Ontario Land Tribunal
Tribunal ontarien de l’aménagement du territoire
ISSUE DATE:
February 10, 2023
CASE NO(S).:
OLT-22-004314
PROCEEDING COMMENCED UNDER subsection 22(7) of the Planning Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. P. 13, as amended
Applicant/Appellant:
Hollis Dev LP
Subject:
Failure of Approval Authority to announce a decision respecting a Proposed Official Plan Amendment
Description:
to permit a 45-storey, 596 unit development
Reference Number:
21 177934 WET 05 OZ
Property Address:
11-23 Hollis Street
Municipality/UT:
Toronto/Toronto
OLT Case No:
OLT-22-004314
OLT Lead Case No:
OLT-22-004314
OLT Case Name:
Hollis Dev LP v. Toronto (City)
PROCEEDING COMMENCED UNDER subsection 34(11) of the Planning Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. P. 13, as amended
Subject:
Application to amend the Zoning By-law – Refusal or neglect to make a decision
Description:
to permit a 45-storey, 596 unit development
Reference Number:
21 177934 WET 05 OZ
Property Address:
11-23 Hollis Street
Municipality/UT:
Toronto/Toronto
OLT Case No:
OLT-22-004315
OLT Lead Case No:
OLT-22-004314
PROCEEDING COMMENCED UNDER subsection 34(11) of the Planning Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. P. 13, as amended
Subject:
Application to amend the Zoning By-law – Refusal or neglect to make a decision
Description:
to permit a 45-storey, 596 unit development
Reference Number:
21 177934 WET 05 OZ
Property Address:
11-23 Hollis Street
Municipality/UT:
Toronto/Toronto
OLT Case No:
OLT-22-004316
OLT Lead Case No:
OLT-22-004314
PROCEEDING COMMENCED UNDER Section 12(1) of the Ontario Land Tribunal Act 2021, S.O. 2021, c. 4, Sched. 6 and Rule 10 of the Tribunal’s Rules of Practice and Procedure
Request by:
Hollis Dev LP
Request for:
Request for Directions
Heard:
November 23, 2023 by Video Hearing
APPEARANCES:
Parties
Counsel
Hollis Dev LP (“Applicant”)
Michael Foderick
Daniel Angelucci
City of Toronto (“City”)
Nathan Muscat
Jessica Jakubowski
MEMORANDUM OF ORAL DECISION DELIVERED BY DAVID L. LANTHIER on NOVEMBER 23, 2022 AND ORDER OF THE TRIBUNAL
PRELIMINARY
1This Case Management Conference (“CMC”) was the first in these Appeals which relate to applications for a proposed residential development at 11-23 Hollis Street in the City of Toronto, for which no decision was rendered by Council.
2The Tribunal received and marked two Affidavits of Service of the Notice of CMC sworn by Robert Jefferson: Exhibit 1 is the Affidavit of Service of Mr. Jefferson sworn November 7, 2022, as to the service of the Notice of this CMC by regular mail; and Exhibit 2 is the second Affidavit of Service of Mr. Jefferson sworn November 22, 2022, as to the service of the Notice of this CMC by email.
3The Tribunal also received a Notice of Motion filed by the Applicant returnable on this date, which is addressed below.
REQUESTS FOR STATUS
4The Tribunal received only one request for Participant status from Ms. Zoriana Dutczak, and without objection, status was granted. There were no requests for Party status.
MEDIATION AND/OR OPPORTUNITIES SETTLEMENT
5In response to inquiries, the Tribunal was advised that the Parties may explore private mediation through Global Resolutions and intend to continue settlement discussions. The City indicated that it was prepared to work constructively in this regard but will otherwise move forward proactively to schedule hearing dates and finalize the Procedural Order and Issues List without delay.
“THE FRIENDLY MOTION”, PROCEDURAL ORDER AND HEARING DATES
Unnecessary “Friendly Motion” to secure a Procedural Order and Hearing Dates
6Prior to the CMC, the Panel received a draft Procedural Order from Applicant’s counsel. Also served and filed was a Notice of Motion to secure a Procedural Order with the explanation that the “Motion attempts to ensure that the case management conference proceeds in accordance with the Rules – namely that…a procedural order is settled (including the issues list) and that the hearing dates are set”.
7With some coincidence, counsel for the Applicant filed a similar type of “friendly motion” in another proceeding requesting that same “relief” and appeared before this Panel Member over a year ago (i2 Developments (Old Weston) Inc. v. Toronto (City), 2022 CanLII 56421 (ON LT), PL210041 issued June 24, 2021). Some “ink was spilled” by this Panel Member in that decision on the subject of what was, and still is, a wholly unnecessary motion and something that is not welcomed by the Tribunal. The “abundance of caution” reasoning for bringing the Motion was again provided by counsel for this Applicant, but it is simply not persuasive.
8As it appears necessary to make the point yet again: A motion to the Tribunal on a CMC, in the form now before the Tribunal, to secure exactly that which the Tribunal is already mandated to do, and does do, under its home statute and Rules, should not be brought at any first CMC. Such a motion is unnecessary, a waste of time and resources, and does not further the goal of effective and efficient case management. To repeat this Panel Member’s comments:
In situations such as this one, proactive steps by the Applicant to prepare a first draft of the Procedural Order and initiate the pre-CMC discussions regarding the form of the Issues List should be sufficient to ready the Parties and expedite the issuance of the Procedural Order. The Tribunal continues to hold firmly to the expectation that parties, both statutory and added, should be prepared to comply with Rule 19.2 and speak to the scheduling of the hearing as soon as they are in a position to do so, in furtherance of the Tribunal’s efficient case management processes. Whether this can be done at the first CMC will remain to determined based on the circumstances of each appeal that comes before the Tribunal.
9This CMC preceded amendments to the Tribunal’s home statute under Bill 23. In the case of a future unnecessary, unproductive, and thus unsuccessful, motion to have the Tribunal do what it is already required to do under s. 15 of the Ontario Land Tribunal Act (“OLTA”) and the Tribunal’s Rules of Practice and Procedure, the Tribunal’s discretion to consider the matter of costs may possibly include a consideration of s. 20 of the OLTA, which, as proclaimed in force, includes the power to order an unsuccessful party to pay a successful party’s costs.
10The Motion, as unnecessary, and unsuccessful, is dismissed.
Procedural Order and Issues List
11The Tribunal reviewed the draft of the Procedural Order provided by the Applicant for initial consideration which, in the absence of an Issues List, or dates, was not in a complete form.
12The City has indicated it fully intends to compile a full and complete Issues List for the purposes of aiding the issuance of a Procedural Order and is committed to doing so. With timing issues at play, the City indicated that the completion of a community meeting on February 9, 2023 would, with advance preparation allow for the delivery of the Issues List to the Applicant not later than a deadline of Friday, February 10, 2023.
13The final draft of the Procedural Order and Issues List, populated with all dates in accordance with the hearing dates now provided, is to be delivered to the Tribunal for final review and approval on or before Monday, February 13, 2023.
Hearing Dates and Final Pre-Hearing Case Management Conference
14The City was agreeable to scheduling hearing dates without delay upon the expectation that the Procedural Order would be issued by the second or third week of February as indicated. The Tribunal canvassed availability and the anticipated length of hearing with counsel. The Tribunal provided the Parties with the scheduled dates provided herein later on the day of the CMC, which are now set out below through notice.
Telephone Conference Call (“TCC”) CMC/Status Hearing – Friday, April 21, 2023
15The CMC/Status hearing to review the draft hearing plan and address any other matters relating to the hearing, including the possibility of settlement, will be conducted as a TCC and will commence at 9 a.m. on Friday, April 21, 2023, with the following dial-in instructions:
Individual(s) are directed to call (416) 212-8012 or Toll Free 1-866-633-0848. When prompted, enter the code 4779874# to be connected to the call.
Hearing of the Appeal – June 5 to June 9, 2023
16The five-day video hearing of the Appeal will commence at 10 a.m. on Monday, June 5, 2023, and continue to Friday, June 9, 2023.
17The Parties 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:
GoTo Meeting: https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/709-076-365 Access code: 709-076-365
18For the video hearing, all Parties, witnesses or observers 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.
19Persons 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 1-888-299-1889 or +1 (647) 497-9373. The access codes are as indicated above.
20Individuals are directed to connect to the hearing events on the assigned dates at the correct time. It is the responsibility of the persons participating in the hearing 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.
21There will be no further notice with respect to either of these two hearing events and the Panel Member is not seized. The Panel will however receive, review and approve the Procedural Order and Issues List for issuance and may continue to assist with case management to the extent that the Tribunal’s calendar permits.
22The Tribunal so orders and provides these CMC directives for the purposes of the case management of these appeals.
“David L. Lanthier”
DAVID L. LANTHIER
VICE-CHAIR
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.