Ontario Land Tribunal
Tribunal ontarien de l’aménagement du territoire
ISSUE DATE: July 05, 2023
CASE NO(S).: OLT-22-004545
PROCEEDING COMMENCED UNDER section 14 of the Development Charges Act, 1997, S.O. 1997, c. 27.
Appellant: Dunpar Developments Inc.
Appellant: Tridel Builders Inc.
Appellant: Stafford Homes Ltd.
Appellant: The Goldman Group
Appellant: Tenblock Developments Inc
Reference Number: City of Toronto By-Law 1137-2022
Property Address: (City-Wide)
Municipality/UT: Toronto
OLT Case No: OLT-22-004545
OLT Lead Case No: OLT-22-004545
OLT Case Name: Dunpar Developments Inc. et al v Toronto (City)
Heard: June 26, 2023 via video hearing
APPEARANCES:
Parties
Counsel
Dunpar Developments Inc.
Michael Nemanic and Luke Johnston
Tenblock Developments Inc
Anne Bennedetti
City of Toronto
Robert Robinson, Gabe Szobel and Nathan Muscat
MEMORANDUM OF ORAL DECISION DELIVERED BY SHARYN VINCENT ON JUNE 26, 2023 AND FINAL ORDER OF THE TRIBUNAL
1Prior to this second case management proceeding, the Tribunal was advised that three of the original five Appellants had withdrawn their respective appeal.
APPEAL ON BEHALF OF TENBLOCK DEVELOPMENTS INC.
2Of the two remaining, the appeal brought on behalf of Tenblock Developments Inc. (Tenblock) can be characterized as a discreet appeal of the sections of By-law No. 1137-2022, being the city wide Development Charges By-law for the City of Toronto enacted August 15, 2022, dealing with the Toronto Green Standard. As such, and for reasons which will be obvious further on in this Order, the appeal will be heard separately, the consensus amongst the parties being that settlement outside of a contested hearing is probable. In the event that settlement is not achieved, Counsel for all parties agreed that consideration of the Tenblock appeal separately created no prejudice to any party, and in fact held considerable merit.
3Therefore, in order to allow the City and Tenblock to continue their constructive discussions, a Case Management Conference (“CMC”) was scheduled for Monday, October 23, 2023, commencing at 10 a.m. In the event that the parties come to agreement on a resolution of the appeal, Counsel are to advise the case co-ordinator and seek to have the CMC converted to a written Motion to consider the settlement.
4The hearing is scheduled to proceed by video on Monday, October 23, 2023 at 10 a.m.
5Parties 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:
https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/709076365
Access code: 709-076-365
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: 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: +1 (647) 497-9373 or Toll Free 1-888-299-1889. The access code is 709-076-365.
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.
APPEAL ON BEHALF OF DUNPAR DEVELOPMENTS INC
9Dunpar Developments Inc. (“Dunpar”) has on the other hand, appealed the entirety of the city wide Development Charge By-law in a letter dated August 24, 2022, which sets out eight grounds for the appeal all premised on the basis that the By-law “imposes development charges that are too high and which were not calculated in a manner that was fair, reasonable, and in compliance with the requirements of the Development Charges Act and the regulations thereunder”.
10In the week prior to this proceeding, the Tribunal was in receipt of correspondence between the Parties addressing the drafting of a Procedural Order and Issues List for the review and approval of the Tribunal, who therein, were requesting direction from the Tribunal. There was considerable light between the parties ranging from whether phasing of the hearing would be prudent, to the specificity of the issues and the total number of hearing days required to hear all of the evidence necessary to decide the appeal.
11Dunpar takes the position that there are three fundamental threshold issues which should be determined through a Motion, and that determination is foundational to organizing the balance and associated length of time of the case to be made.
12The City disagrees, submitting that Counsel for Dunpar have contrived the notion of threshold issues regarding compliance with ss. 5(1)3 and 5(3) of the Development Charges Act, and that these challenges, while requiring rulings from the Tribunal, do not, in the view of the City, constitute threshold issues. It is further the position of the City that these grounds were not set out in the afore-referenced appeal letter, and in any event, would not reduce the length of the hearing in any significant way if it is still the intent of Dunpar to challenge the City with respect to the 27 page Issues List submitted for consideration.
13The Tribunal considered lengthy submissions from Counsel, and determined and directed that Dunpar as the sole remaining Appellant to the city wide by-law bring a Motion for Determination of the following grounds of appeal dealing only with the assertions that By-law No. 1137-2022 and the associated background study fail to comply with ss. 5(1), 5(2) and 5(3) of the Development Charges Act and associated regulations, and the hearing of the appeal, should therefore be Phased.
14It was determined that two days would be required to argue the Motion, and was set down returnable Monday, October 30 and Tuesday, October 31, 2023. The filing dates are set out in Attachment 1 to this decision.
15The hearing is scheduled to proceed by video on Monday, October 30 to Tuesday, October 31, 2023 at 10 a.m.
16Parties 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:
https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/709076365
Access code: 709-076-365
17Parties 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
18Persons 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: +1 (647) 497-9373 or Toll Free 1-888-299-1889. The access code is 709-076-365.
19Individuals 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.
20The Member is not seized but may assist should any clarification be required in the execution of this Order.
ORDER
12The Tribunal hereby Orders that Dunpar Development Inc bring a Motion for Determination in accordance with the stipulations and timelines set out in the Order.
“Sharyn Vincent”
SHARYN VINCENT
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.
ATTACHMENT 1
Filing Dates
August 8, 2023 Dunpar to file Motion Record
September 15, 2023 City of Toronto to file Responding Motion Record
October 6, 2023 Dunpar to file Reply