Ontario Land Tribunal
Tribunal ontarien de l’aménagement du territoire
ISSUE DATE: March 28, 2023
CASE NO(S).: OLT-22-004129
PROCEEDING COMMENCED UNDER subsection 34(11) of the Planning Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. P.13, as amended
Applicant/Appellant: GFL Environmental Inc.
Subject: Application to amend the Zoning By-law – Refusal of application
Description: To rezone the subject lands from the light industrial Zone to the Heavy Industrial
Reference Number: ZBLA07-2021
Property Address: 26 Haniak Road
Municipality/UT: Oliver Paipoonge/Thunder Bay
OLT Case No.: OLT-22-004129
OLT Lead Case No.: OLT-22-004129
OLT Case Name: GFL Environmental Inc. v. Oliver Paipoonge
Heard: March 8, 2023, by Video Hearing
APPEARANCES:
Parties
Counsel
GFL Environmental Inc.
David Tang
Jesse White
Municipality of Oliver Paipoonge
Jennifer Savini
Nima Chooback
MEMORANDUM OF ORAL DECISION DELIVERED BY C. I. MOLINARI AND m.a. sILLS ON mARCH 8, 2023, AND ORDER OF THE TRIBUNAL
1This was the first Case Management Conference (“CMC”) in the matter of a Motion for Direction (“Motion”) brought by GFL Environmental Inc. (“Appellant”) pursuant to s. 34(10.5) of the Planning Act, and the subsequent refusal by the Council of the Municipality of Oliver Paipoonge of an application to amend the Zoning By-law (“Application”) in regard to the property located at 26 Haniak Road (“Subject Property”).
2The Subject Property is a 10.41 ha land parcel located on the south side of Haniak Road south of Arthur Street West and is currently developed with a waste transfer station/recycling facility in accordance with site-specific rezoning permitting a waste recycling facility of a certain size and capacity. The proposal would result in a major expansion of the recycling facility through a rezoning from Light Industrial (site-specific) to Heavy Industrial.
3An Affidavit of Service sworn on February 2, 2023, attesting to the giving of notice for this proceeding was marked as Exhibit 1.
4No Party or Participant Status requests have been received by the Tribunal.
5The Application was submitted to the Municipality of Oliver Paipoonge (“Municipality”) on April 9, 2021. The Municipality deemed the Application ‘not complete’ on December 1, 2021, due to required information not having been submitted. The Appellant then filed a Motion for Direction (“Motion”), after which the Municipality issued a Notice of Refusal of the Application, rendering the Motion unnecessary. The Appellant subsequently withdrew the Motion on March 6, 2023, and the Tribunal’s file in that matter is now closed.
6The Parties agreed to file a draft Procedural Order and Issues List with the Tribunal including the issues identified during the CMC ranging from an emergency response plan, land use planning, stormwater management and natural heritage matters. Subsequent to the CMC, the Tribunal received the draft Procedural Order with the issues as identified during the CMC.
7The Parties have been engaged in without prejudice discussions and intend to request Tribunal-led mediation. In that regard, the Parties are directed to submit the request for mediation to the Case Coordinator having carriage of the file.
8The Parties are also requesting that a second CMC, and a 7-day hearing to be held in the first quarter of 2024 be scheduled on the Tribunal’s calendar. The Parties anticipate that some or all of the issues may be resolved through mediation and in that event, the second CMC could possibly be converted to a settlement hearing, or otherwise result in a shortened hearing.
9In the event that the request for mediation is approved the Parties are to contact the Case Coordinator for the scheduling of the second CMC once the outcome of the mediation is known.
10The Tribunal has scheduled a 7-day video hearing starting on Monday February 26, 2024 commencing at 10:00 a.m.
11Parties 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.
12The CMC is scheduled to proceed by video as follows:
https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/660145013
Access Code: 660-145-013
13Persons 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 Code is as indicated above.
14Parties 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: https://app.gotomeeting.com/home.html
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.
16The Panel is not seized of this matter.
17There will be no further notice required.
18The attached Procedural Order to govern the conduct of the hearing is in force as of the date of issue of this Decision.
“C.I. Molinari”
C.I. MOLINARI
MEMBER
“M.A. Sills”
M.A. SILLS
VICE-CHAIR
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.
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