Ontario Land Tribunal
Tribunal ontarien de l’aménagement du territoire
ISSUE DATE: September 09, 2021
CASE NO(S).: PL210263
PROCEEDING COMMENCED UNDER subsection 45(12) of the Planning Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. P.13, as amended
Applicant and Appellant: Kyle McDonald
Subject: Minor Variance
Variance from By-law No.: 1999-52
Property Address/Description: 199 Sandwich Street North
Municipality: Town of Amherstburg
Municipal File No.: A/10/21
OLT Case No.: PL210263
OLT File No.: PL210263
OLT Case Name: McDonald v. Amherstburg (Town)
Heard: August 11, 2021 by video hearing
APPEARANCES:
Parties
Kyle McDonald
Counsel
Steven Pickard
Parties
Town of Amherstburg
Counsel
Jeffrey Nanson
DECISION DELIVERED BY S. BRAUN AND ORDER OF THE TRIBUNAL
INTRODUCTION
1Kyle McDonald (“Applicant/Appellant”) owns the property known municipally as 199 Sandwich Street North (“subject property”). He applied to the Town of Amherstburg (“Town”) Committee of Adjustment (“Committee”) for a minor variance to permit the construction of a second driveway on the subject property. The Committee denied the application and Mr. McDonald appealed to this Tribunal pursuant to s. 45(12) of the Planning Act1 (“Act”).
2In advance of the hearing, the Tribunal received a request for Participant status from David Purdie, who lives next door to the subject property. Mr. Purdie submitted a written statement citing concerns with respect to potential impacts of the requested variance upon the use and enjoyment of his property. Neither party objected to Mr. Purdie’s request and the Tribunal granted him Participant status based on his direct interest in the matter under appeal. His written statement was taken into evidence as Exhibit 1.
3The subject property is a corner lot, approximately 1,533.76 square metres in size, located on the northeast corner of Sandwich Street North and Grant Avenue. Grant Avenue is a two-lane local road and Sandwich Street North is a four-lane arterial road, as designated in Schedule D of the Town’s Official Plan (“OP”). To the north, east and south of the subject property are single detached dwellings and immediately to the west is the Detroit River.
4The subject property is zoned R1 (Residential First Density) and contains a single detached dwelling facing Sandwich Street North as well as a secondary dwelling unit (“SDU”) above a detached garage located along the side of the subject property facing Grant Avenue. Both structures are currently undergoing extensive renovations.
5The existing driveway for the subject property is located on Grant Avenue and leads to the front of the detached garage and SDU. There is currently no permanent driveway access from Sandwich Street North although, due to ongoing renovations, a temporary gravel driveway for construction vehicles has been created.
PROPOSAL AND RELIEF REQUESTED
6In order to permit a driveway accessing the front of the main dwelling from Sandwich Street North, the Appellant requires relief from s. 3(23)(j) of Zoning By-law No. 1999-52 (“ZBL”), which limits the number of driveways on a residential property in the Residential First Density (R1) Zone to one.
7The variance before the Tribunal is slightly different from the original application, in that the drawings submitted to the