Ontario Land Tribunal
Tribunal ontarien de l’aménagement
du territoire
ISSUE DATE:
June 02, 2023
CASE NO(S).:
OLT-23-000011
PROCEEDING COMMENCED UNDER subsection 45(12) of the Planning Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. P.13, as amended
Applicant and Appellant:
Minhal Jaffer
Subject:
Minor Variance
Description:
To permit establishment of hemp processing facility on the subject property
Property Address:
29 Kemp Road E
Municipality/UT:
Grimsby/Niagara
Municipal File No.:
A47-22
OLT Case No.:
OLT-23-000011
OLT Lead Case No.:
OLT-23-000011
OLT Case Name:
Minhal Jaffer vs. Grimsby (Town)
Heard:
April 11, 2023 by video hearing
APPEARANCES:
Parties
Counsel
Minhal Jaffer and Canurta Inc
Russell Cheeseman
Stephanie Fleming
Town of Grimsby
Tom Halinski
MEMORANDUM OF ORAL DECISION DELIVERED BY GREGORY J. INGRAM AND CARMINE TUCCI ON APRIL 11, 2023 AND order OF THE TRIBUNAL
1The Tribunal convened the first Case Management Conference (“CMC”) for the above-noted matter. This CMC was converted from a Merit Hearing on the consent of all Parties.
2The Applicant proposes to establish a hemp processing facility on the subject lands. The proposed facility will be contained within a 725 square metre (“sq m”) building and will be served by a 28-space parking lot. Vehicular access to the parking lot will be provided via a single entrance from Kemp Road East. It is the intention of the Applicant that the processing building be serviced with a private septic system and well. In addition, it is proposed that locally grown hemp will be provided to the facility and will be processed into activated hemp seed powder and hemp extract. The hemp seed powder processing involves washing, setting, drying, and milling, while the extract requires the drying, milling, and excretion of polyphenols from the raw hemp stock. These processes will take place within processing and extraction areas on the first floor of the building. The proposal also indicates that the building will be used for storage, shipping and receiving, and will have washroom and changing facilities for staff. The Applicant expects that the business will employ approximately ten people. The proposal indicated that the facility will not process hemp leaves, cannabis, or cannabis-related products.
3An application was received by the Town of Grimsby on October 25, 2022, for a minor variance to vary the provisions of Section 6.1.1 of Zoning By-law No. 14-45, as amended, and vary the “Licenced Cannabis Cultivation Facility” use to permit a hemp processing facility on the subject property. The subject property is currently zoned Specialty Crop (SC) in Zoning By-law No. 14-45, as amended. The definition of “Licenced Cannabis Cultivation Facility” from Zoning By-law No. 14-45, as amended, is below:
Licenced Cannabis Cultivation Facility:
Means any lands, building or structure, including commercial greenhouse, licenced by Health Canada in accordance with the applicable Federal Regulations, as amended from time to time, for the cultivation, processing, packaging, testing, destruction, research and/or shipping of cannabis.
4The Committee of Adjustment for the Town of Grimsby held a public meeting on December 20, 2023, to consider the application. The Committee received a Planning Staff report, comments from various departments of the Municipality, and concerns from citizens with respect to the application.
5The Planning Staff Report indicated that they had no objections to the approval of the minor variance proposed by the applicant and recommend the following conditions.
a. That Site Plan Approval from the Town of Grimsby be obtained prior to construction of the “Hemp Processing Facility” use.
b. No growing of hemp, processing of hemp leaves or growing or processing of cannabis, or cannabis-related products be permitted on the subject lands.
6The Committee of Adjustment for the Town of Grimsby denied the application on December 20, 2023. The Committee in their decision indicated that the variance does not meet the intent of the Zoning By-law and Official Plan, that the development is not desirable for the subject lands and is not minor in nature.
7The purpose of this CMC is to hear an update on this application and appeal, determine if there are additional persons or organizations who seek Participant or Party status, consider opportunities for mediation/settlement, and establish a plan for a Merit Hearing.
8The statutory Parties are Russell Cheeseman and Stephanie Fleming, Co-Counsel for the Applicant and Tom Halinski, Counsel for the Town of Grimsby.
9Four requests for participant status were received by the Tribunal. Each request was considered by the Tribunal and all were supported by Counsel for both Parties. The Tribunal was satisfied that each of the individuals seeking participant status have demonstrated an interest in this matter, and given no objection from the other parties, participant status was granted to the following:
Donna and Dave Latchford
Marie and Luca Pagnotta
Mark Adamczyk
Slobodan Halavanian
10Shameer Khan and Linda Barrantes-Sales attended the CMC and requested Participant status together. While the request was contrary to the Tribunal’s direction to submit the request ten days notice in advance of the CMC, the Tribunal directed these individuals to follow the established process of providing their request for status in writing to the Tribunal at which time it would be considered. Counsel from both Parties supported this process and had no objections to including this participant.
11Shameer Khan and Linda Barrantes-Sales submitted a participant request to the Tribunal on April 26, 2023 and were grant participant status as per the discussion and direction noted above.
12Counsel for the Applicant provided a summary of the application process and the reason for requesting the change from a Merit Hearing to a CMC. He identified two significant reasons for the request. Firstly, he noted that Counsel for the Municipality only recently became involved in this file which impacted planning for a hearing and secondly, given the expectations that a number of witnesses would be called, it seemed prudent to have a CMC to plan for the merit hearing. He requested that the Tribunal consider scheduling a three-day Merit Hearing as soon as possible to ensure that enough time is set aside to hear all of the testimony.
13Counsel for the Municipality supported this request and indicated that he expected to call one witness and would work with the Applicant’s Counsel to finalize the witness list.
14Counsel for both Parties also indicated support for Participants to update their statements at a date closer to the hearing if desired.
15The Parties were advised that mediation services are available from the Tribunal. Both indicated that no discussions have occurred regarding mediation and/or settlement and were doubtful that mediation would be an option.
16The Tribunal engaged the Parties in a discussion to set hearing dates and additional deadlines in preparation for the Hearing.
17The Tribunal directed, with consent from both Parties, the following in preparation for the Hearing:
a. Witness List be finalized on or before, Friday, May 12, 2023
b. Updated Participant Statements (if any) to be sent to the Case Coordinator by Friday, May 26, 2023
c. Witness Statement Exchange on or before, Friday, June 9, 2023
d. Reply to Witness Statements on or before, Friday, June 23, 2023
e. Joint Document Book Submitted on or before Friday, June 30, 2023. Any additional resources referred to by Witnesses to be shared between Parties.
18The Tribunal directed that a three-day Merit Hearing be held beginning on Wednesday, July 5, 2023, and ending on Friday, July 7, 2023, commencing at 10 a.m. by video.
19Parties 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.
20The CMC is scheduled to proceed by video as follows:
https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/692665589
Access code: 692-665-589
21Persons 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.
22Parties 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
23Individuals 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.
24There will be no further notice.
25The Members are not seized.
“Gregory J. Ingram”
GREGORY J. INGRAM
MEMBER
“Carmine Tucci”
CARMINE TUCCI
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.