specific (To be determined)
Purpose: To permit an 8 storey mixed-use residential building with ground floor retail
Property Address/Description: 1521 Queen Street West
Municipality: City of Toronto
Municipality File No.: 19247355 STE 04 0Z
OLT Case No.: PL200567
OLT File No.: PL200568
Heard: June 8, 2021 via video hearing
APPEARANCES:
Parties
Counsel/Representative*
City of Toronto
Sarah O’Connor Jason Davidson
BSAR (Queen) LP
Michael Foderick
Parkdale Neighbourhood Land Trust
Darnel Harris*
MEMORANDUM OF ORAL DECISION DELIVERED BY STEVEN COOKE ON JUNE 8, 2021 AND ORDER OF THE TRIBUNAL
1This is the first Case Management Conference (“CMC”) pursuant to s. 34 (11) of the Planning Act, for the City of Toronto’s (“City”) failure to make a decision on a Zoning By-law amendment (“ZBA”) within the 90-day statutory time frame.
2BSAR (Queen) LP (“Applicant”) has made application to amend that ZBA to allow a proposed development of an 8-storey mixed-use building, containing 78 residential dwelling units, located at what is municipally known as 1521 Queen Street West (“Subject Site”).
MOTION
3Mr. Foderick, counsel for the Applicant, filed a motion on April 28, 2021 for the purpose of setting a draft Procedural Order (“DPO”). It was Mr. Foderick’s submission that his client did not want multiple CMC dates that may cause unnecessary delays. He described the motion to be a “friendly” way of ensuring that the process continued in a timely manner.
4Ms. O’Connor, counsel for the City, stated that although she would not characterize the motion to be “friendly”, she did inform the Tribunal that the two parties have been in discussions regarding the DPO and was prepared to set dates for a hearing.
5The Tribunal inquired with Mr. Foderick on the redundancy of his motion given the purpose of the CMC. At that time Mr. Foderick clarified that given his positive discussions with the City he was withdrawing his motion.
PARTY STATUS REQUEST
6Mr. Harris, representing the Parkdale Neighbourhood Land Trust (“PNLT”), made a request to the Tribunal for Party Status. The PNLT is an incorporated non-profit corporation in the area of the Subject Site. Its Board of Directors consist of local residents and various local organizations.
7One of the roles of the PNLT is to advocate for poverty prevention. Mr. Harris informed the Tribunal that the PNLT would like to raise issues on whether the proposed development is consistent with the Provincial Policy Statement 2020 and conforms to the Planning Act and Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe 2020 with regards to housing policies and orderly, good planning.
8After canvassing the statutory Parties and determining that there was no objection raised regarding this request for Party status and being satisfied that there was a material and direct interest associated with the request, the Tribunal confirmed Party status to the Parkdale Neighbourhood Land Trust.
PARTICIPANT STATUS REQUEST
9In review of the request for Participant status the Tribunal noted that both Ana Teresa Portillo and Tom Ermitus are currently serving on the Board of Directors for the PNLT. As they are directly affiliated with the PNLT, in a decision-making capacity, the Tribunal has denied their request for Participant status.
10In review of all other applications for Participant status the Tribunal is satisfied that the following individuals have met the criteria. Hearing no objections by the statutory Parties the Tribunal confers Participant status to:
Ivy Farquhar-McDonnell
Catherine Marrion
Mary Margaret Gelinas
Bob Rose
Sophia Jaworski
Paul Snider
Arianne Di Nardo
Paz Loo
HEARING DATES
11A 13-day video hearing has been scheduled to begin on Tuesday, May 17, 2022. With the hearing date set the Parties are to submit to the Tribunal Case Coordinator a revised DPO that reflects the addition of the PNLT and the above noted Participants for the Tribunals consideration and approval.
12Parties 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/401169685
Access code: 401 169 685
13Parties 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.
14Persons 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: (Toll Free): 1 888 455 1389 or +1 (647) 497-9391. The access code is 401 169 685.
15Individuals 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.
16No further notice is required.
17The Member is not seized.
18So Orders the Tribunal.
“Steven Cooke”
STEVEN COOKE
MEMBER
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.