Ontario Land Tribunal
Tribunal ontarien de l’aménagement du territoire
ISSUE DATE: May 12, 2022
CASE NO(S).: OLT-22-001910
PROCEEDING COMMENCED UNDER subsection 41(12) of the Planning Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. P.13, as amended
Referred by: Melrose Investments Inc.
Subject: Site Plan
Property Address/Description: 3518 Wyecroft Road
Municipality: Town of Oakville
OLT Case No.: OLT-22-001910
OLT Lead Case No.: OLT-22-001910
OLT Case Name: Melrose Investments Inc. v. Oakville (Town)
Heard: May 9, 2022, by video hearing
APPEARANCES:
Parties Counsel
Melrose Investments Inc. Russell Cheeseman Stephanie Fleming, co-counsel
Town of Oakville Denis Perlin
DECISION DELIVERED D. CHIPMAN AND ORDER OF THE TRIBUNAL
INTRODUCTION AND CONTEXT
1The matter before the Tribunal is an appeal pursuant to section 41(12) of the Planning Act (“Act”) with respect to the failure of the Town of Oakville (“Town”) to make a decision on a site plan application filed by Melrose Investments Inc. (“Appellant”).
2The Appellant proposes to develop one industrial building of approximately 4,276.90 square metres (“m²”) accompanied by internal accessory office areas of approximately 375.47 m² and 146.14 m². There is also a proposed outdoor storage area at the rear of the lot encompassing approximately 2.98 acres.
3The Subject Property is municipally known as 3518 Wyecroft Road in the Town of Oakville (“subject property”).
REQUEST FOR PARTY STATUS
4The Tribunal received a request for party status from the Regional Municipality of Halton (“Region”). The appeal is related to lands located within the Region and in order to ensure its interests would be appropriately addressed, the Region sought to be added as a party. The Town and the Appellant consented, and the Tribunal accordingly granted party status to the Region.
5No other requests for party or participant status were received by the Tribunal.
HEARING REQUEST
6It was explained that the Appellant has agreed to some of the conditions of site plan approval imposed by the Town and the Region, with a few of them remaining in dispute as identified by asterisk in, Attachment 1, to this decision.
7In support of the application and to inform the Tribunal of items outstanding, the Tribunal heard contextual and land use planning testimony from Paul Lowes, who was qualified without objection to provide independent expert opinion evidence in relation to the matter under appeal.
8Mr. Lowes provided an overview of applicable portions of the Official Plans of the Region and the Town and opined that the proposed interim Site Plan conforms to both. In addition, he reviewed applicable portions of the Town of Oakville Zoning By-law and opined that the interim site plan is in accordance with the provisions therein. Mr. Lowes further testified that, in his opinion, the conditions listed were reasonable and appropriate. He explained in detail, the effects of the items identified by asterisk as being outstanding and proposed a resolution by which each item could be resolved.
9Counsel for the Town requested that at this stage the Tribunal provide conditional approval of the Site Plan pending all conditions be resolved inclusive of those identified with an asterisk on the Site Plan Conditions List to the satisfaction of the Director of Planning. Should a resolution not be attained, the total of the Site Plan Conditions List will represent the subject matter of the hearing before the Tribunal.
10On the basis of the uncontested evidence of Mr. Lowes and the agreement of the parties with respect to the interim form of the site plan, the Tribunal is satisfied it is appropriate to provide a conditional Interim Order of the Site Plan, appended as Exhibit 7 to this Decision and Order, subject to final approval and such modification of the plans and drawings which may be required following the Tribunal’s determination of the hearing on the merits and the final form of the Site Plan.
FUTURE HEARING OF CONDITIONS
11At the request of the parties, the Tribunal will maintain jurisdiction in the matter until finalization of the Site Plan Approval of the subject property. With respect to the final form of the Site Plan and the conditions, the Tribunal scheduled a one-day video hearing which will commence at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, August 16, 2022.
12Parties 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:
https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/638422541
Access code: 638-422-541
13Parties 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.
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: (Toll Free): 1-888 -455-1389 or +1 (647) 497-9391 The access code is: 638-422-541.
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.
PROCEDURAL ORDER/ISSUES LIST
16The parties will submit a draft Procedural Order (“PO”) to govern the hearing on the merits, which will be reviewed and revised by the Tribunal as follows:
a) the parties will file with the Tribunal an agreed statement of facts, the List of Conditions in dispute and issues relating to those conditions (“Issues List”), as well as a copy of the final form of the Site Plan which will be adjudicated upon at the Tuesday, August 16, 2022, hearing no later than Friday, July 29, 2022.
INTERIM ORDER
17In addition, and to further the Case Management directives set out above, the Tribunal makes the following Interim Order:
a) The Regional Municipality of Halton is a party to the proceeding;
b) The Interim Site Plan prepared by Baldassarra Architects Inc. issued for submission to the Tribunal, and set out in Exhibit 7 to this Order is conditional on the approval of all conditions set out in Attachment A to this Order;
c) A one-day video hearing will commence at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, August 16, 2022, in relation to the final approved Site Plan, the final form of conditions in this proceeding;
d) No further notice will be given
e) This Member is not seized.
“D. Chipman”
D. CHIPMAN
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.