Ontario Land Tribunal
Tribunal ontarien de l’aménagement du territoire
ISSUE DATE: October 24, 2023
CASE NO(S).: OLT-23-000729
PROCEEDING COMMENCED UNDER subsection 34.1(1) of the Ontario Heritage Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. O.18. as amended
Applicant/Appellant: Southbridge Health Care GP Inc., CVH (NO. 6) GP INC., CVH (NO. 6) LP
Subject: Refusal of application to demolish a building or structure
Description: Applied for Heritage Permit to demolish the buildings and structures to construct a new 192-bed long term care home.
Reference Number: 2023-12
Property Address: 65 Ward Street, 36-38 Hope Street & 20 Hope Street
Municipality/UT: Port Hope/Northumberland
OLT Case No: OLT-23-000729
OLT Lead Case No: OLT-23-000729
OLT Case Name: Southbridge Health Care GP Inc., CVH (NO. 6) GP INC., CVH (NO. 6) LP v. Port Hope (Municipality)
Heard: October 13, 2023 via Video Hearing
APPEARANCES:
Parties
Counsel
Southbridge Health Care GP Inc. (amalgamated with CVH (No. 6) GP Inc.) and CVH (No. 6) LP
David Tang Thomas Sanderson
Municipality of Port Hope
Jennifer Savini
MEMORANDUM OF ORAL DECISION DELIVERED ON BY S. deBOER AND D. COLBOURNE ON OCTOBER 13, 2023, AND ORDER OF THE TRIBUNAL
INTRODUCTION
1This Decision arises from the first Case Management Conference (“CMC”) held in preparation for a hearing of the merits of the Appeal by Southbridge Health Care GP Inc. (amalgamated with CVH (No. 6) GP Inc.) and CVH (No. 6) LP (“Appellant”) pursuant to s. 34.1(1) of the Ontario Heritage Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. O.18, as amended (“Act”), against the Municipality of Port Hope’s (“Municipality”) decision to deny the Demolition Permit for the properties municipally known as 65 Ward Street, 36-38 Hope Street and 20 Hope Street (“Subject Properties”).
2The purpose of this CMC is twofold. First, to approve the Parties and Participants that are to be involved in the merits hearing, secondly, to authorize a Procedural Order (“PO”) and Issues List (“IL”) that is to be used to govern the merits hearing.
BACKGROUND
3The purpose of the Heritage Permit was to allow the demolishment of the buildings and structures on the Subject Properties in order to construct a new 192-bed long term care home.
4The history of the permit application process dates back to 2018 and includes inter alia a decision in 2019 on the heritage designation by the Tribunal previously known as the Conservation Review Board.
5In February 2022, the Municipality approved the issuance of a permit for the demolition of the Subject Properties subject to conditions. In December 2022, the Municipality started the process to repeal the Demolition Permit due to the municipality not approving the Zoning By-law Amendment needed as a condition of the Development Agreement.
6On June 3, 2023, the Appellant made another Permit Application based on the revised development that was submitted to the Municipality. On June 9, 2023, the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing (“Ministry”) issued a Ministerial Zoning Order (“MZO”) in respect to the Subject Properties to allow for the 2023 Revised Development.
7On June 29, 2023, Port Hope Council denied the 2023 Permit Application. The Appellant appealed the decision of Council to the Tribunal.
PARTY REQUESTS
8The Tribunal did not receive any further requests for Party status at the CMC.
PARTICIPANT REQUESTS
9The Tribunal had received three Participant requests before the CMC. The Tribunal approved the following to be Participants for the Merits Hearing:
a) Anthony Jenkins
b) Jenny Munro
c) Bruce Bowden on behalf of the Architectural Conservancy of Ontario.
10There were no objections by the Parties to the Participant requests, as such, the Tribunal granted participant status to these individuals. However, in the case of Mr. Bowden, he is to provide to the Parties and the Tribunal authorization of his representation of the ACO concerning this matter.
11The Appellant requested that once the PO and IL is finalized, that the Participant’s statements be focused on the issues that were approved and before the Tribunal for the Hearing of the Merits.
12The Tribunal ruled that once the IL is approved, that the Participant Statements would be focused on the approved issues and any scoping of outside of the issues would not be taken into account when considering the Participant Statements.
MOTION REQUEST
13The Tribunal was notified prior to the CMC that the Appellant may be filing a Motion concerning the previously approved demolition permit. The Appellant made a request to have a Motion heard as soon as possible understanding the need to notice to the Party and Participants concerning the Motion.
PROCEDURAL ORDER AND ISSUES LIST
14A draft PO and IL were received by the Tribunal prior to the commencement of the CMC. The Parties agreed that the issues may become clearer once a decision is rendered on the Motion.
OPPORTUNITIES FOR RESOLUTION
15The Parties confirmed that they had received correspondence notifying them that Tribunal-led Mediation is available if this would be agreeable to the Parties. Both Parties stated that tribunal-led mediation was not contemplated at this time.
SCHEDULING OF HEARINGS
16The Tribunal has scheduled a hearing for the Motion to occur by video on Thursday November 23, 2023, at 10 a.m. The purpose