Ontario Land Tribunal
Tribunal ontarien de l’aménagement du territoire
ISSUE DATE:
December 15, 2022
CASE NO(S).:
OLT-21-001158
PROCEEDING COMMENCED UNDER subsection 22(1) of the Development Charges Act, S. O. 1997, c. 27, as amended
Appellant:
Hamount Investments Ltd.
Subject:
Development Charges By-law No. 2021-42
Municipality:
Town of Wasaga Beach
OLT Case No.:
OLT-21-001158
OLT Lead Case No.:
OLT-21-001158
OLT Case Name:
Hamount Investments Ltd. v. Wasaga Beach
(Town)
Heard:
November 15, 2022 by Telephone Conference Call
APPEARANCES:
Parties
Counsel
Hamount Investments Ltd.
John Alati
(“Appellant”)
Alex Lusty
Town of Wasaga Beach
Sarah Hahn
(“Town”)
Carly Emmett
MEMORANDUM OF ORAL DECISION DELIVERED BY DAVID L. LANTHIER ON NOVEMBER 15, 2022 AND ORDER OF THE TRIBUNAL
1The hearing of this Appeal pursuant to s. 14 of the Development Charges Act, 1997, in relation to Development Charge By-law No. 2021-42, was previously case managed and scheduled for a nine-day hearing to commence on November 7, 2022. Prior to the commencement of the hearing, the Tribunal was advised, optimistically it now appears, that the Parties had reached a settlement. The Parties requested, and the Tribunal confirmed, that a one-day settlement hearing would be conducted on November 7, 2022. That was deferred to later in the week but eventually, the Parties communicated to the Tribunal that they were unable to agree on the terms, and they appeared at this status hearing for the purposes of rescheduling the hearing.
2Upon inquiry by the Panel, the Parties confirmed that it would not be necessary to issue a revised Procedural Order for the rescheduled hearing as all pre-hearing filings and deliveries had been completed, save and except for the delivery of the Hearing Plan.
3Upon inquiry from the Panel, counsel advised that they were in agreement that only a five-day hearing would now be required. It was also confirmed that a further Case Management/Status Hearing Telephone Conference Call (“TCC”) hearing would be conducted approximately 45 days prior to the start of the hearing for the purposes of reviewing a draft Hearing Plan to be delivered approximately ten days prior to the TCC.
4After receiving conflict dates, the Tribunal set both hearing events on the calendar and the dates were communicated to all counsel immediately following the attendance. The new dates for the hearing of the Appeal, the TCC, the delivery of the Hearing Plan and the coordinates for the hearings are set out below in this Decision.
TCC STATUS HEARING, DRAFT HEARING PLAN AND WRITTEN SETTLEMENT HEARING
5For the purposes of the pre-hearing TCC Status Hearing on Friday, May 5, 2023, the Parties are to jointly provide a draft Hearing Plan to the Tribunal on or before Wednesday, April 26, 2023, setting out the anticipated order and schedule of witnesses, the estimated time frames for the evidence-in-chief, cross- and re-examination for all scheduled witnesses, as well as the time allotted for opening and closing submissions and any anticipated preliminary motions or matters.
6If a settlement is achieved at any time prior to the TCC, the Parties will advise the Tribunal accordingly so that hearing dates may be released from the Tribunal’s calendar. In the event of a settlement, as the Parties have jointly requested, the consideration of the settlement and the request for all required orders will be presented through a written hearing to be coordinated through the Tribunal’s Case Coordinator.
7The TCC Case Management/Status Hearing to review the draft hearing plan and address any other matters relating to the hearing, will commence at 9 a.m. on Friday, May 5, 2023, with the following dial-in instructions:
Individual(s) are directed to call (416) 212-8012 or (Toll Free) 1-866-633-0848. When prompted, enter the code 477874# to be connected to the call.
HEARING
8The five-day video hearing of the Appeal will commence at 10 a.m. on Monday, July 31, 2023, and continue to Friday, August 4, 2023.
9The Parties 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/914098901
Access Code: 914-098-901
10All Parties, witnesses or observers 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.
11Persons 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 1-888-299-1889 or +1 (647) 497-9373. The access codes are as indicated above.
12Individuals are directed to connect to the video hearing on the assigned date at the correct time. It is the responsibility of the persons participating in the hearing 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.
13There will be no further notice with respect to each of the two hearing events, and the Panel Member is not seized.
14The Tribunal so orders and provides these directives for the purposes of the case management of this Appeal.
“David L. Lanthier”
DAVID L. LANTHIER
VICE-CHAIR
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.