Ontario Land Tribunal
Tribunal ontarien de l’aménagement du territoire
ISSUE DATE: July 19, 2022
CASE NO(S).: OLT-22-003093
PROCEEDING COMMENCED UNDER section 53(19) of the Planning Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. P. 13, as amended.
Applicant/Appellant: Nicholas Bigras
Subject: Consent - refused by Approval Authority
Description: Proposes to sever the Subject Property into two lots for the purposes of constructing two single detached dwellings.
Reference Number: B02/2022
Property Address: 1307 Ridgewood Drive
Municipality/UT: Sarnia/Lambton
OLT Case No: OLT-22-003093
OLT Lead Case No: OLT-22-003093
OLT Case Name: Bigras v. Sarnia (City)
Heard: June 21, 2022 by video hearing
APPEARANCES:
Parties
Rick Bigras
Counsel
Paula Lombardi
MEMORANDUM OF ORAL DECISION DELIVERED BY S. BOBKA AND T. PREVEDEL ON JUNE 21, 2022, AND ORDER OF THE TRIBUNAL
INTRODUCTION
1Rick Bigras (“Applicant) owns vacant land located at 1307 Ridgewood Drive (“Subject Property”) in the City of Sarnia (“City”). He applied to the City for consent to sever the Subject Property to create one additional lot. Planning staff recommended the approval of the consent and the Committee of Adjustment (“COA”) denied the Application. The Applicant appealed the decision of the COA to the Tribunal.
2At the Hearing on June 21, 2022, the Tribunal rendered an oral decision granting the Provisional consent, subject to conditions, and the following provides a written memorandum of that oral decision.
SUBJECT PROPERTY AND EFFECT OF PROPOSAL
3The Subject Property currently has an existing single detached dwelling on the site, is approximately 1,262.6 square metres (“sq m”) in size and has an irregular depth of 39.6 metres (“m”) with a frontage of 41.1 m onto Ridgewood Drive.
4The Application proposes to remove the existing dwelling and sever the lot in two with the intent of building a single detached dwelling on each lot. The proposed lots would have the following:
| Approximate Area | Frontage onto Ridgewood Drive | |
|---|---|---|
| Retained lot (northern) | 658.7 sq m | 25.9 m |
| Severed lot (southern) | 603.9 sq m | 15.2 m |
5The Subject Property is designated Urban Residential in the City’s Official Plan (“OP”) and zoned Urban Residential 1 (UR1) in Zoning By-law No. 85 of 2002 (“ZBL”). It is noted that the proposed lots and building envelopes comply with all requirements of the UR1 zone and would not require any minor variances.
LEGISLATIVE FRAMEWORK
6With respect to the Appeal under s. 53(19) of the Planning Act (“Act”), in order to determine whether provisional consent should be granted (with such conditions that may be required), the Tribunal must:
a) be satisfied that a plan of subdivision is not necessary for the proper and orderly development of the Town and can proceed by way of application for consent;
b) if the Tribunal is satisfied that a plan of subdivision is not necessary, regard must then be given to the criteria set out in s. 51(24) of the [Act](https://www.canlii.org/en/on/laws/stat/rso-1990-c-p13/latest/rso