Ontario Land Tribunal
Tribunal ontarien de l’aménagement du territoire
ISSUE DATE: January 17, 2022
CASE NO(S).: PL200556
PROCEEDING COMMENCED UNDER subsection 17(36) of the Planning Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. P.13, as amended
Appellant: 1186675 Ontario Ltd.
Appellant: Daniel Aquino
Appellant: Bushland Heights Limited
Appellant: Jessica Ferri; and others
Subject: Township of King (Our King) Official Plan, 2019
Municipality: Township of King
OLT Case No.: PL200556
OLT File No.: PL200556
OLT Case Name: Aquino v. King (Township)
Heard: January 7, 2022 by Telephone Conference Call
APPEARANCES:
| Parties | Counsel |
|---|---|
| Bushland Heights Limited, Daniel Aquino, Via-Ru Limited and 1186675 Ontario Ltd. | Steven Ferri |
| Stateview Homes (High Crown Estates) Inc. Yellow Horizon Homes Ltd. | Natalie Ast |
| Nobleton 2715 Developments Inc. | Meaghan McDermid |
| Flato Developments Inc. Wyview Group | Katarzyna Sliwa |
| Regional Municipality of York | Pittman Patterson, Lee English |
| Township of King | Tom Halinski, Jasmine Fraser |
MEMORANDUM OF ORAL DECISION DELIVERED BY M. RUSSO ON JANUARY 7, 2022 AND ORDER OF THE TRIBUNAL
INTRODUCTION
1The matter before the Ontario Land Tribunal (the “Tribunal”) is with respect to the appeals under s. 17(36) of the Planning Act as a result of the decision by the Regional Municipality of York (“Region”) to approve the new Official Plan for the Township of King (the “Township”) subject to various modifications.
2A first Case Management Conference (“CMC”) was held May 11, 2021 and a second CMC September 21, 2021 on the matter. Some additional case management requirements still required attention; thus, this Telephone Conference Call (the “TCC”) was scheduled.
THE TELEPHONE CONFERENCE CALL (“TCC”)
3A brief role call of the Parties and counsel was conducted by the Tribunal to establish who was present and the representation of the Parties.
4The main purpose of the call and the struggle thus far was to establish the time and dates for the second phase of the hearing and matter.
5The Parties had been working through the Case Coordinator to establish mutually acceptable and available dates to convene the second phase and had provided as directed at the second CMC, a Draft Procedural Order (the “DPO”) on consent for the Tribunal’s approval (with the exception of the second phase dates included, which has thus far delayed the approval of the DPO).
6Tom Halinski, counsel for the Township, provided the Tribunal:
i. An updated table, indicating the unavailable dates that Counsel has put forward, causing the issue at hand.
7Mr. Halinski also shared with the Tribunal that there are two main issues beyond just the availability issues of Counsel that are also relevant to the phase two component of this hearing:
i. One is that some of the Parties may not have issues or limited issues to be dealt with in the second phase. Therefore, discussions amongst Counsel has occurred to potentially structure the second phase or provide dates that may work for the majority of the Parties and have the Parties that may have limited issues either provide evidence at the onset or the tail end of the potential 15-Day second phase hearing proposed.
ii. Secondly, events forthcoming in the upcoming months and issues that will be going before Township Council may settle issues for certain Parties, or again scale back the number of issues that will be contested, potentially reducing the number of days needed for the phase two hearing, possibly aiding in availability of Counsel.
8Pittman Patterson, Katarzyna Sliwa and Meaghan McDermid echoed the sentiments of Mr. Halinski, and expanded with some difficulties their Counsel teams have had on providing availability, which included multiple bookings of those dates already in place and some Counsel retiring or unavailable, limiting the Counsel teams to whom are able to be present for those dates.
9Counsel, did however, collectively recognize that this matter was in the hands of the Tribunal and much time has passed since the Tribunal provided the Parties the latitude to come to a consensus and provide a mutually available time period and set of dates for the second phase hearing to be held, which has not occurred.
10Mr. Halinski further expressed that this matter is of great importance to all the Parties but highlighted that continued delay will create a prejudice to the Township and possibly other Parties involved as well.
DISPOSITION
11Having considered the discussion during the TCC and having regard to Counsel’s availability discussed, but putting weight on the importance of the matter at hand for all Parties, and the time that has already passed and potentially may pass without some definitive dates selected and secured within the Tribunal’s calendar, the Tribunal has determined the following:
i. A further TCC will be scheduled following the dates that Counsel have indicated that certain matters may be going before Township Council that may impact the issues for the phase two hearing.
ii. The Tribunal having consideration for the time limitations provided by Counsel and their availability constrains has chosen to split the phase two hearing and accommodate the majority and provide the Parties the ability to devise strategies, as to the order of evidence and if and when the Parties will be involved or not pending further discussions at the next TCC, that will predate the commencement of the phase two hearings.
ORDER
12The Tribunal orders a status hearing and update by TCC and is scheduled to commence at 9 a.m. on Friday, April 1, 2022 for one (1) day Individuals are directed to call 416-212-8012 or 1-866-633-0848 on the assigned date at the correct time. When prompted, enter the code 1006967# to be connected to the call. It is the responsibility of the persons participating in the call to ensure that they properly connected to the call and at the correct time. Questions prior to the call may be directed to the Case Coordinator.
13The Tribunal orders the first part of the phase two hearing by video and is scheduled to commence at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, September 6, 2022 for four (4) days.
14The Tribunal orders the second part of the phase two hearing by video and is scheduled to commence at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, October 11, 2022 for nine (9) days, as follows:
Tuesday, September 6, 2022 at 10 a.m.
GoTo Meeting: https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/157959205
Access code: 157-959-205 Audio-only telephone line: +1 (647) 497-9373 or (Toll-Free) 1(888) 299-1889 Audio-only access code: same as indicated above Tuesday, October 11, 2022 at 10 a.m. GoTo Meeting: https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/194746589 Access code: 194-746-589 Audio-only telephone line: +1 (647) 497-9373 or (Toll-Free) 1(888) 299-1889 Audio-only access code: same as indicated above
15Parties and participants 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.
16Parties 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: https://app.gotomeeting.com/home.html
17Persons 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.
18Individuals 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 events may be directed to the Tribunal’s Case Coordinator having carriage of this case.
19In the event that the Parties collectively and on consent determine that fewer hearing dates are required than have been provided by the Tribunal for the phase two hearing, Counsel will provide notice to the Tribunal in writing at the earliest possible time.
20The Member is not seized but subject to the availability of the Tribunal calendar can be available for the purpose of the April 1, 2022 TCC.
21No further notice of the above noted hearing events is required.
“M. Russo”
M. RUSSO
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.