Ontario Land Tribunal

Tribunal ontarien de l’aménagement du territoire

ISSUE DATE: July 07, 2021

CASE NO(S).: PL200481

PROCEEDING COMMENCED UNDER subsection 17(24) of the Planning Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. P.13, as amended

Appellant: Larry Hughes
Subject: Proposed Official Plan Amendment No. OP02-2019
Municipality: Separated Town of St. Marys
OLT Case No.: PL200481
OLT File No.: PL200481
OLT Case Name: Hughes v. St. Mary’s (Twn.)

PROCEEDING COMMENCED UNDER subsection 34(19) of the Planning Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. P.13, as amended

Appellant: Larry Hughes
Subject: By-law No. Z04-2019
Municipality: Separated Town of St. Marys
OLT Case No.: PL200481
OLT File No.: PL200482
Case Name: Hughes v. St. Mary’s (Twn.)

BEFORE:

M.A. SILLS
VICE-CHAIR
Wednesday, the 7th day of July, 2021

THE TRIBUNAL ORDERS that the Procedural Order, attached hereto as Appendix “1” shall be in force and effect for the purpose of governing the required procedures leading up to and including the hearing scheduled to commence on Tuesday, November 9, 2021 at 10:00 a.m. by Videoconference at: https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/612070933. The length of the hearing will be 2 days.

“Becky Fong”

BECKY FONG
REGISTRAR

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.

APPENDIX 1

ISSUE DATE: July 7, 2021
CASE NO(S).: PL200481

PROCEEDING COMMENCED UNDER subsection 17(24) of the Planning Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. P.13, as amended

Appellant: Larry Hughes
Subject: Proposed Official Plan Amendment No. OP02-2019
Municipality: Town of St. Marys
OLT Case No.: PL200481
OLT File No.: PL200481
OLT Case Name: Hughes v. St. Marys (Town)

PROCEEDING COMMENCED UNDER subsection 34(19) of the Planning Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. P.13, as amended

Appellant: Larry Hughes
Subject: By-law No. Z04-2019
Municipality: Town of St. Marys
OLT Case No.: PL200481
OLT File No.: PL200482
OLT Case Name: Hughes v. St. Marys (Town)

1. The Tribunal may vary or add to the directions in this procedural order at any time by an oral ruling or by another written order, either on the parties’ request or its own motion.

Organization of the Hearing

2. The video hearing will begin on Tuesday, November 9, 2021 at 10:00 a.m. at:

https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/612070933

Access Code: 612-070-933

3. The parties’ initial estimation for the length of the hearing is 2 days. The parties are expected to cooperate to reduce the length of the hearing by eliminating redundant evidence and attempting to reach settlements on issues where possible.

4. The parties and participants identified at the case management conference are set out in Attachment 1 (see the sample procedural order for the meaning of these terms).

5. The issues are set out in the Issues List attached as Attachment 2. There will be no changes to this list unless the Tribunal permits, and a party who asks for changes may have costs awarded against it.

6. The order of evidence shall be as set out in Attachment 3 to this Order. The Tribunal may limit the amount of time allocated for opening statements, evidence in chief (including the qualification of witnesses), cross-examination, evidence in reply and final argument. The length of written argument, if any, may be limited either on the parties’ consent, subject to the Tribunal’s approval, or by Order of the Tribunal.

7. Any person intending to participate in the hearing should provide a mailing address, email address and a telephone number to the Tribunal as soon as possible – ideally before the case management conference. Any person who will be retaining a representative should advise the other parties and the Tribunal of the representative’s name, address, email address and the phone number as soon as possible.

8. Any person who intends to participate in the hearing, including parties, counsel and witnesses, is expected to review the Tribunal’s Video Hearing Guide, available on the Tribunal’s website.

Requirements Before the Hearing

9. Expert witnesses in the same field shall have a meeting on or before July 30, 2021 and use best efforts to try to resolve or reduce the issues for the hearing.

10. An expert witness shall prepare an expert witness statement, which shall list any reports prepared by the expert, or any other reports or documents to be relied on at the hearing. Copies of this must be provided as in paragraph 11 below. Instead of a witness statement, the expert may file his or her entire report if it contains the required information. If this is not done, the Tribunal may refuse to hear the expert’s testimony.

11. On or before August 13, 2021, Larry Hughes shall provide copies of his witness statements and expert witness statements and visual evidence to the other parties and to the OLT case co-ordinator and in accordance with paragraph 19 below. A party who intends to call an expert witness must include a copy of the witness’ Curriculum Vitae and the area of expertise in which the witness is prepared to be qualified. On or before September 10, 2021, the Town of St. Marys and Randy Warkentin shall provide copies of their witness statements and expert witness statements and visual evidence to Larry Hughes and to the OLT case co-ordinator and in accordance with paragraph 19 below. A party who intends to call an expert witness must include a copy of the witness’ Curriculum Vitae and the area of expertise in which the witness is prepared to be qualified.

12. On or before August 13, 2021, Chris West shall provide copies of his written participant statement to the other parties in accordance with paragraph 19 below. A participant cannot present oral submissions at the hearing on the content of their written statement, unless ordered by the Tribunal.

13. Larry Hughes may provide to all other parties and the OLT case co-ordinator a written response to any written evidence (if any) on or before September 24, 2021, and in accordance with paragraph 19 below.

14. The parties shall cooperate to prepare a joint document book which shall be shared with the OLT case co-ordinator on or before October 29, 2021.

15. Any documents which may be used by a party in cross examination of an opposing party’s witness shall be password protected and only be accessible to the Tribunal and the other parties if it is introduced as evidence at the hearing, pursuant to the directions provided by the OLT case co-ordinator, on or before November 9, 2021.

16. A person wishing to change written evidence, including witness statements, must make a written motion to the Tribunal. See Rule 10 of the Tribunal’s Rules with respect to Motions, which requires that the moving party provide copies of the motion to all other parties 15 days before the Tribunal hears the motion.

17. A party who provides written evidence of a witness to the other parties must have the witness attend the hearing to give oral evidence, unless the party notifies the Tribunal at least 7 days before the hearing that the written evidence is not part of their record.

18. The parties shall prepare and file a preliminary hearing plan with the Tribunal on or before October 29, 2021 with a proposed schedule for the hearing that identifies, as a minimum, the parties participating in the hearing, the preliminary matters (if any to be addressed), the anticipated order of evidence, the date each witness is expected to attend, the anticipated length of time for evidence to be presented by each witness in chief, cross-examination and re-examination (if any) and the expected length of time for final submissions. The parties are expected to ensure that the hearing proceeds in an efficient manner and in accordance with the hearing plan. The Tribunal may, at its discretion, change or alter the hearing plan at any time in the course of the hearing.

19. Documents may be delivered by personal delivery, registered or certified mail, email, courier, electronic file sharing service for documents that exceed 10MB in size, or otherwise as the Tribunal may direct. Material delivered by mail shall be deemed to have been received five business days after the date of registration or certification. All filings with the Tribunal shall be submitted electronically and in hard copy.

20. No adjournments or delays will be granted before or during the hearing except for serious hardship or illness. The Tribunal’s Rule 17 applies to such requests.

This Member is not seized.

So orders the Tribunal.

BEFORE:
Name of Member:
Date:

TRIBUNAL REGISTRAR

Attachment 1: Parties and Participants

Parties:

1. Larry Hughes
2. Town of St. Marys
3. Randy Warkentin

Participants:

1. Chris West

Attachment 2: Issues List

1. Is the change from “Highway Commercial” to “Residential” to permit the proposed development consistent with sections 1.1.1 and 1.1.3.2 of the PPS and does it conform to the residential objectives (s. 3.1.1 of the Official Plan) and policies, in particular section 3.1.2.4, and the highway commercial objectives (s. 3.3.1 of the Official Plan)?

2. Is the proposed height of four storeys consistent with section 1.1.1 and 1.1.3 of the PPS and does the proposal conform to the residential land use objective s. 3.1.1.7 and policy s. 7.17.4 of the Official Plan?

3. Is the proposed development in an appropriate location and does it represent an appropriate level of intensification and density within the context of the surrounding neighbourhood (Section 1.1.3.3 of the PPS, Sections 2.1, 3.1.1 and 3.1.2 of the Official Plan)? Are the proposed setbacks consistent with section 1.1.3.4 of the PPS and do they conform with Sections 3.1.1, 3.1.2 and 7.17.4 of the Official Plan, particularly in relation to safety, privacy, buffering, shadowing, parking areas, and greenspace? Is the proposed development appropriate for the area and does it represent good planning?

Attachment 3: Order of Evidence

1. Contextual introduction by the Town of St. Marys, if desired by the Tribunal
2. Larry Hughes
3. Town of St. Marys
4. Randy Warkentin

Attachment to Sample Procedural Order

Meaning of terms used in the Procedural Order:

A party is an individual or corporation permitted by the Tribunal to participate fully in the hearing by receiving copies of written evidence, presenting witnesses, cross-examining the witnesses of the other parties, and making submissions on all of the evidence. An unincorporated group cannot be a party and it must appoint one person to speak for it, and that person must accept the other responsibilities of a party as set out in the Order. Parties do not have to be represented by a lawyer and may have an agent speak for them. The agent must have written authorisation from the party.

NOTE that a person who wishes to become a party before or at the hearing, and who did not request this at the case management conference (CMC), must ask the Tribunal to permit this.

A participant is an individual or corporation, whether represented by a lawyer or not, who may make a written submission to the Tribunal. A participant cannot make an oral submission to the Tribunal or present oral evidence (testify in-person) at the hearing (only a party may do so). Section 17 of the Ontario Land Tribunal Act states that a person who is not a party to a proceeding may only make a submission to the Tribunal in writing. The Tribunal may direct a participant to attend a hearing to answer questions from the Tribunal on the content of their written submission, should that be found necessary by the Tribunal. A participant may also be asked questions by the parties should the Tribunal direct a participant to attend a hearing to answer questions on the content of their written submission.

A participant must be identified and be accorded participant status by the Tribunal at the CMC. A participant will not receive notice of conference calls on procedural issues that may be scheduled prior to the hearing, nor receive notice of mediation. A participant cannot ask for costs, or review of a decision, as a participant does not have the rights of a party to make such requests of the Tribunal.

Written evidence includes all written material, reports, studies, documents, letters and witness statements which a party or participant intends to present as evidence at the hearing. These must have pages numbered consecutively throughout the entire document, even if there are tabs or dividers in the material.

Visual evidence includes photographs, maps, videos, models, and overlays which a party or participant intends to present as evidence at the hearing.

A witness statement is a short written outline of the person’s background, experience and interest in the matter; a list of the issues which he or she will discuss ; and a list of reports or materials that the witness will rely on at the hearing.

An expert witness statement should include his or her (1) name and address, (2) qualifications, (3) a list of the issues he or she will address, (4) the witness’ opinions on those issues and the complete reasons supporting their opinions and conclusions and (5) a list of reports or materials that the witness will rely on at the hearing. An expert witness statement must be accompanied by an acknowledgement of expert’s duty.

A participant statement is a short written outline of the person’s or group’s background, experience and interest in the matter; a statement of the participant’s position on the appeal; a list of the issues which the participant wishes to address and the submissions of the participant on those issues; and a list of reports or materials, if any, which the participant wishes to refer to in their statement.

Additional Information

A summons may compel the appearance of a person before the Tribunal who has not agreed to appear as a witness. A party must ask a Tribunal Member or the senior staff of the Tribunal to issue a summons through a request. (See Rule 13 on the summons procedure.) The request should indicate how the witness’ evidence is relevant to the hearing. If the Tribunal is not satisfied from the information provided in the request that the evidence is relevant, necessary or admissible, the party requesting the summons may provide a further request with more detail or bring a motion in accordance with the Rules.

The order of examination of witnesses is usually direct examination, cross-examination and re-examination in the following way:

• direct examination by the party presenting the witness;
• direct examination by any party of similar interest, in the manner determined by the Tribunal;
• cross-examination by parties of opposite interest;
• re-examination by the party presenting the witness; or
• another order of examination mutually agreed among the parties or directed by the Tribunal.