Far Sight Investments Ltd. et al v. New Tecumseth (Town), 2022 CanLII 85553

Ontario Land Tribunal

Tribunal ontarien de l’aménagement du territoire

ISSUE DATE: September 13, 2022

CASE NO(S).: OLT-22-002188

PROCEEDING COMMENCED UNDER section 14 of the Development Charges Act, 1997, S.O. 1997, c. 27

Appellant: Far Sight Investments Ltd. et al

Subject: Development Charges By-law No. 2021-165

Municipality: Town of New Tecumseth

OLT Lead Case No.: OLT-22-002188

OLT Case No.: OLT-22-002188

Case Name: Far Sight Investments Ltd. et al v. New Tecumseth (Town)

Heard: September 7, 2022 by video hearing

APPEARANCES:

Parties

Counsel

Far Sight Investments Limited; Honeyfield Communities Inc.; Devonleigh Land Inc.; First View Homes (Scarborough) Inc.; Beeton Meadows Holdings Inc.; and 1204551 Ontario Limited (collectively the “Landowners” / “Appellants”)

Robert Howe

Town of New Tecumseth (“Town”)

James Feehely

MEMORANDUM OF ORAL DECISION DELIVERED BY WILLIAM R. MIDDLETON ON SEPTEMBER 7, 2022 AND ORDER OF THE TRIBUNAL

INTRODUCTION

1The Tribunal held a Case Management Conference (“CMC”) by video hearing (“VH”) on September 7, 2022. No person or entity other than the Parties sought status at the CMC.

2This proceeding relates to an appeal commenced by the Appellants of the Town’s Development Charge By-law No. 2021-165 (“DC By-law”) under section 14 of the Development Charges Act, 1997, S.O. 1997, c. 27.

3At the VH, the Parties’ counsel submitted on consent a draft Procedural Order (“PO”) and made a joint request for a ten-day hearing to be scheduled by the Tribunal on dates in 2023. The Appellant’s counsel also indicated that he expected to provide a further detailed list of projects subject to the DC By-law and a list of related questions to the counsel for the Town – however, neither counsel expected this to materially impact the Issues List set out in the draft PO.

4The Tribunal has scheduled the hearing of this Appeal to commence on July 10, 2023 at 10 a.m. by video hearing for a period of ten days ending July 21, 2023.

GoTo Meeting: https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/909787981

Audio-only telephone line: +1 (647) 497-9391 or (Toll-Free) 1(888) 455-1389

Access code: 909-787-981

5Parties 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:

6Parties 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

7Persons 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 provided above.

8Individuals 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.

ORDER

9The Tribunal Orders that the Procedural Order appended hereto as Attachment 1 shall govern this Appeal.

10The Parties shall contact the Tribunal in writing in the event that they seek a further Case Management Conference or otherwise require the assistance of the Tribunal.

“William R. Middleton”

WilLIAM R. MIDDLETON

MEMBER

Ontario Land Tribunal

Website: www.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.

ATTACHMENT 1

ONTARIO LAND TRIBUNAL

Tribunal ontarien de l’aménagement du territoire

CASE NO(S).: OLT-22-002188

PROCEEDING COMMENCED UNDER section 14 of the Development Charges Act, 1997, S.O. 1997, c. 27

Appellant: Far Sight Investments Ltd. et al

Subject: Development Charges By-law No. 2021-165

Municipality: Town of New Tecumseth

OLT Lead Case No.: OLT-22-002188

OLT Case No.: OLT-22-002188

Case Name: Far Sight Investments Ltd. et al v. New Tecumseth (Town)

PROCEDURAL ORDER

1. The Tribunal may vary or add to the directions in this procedural order at any time by an oral ruling or by another written order, either on the parties’ request or its own motion.

Organization of the Hearing

2. The video hearing will begin on Monday, July 10, 2023 at 10:00 a.m.

GoTo Meeting: https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/909787981

Audio-only telephone line: +1 (647) 497-9391 or (Toll-Free) 1(888) 455-1389

Access code: 909-787-981

3. The length of the hearing is ten (10) days. The parties are expected to cooperate to reduce the length of the hearing by eliminating redundant evidence and attempting to reach settlements on issues where possible.

4. The parties and participants identified at the case management conference are set out in Attachment 1 (see the sample procedural order for the meaning of these terms).

5. The issues are set out in the Issues List attached as Attachment 2. There will be no changes to this list unless the Tribunal permits, and a party who asks for changes may have costs awarded against it.

6. The order of evidence shall be as set out in Attachment 3 to this Order. The Tribunal may limit the amount of time allocated for opening statements, evidence in chief (including the qualification of witnesses), cross-examination, evidence in reply and final argument. The length of written argument, if any, may be limited either on the parties’ consent, subject to the Tribunal’s approval, or by Order of the Tribunal.

7. Any person intending to participate in the hearing should provide a mailing address, email address and a telephone number to the Tribunal as soon as possible – ideally before the case management conference. Any person who will be retaining a representative should advise the other parties and the Tribunal of the representative’s name, address, email address and the phone number as soon as possible.

8. Any person who intends to participate in the hearing, including parties, counsel and witnesses, is expected to review the Tribunal’s Video Hearing Guide, available on the Tribunal’s website.

Requirements Before the Hearing

9. A party who intends to call witnesses, whether by summons or not, shall provide to the Tribunal and the other parties a list of the witnesses and the order in which they will be called. This list must be delivered on or before April 11, 2023 and in accordance with paragraph 22 below. A party who intends to call an expert witness must include a copy of the witness’ Curriculum Vitae and the area of expertise in which the witness is prepared to be qualified.

10. Expert witnesses in the same field shall have a meeting on or before May 11, 2023 and use best efforts to try to resolve or reduce the issues for the hearing. Following the experts’ meeting the parties must prepare and file a Statement of Agreed Facts and Issues with the OLT case co-ordinator on or before June 25, 2023.

11. An expert witness shall prepare an expert witness statement, which shall list any reports prepared by the expert, or any other reports or documents to be relied on at the hearing. Copies of this must be provided as in paragraph 13 below. Instead of a witness statement, the expert may file his or her entire report if it contains the required information. If this is not done, the Tribunal may refuse to hear the expert’s testimony.

12. Expert witnesses who are under summons but not paid to produce a report do not have to file an expert witness statement; but the party calling them must file a brief outline of the expert’s evidence as in paragraph 13 below. A party who intends to call a witness who is not an expert must file a brief outline of the witness’ evidence, as in paragraph 13 below.

13. On or before May 26, 2023, the parties shall provide copies of their expert witness statements to the other parties and to the OLT case co-ordinator and in accordance with paragraph 22 below.

14. On or before May 26, 2023, a participant shall provide copies of their written participant statement to the other parties in accordance with paragraph 22 below. A participant cannot present oral submissions at the hearing on the content of their written statement, unless ordered by the Tribunal.

15. On or before June 5, 2023 the parties shall confirm with the Tribunal if all the reserved hearing dates are still required.

16. On or before June 26, 2023 the parties shall provide copies of their visual evidence to all of the other parties in accordance with paragraph 22 below. If a model will be used, all parties must have a reasonable opportunity to view it before the hearing.

17. Parties may provide to all other parties and the OLT case co-ordinator a written response to any written evidence on or before June 16, 2023 after the evidence is received and in accordance with paragraph 22 below.

18. The parties shall cooperate to prepare a joint document book which shall be shared with the OLT case co-ordinator on or before June 26, 2023.

19. A person wishing to change written evidence, including witness statements, must make a written motion to the Tribunal. See Rule 10 of the Tribunal’s Rules with respect to Motions, which requires that the moving party provide copies of the motion to all other parties 15 days before the Tribunal hears the motion.

20. A party who provides written evidence of a witness to the other parties must have the witness attend the hearing to give oral evidence, unless the party notifies the Tribunal at least 7 days before the hearing that the written evidence is not part of their record.

21. The parties shall prepare and file a preliminary hearing plan with the Tribunal on or before July 3, 2023 with a proposed schedule for the hearing that identifies, as a minimum, the parties participating in the hearing, the preliminary matters (if any to be addressed), the anticipated order of evidence, the date each witness is expected to attend, the anticipated length of time for evidence to be presented by each witness in chief, cross-examination and re-examination (if any) and the expected length of time for final submissions. The parties are expected to ensure that the hearing proceeds in an efficient manner and in accordance with the hearing plan. The Tribunal may, at its discretion, change or alter the hearing plan at any time in the course of the hearing.

22. All filings shall be submitted electronically and in hard copy. Electronic copies may be filed by email, an electronic file sharing service for documents that exceed 10MB in size, or as otherwise directed by the Tribunal. The delivery of documents by email shall be governed by the Rule 7.

23. No adjournments or delays will be granted before or during the hearing except for serious hardship or illness. The Tribunal’s Rule 17 applies to such requests.

ATTACHMENT 1

PARTIES

The Corporation of the Town of New Tecumseth

Far Sight Investments Limited Honeyfield Communities Inc. Devonleigh Land Inc. First View Homes (Scarborough) Inc. Beeton Meadows Holdings Inc. 1204551 Ontario Limited (collectively the “Landowners”)

ATTACHMENT 2

ISSUES LIST

1. Was the development charge calculation based on an appropriate forecast of population and employment?

2. Are the capital costs used in the development charge calculations for services related to a highway appropriate?

3. Do the development charge calculations for services related to a highway provide for an appropriate allocation to benefit to existing development?

4. Do the development charge calculations for services related to a highway provide for an appropriate allocation to post period development?

5. Do the development charge calculations for wastewater services provide for an appropriate allocation to benefit to existing development?

6. Do the development charge calculations for wastewater services provide for an appropriate allocation to post period development?

7. Does the background study appropriately allocate the benefit of wastewater services between residential and non-residential development?

8. Are the capital costs used in the development charge calculations for water capacity services appropriate?

9. Do the development charge calculations for water services provide for an appropriate allocation to benefit to existing development?

10. Do the development charge calculations for water services provide for an appropriate allocation to post period development?

11. Does the background study appropriately allocate the benefit of water services between residential and non-residential development?

12. Are the components and replacement costs used to calculate the historic service level for parks and recreation services appropriate?

13. Are the capital costs used in the development charge calculations for parks and recreation services appropriate?

14. Is the funding of staff salaries through the development charge appropriate?

Attachment 3

ORDER OF EVIDENCE

The Landowners

Town of New Tecumseth

Reply by the Landowners