Ontario Land Tribunal
Tribunal ontarien de l’aménagement du territoire
ISSUE DATE: August 17, 2021
CASE NO(S).: PL210140
PROCEEDING COMMENCED UNDER subsection 22(7) of the Planning Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. P.13, as amended
Applicant and Appellant: 2577791 Ontario Inc.
Subject: Request to amend the Official Plan – Refusal of request by the Township of Melancthon
Existing Designation: Rural
Proposed Designated: Rural, special policy
Purpose: To permit the subject property to be separated into six separate parcels of land
Property Address/Description: West Part of Lots 7 and 8, Concession 2 O.S.
Municipality: Township of Melancthon
Approval Authority File No.: OPA 3
LPAT Case No.: PL210140
LPAT File No.: PL210140
LPAT Case Name: 2577791 Ontario Inc. v. Melancthon (Township)
Heard: August 12, 2021 by video hearing
APPEARANCES:
| Parties | Counsel |
|---|---|
| 2577791 Ontario Inc. (Applicant/ Appellant) | Erroll Treslan |
| Township of Melancthon | David Germain |
MEMORANDUM OF ORAL DECISION DELIVERED BY K.R. ANDREWS ON AUGUST 12, 2021 AND ORDER OF THE TRIBUNAL
1The subject property, known as West Part of Lots 7 and 8, Concession 2 O.S., is approximately 60 acres in size, and is located at 3rd Line and Sideroad 5, in the Township of Melancthon (the “Property”).
22577791 Ontario Inc. applied to the Township of Melancthon (the “Township”) to create a policy exception to the Rural Consent policies (“OPA”) to permit the re-severance of six lots on the Property that were inadvertently merged in title. The Property is currently designated as Rural and Rural consent policies limit lot creation to three lots.
3There is a related Zoning By-law Amendment and consent to sever applications in relation to the Property that are being held in abeyance by the Township until a decision on the subject OPA is made.
4Council for the Township refused the OPA application on July 6, 2020.
5The Applicant appealed the decision to refuse to the OPA.
CASE MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE
6This hearing was scheduled as the first Case Management Conference (“CMC”) of the matter. The Tribunal was advised in advance that the parties wished to convert the CMC into a Settlement Conference.
7At the outset of the hearing, the parties confirmed that proper Notice of the CMC was served and, accordingly, the Tribunal finds that no further Notice is required.
8The Tribunal also canvassed the hearing attendees to determine if anyone was seeking either party or participant status. No one made such a request.
9The Tribunal reviewed the parties’ submissions and discussed the direction required to move the CMC into a settlement hearing. Upon hearing submissions from the Parties, the Tribunal was satisfied and heard evidence in support of the proposed settlement in relation to the OPA.
10The Tribunal heard from one expert witness in support of the settlement. Genevieve Scott is a Professional Land Use Planning Consultant employed with Cuesta Planning Consultants Inc. with over 15 years of professional experience in land use planning with development experience in relation to rural land use, is a candidate member of the Ontario Professional Planner’s Institute and the Canadian Institute of Planners, and has been previously qualified to give independent opinion evidence on land use planning matters before the Ontario Municipal Board and Local Planning Appeal Tribunal. On consent of the parties, the Tribunal qualified Ms. Scott as an expert in planning matters.
11Ms. Scott’s uncontested evidence was submitted by way of Sworn Affidavit (marked as Exhibit 2) and augmented by oral testimony. To summarize, Ms. Scott opined that the Appellant’s application is consistent with the Provincial Policy Statement 2020 (PPS) and Greater Golden Horseshoe 2019 (Growth Plan), conforms with the County of Dufferin Official Plan (“CDOP”) and Township of Melancthon Official Plan (“TMOP”). The subject lands are designated as Rural and have been allocated for estate residential development since the late 1960s, but were inadvertently merged in late 2013. An Agricultural Impact Assessment determined that there are no impacts to on or off-site agricultural resources. An Environmental Impact Statement concluded that the development can maintain consistency with federal, provincial, upper and lower tier natural heritage policies, subject to mitigation measures.
12Ms. Scott explained that the reason for the Township’s initial refusal of the application had to do with comments from the Nottawasaga Valley Conservation Authority (“NVCA”) regarding natural hazards and natural heritage features on and / or adjacent to the property. The NVCA later confirmed that their outstanding concerns would be generally satisfied by:
- Confirmation from an engineer that the on-site drainage course was not associated with a floodplain or erosion hazard; and
- Revision of the lot configuration to ensure that the lot lines did not encroach upon any natural heritage features or their associated buffers. The NVCA clarified that this requirement would probably be most easily addressed by containing the features in a single lot.
13The Appellant subsequently satisfied these concerns and the parties now both agree to a revised OPA which addresses the NVCA concerns. The Parties signed Minutes of Settlement to this effect.
14The Tribunal is satisfied with the uncontested expert evidence of Ms. Scott insofar as the Appellant’s application (as revised) has no impacts to on or off-site agricultural resources, can maintain consistency with federal, provincial, upper and lower tier natural heritage policies, subject to mitigation measures, and is otherwise consistent with the PPS and Growth Plan, and conforms with the CDOP and TMOP.
ORDER
15THE TRIBUNAL ORDERS:
- that Notice of the hearing was properly served and no further Notice is required;
- that the appeal is allowed in part and Policy 5.3.3 of the Township of Melancthon Official Plan is hereby modified by adding a new sub-section (g) which shall read as follows:
g) Lands described legally as parcels 7 through 12 located in the West Part of Lots 7 and 8, Concession 2 O.S, as shown on Schedule A-1, attached hereto and forming part of this Amendment at one time existed as 6 separate lots that were inadvertently merged in title. Notwithstanding subsections a) through f), these lands may be severed by consent into no more than 6 lots.
The conditions of consent shall include but not be limited to the proponent of any such consent obtaining a zoning by-law amendment and entering into a consent agreement to implement applicable recommendations of the Environmental Impact Study that supported the re-creation of the lots. Subsequent to re-creation of up to 6 lots, the lands subject to this policy shall not be eligible for any further lot creation.
Furthermore, as part of a complete application for consent to sever, the Nottawasaga Valley Conservation Authority (NVCA) shall be provided with the following technical information and shall confirm to the Township that such technical information is satisfactory prior to approval of a provisional consent:
- If lot creation is to occur within the NVCA regulated area associated with the adjacent watercourse, supporting documentation and calculations shall be provided to demonstrate that the uncontrolled Regulatory storm event can be safely conveyed through the site, taking into account any upstream drainage area.
- A natural heritage constraint map shall be prepared to the satisfaction of the Township and the NVCA, which confirms that the proposed lot lines do not encroach upon any natural heritage features or key natural hydrologic features or their associated buffers, or natural hazards (as applicable) and their access allowances. And furthermore, where the constraint map confirms the presence of such features, the lots to be severed shall be designed in such a manner that the feature together with any buffer area shall be fully located within one lot.
16The Tribunal Member shall remain seized and may be spoken to by the parties if any issues arise with respect to the implementation of the Tribunal’s decision.
“K.R. Andrews”
K.R. ANDREWS 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 (“Tribunal”). Any reference to the preceding tribunals or the former Ontario Municipal Board is deemed to be a reference to the Tribunal.