Ontario Land Tribunal
Tribunal ontarien de l’aménagement du territoire
ISSUE DATE: November 24, 2022
CASE NO(S).: OLT-22-004270
PROCEEDING COMMENCED UNDER subsection 22(7) of the Planning Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. P.13, as amended
Applicant and Appellant: First Baymac Developments Limited & Canadian Property Holdings (Ontario) Inc. c/o SmartCentres REIT
Subject: Request to amend the Official Plan – Failure to adopt the requested amendment
Description: To permit a retirement residence of 8 and 9 storeys with 242 units
Reference Number: D01-21001
Property Address: 1070 Major Mackenzie Drive East
Municipality/UT: Richmond Hill/York
OLT Case No.: OLT-22-004270
OLT Lead Case No.: OLT-22-004270
OLT Case Name: First Baymac Developments Limited & Canadian Property Holdings (Ontario) Inc. v. Richmond Hill (City)
PROCEEDING COMMENCED UNDER subsection 34(11) of the Planning Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. P.13, as amended
Applicant and Appellant: First Baymac Developments Limited & Canadian Property Holdings (Ontario) Inc. c/o SmartCentres REIT
Subject: Application to amend the Zoning By-law – Refusal or neglect to make a decision
Description: To permit a retirement residence of 8 and 9 storeys with 242 units
Reference Number: D02-21002
Property Address: 1070 Major Mackenzie Drive East
Municipality/UT: Richmond Hill/York
OLT Case No.: OLT-22-004271
OLT Lead Case No.: OLT-22-004270
Heard: November 18, 2022 by Video Hearing
APPEARANCES:
Parties
Counsel
First Baymac Developments Limited & Canadian Property Holdings (Ontario) Inc. c/o SmartCentres REIT (“Applicant/Appellant”)
Jason Park
Olivia Rasekhi
City of Richmond Hill (“City”)
Carlton Thorne
MEMORANDUM OF ORAL DECISION DELIVERED BY ERIC S. CROWE ON NOVEMBER 18, 2022 AND ORDER OF THE TRIBUNAL
INTRODUCTION
1The Tribunal convened a Case Management Conference (“CMC”) on an appeal filed by First Baymac Developments Limited & Canadian Property Holdings (Ontario) Inc. (“Applicant/Appellant”) against the City of Richmond Hill (“City”) regarding Council’s decision to refuse a request to amend the Official Plan (“OPA”) and a Zoning By-law Amendment (“ZBLA”) application concerning 1070 Major Mackenzie Drive (“Subject Lands”).
2The purpose and effect of the OPA application is to amend the City’s Official Plan (“OP”) to increase the permitted building height, Floor Space Index (“FSI”) and floorplate size in order to facilitate a 10-storey retirement residence comprised of 244 units and FSI of 2.95 and a gross floor area of 19,200 square meters (206,667.1 square feet).
3The purpose and effect of the ZBLA application is to amend Zoning By-law No. 38-95, as amended, by rezoning a portion of the Subject Lands from “Community Commercial (CC) Zone” to “Multiple Residential Ten (RM10) Zone” with site specific provisions to facilitate the development proposal on the Subject Lands.
4The Notice of Affidavit was marked as Exhibit 1.
PARTY and PARTICIPANT STATUS REQUEST
5During the start of the hearing, there were no requests for either Party or Participant Status Request.
HEARING
6Jason Park, Counsel for the Applicant/Appellant, provided background of the application including the Draft Procedural Order (“PO”), including the Issues List which the Tribunal had received prior to the CMC.
7Mr. Park advised that he has had continued discussions with Carlton Thorne, counsel for the City and both agreed they may be calling two expert witnesses each and would be requesting a three-day hearing preferably in April or July due to scheduling conflicts.
8Mr. Thorne agreed with the proposed hearing dates.
9The intent of the Parties is to set a three-day hearing in either April or July 2023. As noted above, according to the Parties, this proposed timeframe will allow witness experts to share their respective reports and to narrow down any outstanding issues prior to the hearing.
MEDIATION
10The Tribunal also informed the Parties of Tribunal-led mediation. The Tribunal advised both Parties that there is an opportunity for the Tribunal to arrange Tribunal-led-mediation if required.
HEARING DATES
11The Tribunal directs that a three-day hearing will be held by video hearing commencing on Wednesday, April 19, 2023, at 10 a.m.
12Parties 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:
GoTo Meeting: https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/692665589
Access code: 692-665-589
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 at: 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. +1 (647) 497-9373 or (Toll-Free) 1(888) 299-1889. The access code is: 692-665-589.
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 will be given.
THE FINALIZATION OF A PROCEDURAL ORDER AND ISSUES LIST
17The Parties on consent provided a draft PO to the Tribunal. The Parties requested an additional two weeks to finalize the PO including the Issues List with all dates to be included in the final Order.
18The Tribunal allowed the Parties to submit to the Tribunal the final draft of the PO including the Issues List by Friday, December 2, 2022.
ORDER
19The Parties do not anticipate the need for a second CMC. The Parties raised no further matters for the fair and expeditious resolution of these appeals.
20The Tribunal Member is not seized and may be spoken to for case management purposes subject to the availability of the Tribunal’s calendar.
21The directions in this Decision are so ordered.
“Eric S. Crowe”
ERIC S. CROWE
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.