Ontario Land Tribunal
Tribunal ontarien de l’aménagement du territoire
ISSUE DATE: October 11, 2024
CASE NO(S).:
OLT-24-000220
PROCEEDING COMMENCED UNDER subsection 22(7) of the Planning Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. P.13, as amended
Applicant and Appellant:
QF Development Group (BT) Inc.
Subject:
Request to amend the Official Plan – Failure to adopt the requested amendment
Description:
To permit a 15-storey residential building
Reference Number:
OP.22.022
Property Address:
87 Keatley Drive
Municipality/UT:
Vaughan/York
OLT Case No.:
OLT-24-000220
OLT Lead Case No.:
OLT-24-000220
OLT Case Name:
QF Development Group (BT) Inc. v. Vaughan (City)
PROCEEDING COMMENCED UNDER subsection 34(11) of the Planning Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. P.13, as amended
Applicant and Appellant:
QF Development Group (BT) Inc.
Subject:
Application to amend the Zoning By-law – Refusal or neglect to make a decision
Description:
To permit a 15-storey residential building
Reference Number:
Z.22.043
Property Address:
87 Keatley Drive
Municipality/UT:
Vaughan/York
OLT Case No.:
OLT-24-000221
OLT Lead Case No.:
OLT-24-000220
Heard:
September 26, 2024 by Video Hearing
APPEARANCES:
Parties
Counsel
QF Development Group (BT) Inc.
Paul DeMelo
City of Vaughan
Colin Dougherty
Toronto and Region Conservation Authority
Matthew Rutledge
Tim Duncan (in absentia)
Preserve Upper Thornhill Estates Community Association
Ian Flett
MEMORANDUM OF ORAL DECISION DELIVERED BY G. ROSS ON SEPTEMBER 26, 2024 AND ORDER OF THE TRIBUNAL
INTRODUCTION AND UPDATE
1The Tribunal convened a second Case Management Conference (“CMC”) in respect to Appeals filed pursuant to s. 22(7) and 34(11) of the Planning Act (“Act”) by QF Development Group (BT) Inc. (“Appellant”) against the City of Vaughan (“City”) for its failure to make a decision on Official Plan Amendment and Zoning By-law Amendment Applications (“Applications”) within the timeframe prescribed by the Act.
2The lands that are the subject of the Application are known municipally as 87 Keatley Drive (“Property”). The Appellant proposes to develop the Property with a 296-unit residential building with a maximum height of 15 storeys and podiums ranging from four to nine storeys.
3At the June 28th CMC dates were set for the Merit Hearing and this second CMC was scheduled to address outstanding items including: receipt of the draft Issues List (“IL”); update regarding Preserve Upper Thornhill & Area Community Association’s (“PUTECA”) Articles of Incorporation (allowing consideration of their Party Status request and a corresponding Notice of Motion).
4In advance of this CMC the Tribunal received the following:
a. The newly incorporated PUTECA standing request for Party status along with a Notice of Motion and Affidavit of Hassanain Mamdani. (* Note that the September 26th CMC was identified as a continuation from the previous CMC, and therefore the related, on consent motion received, was treated as a reference document only.) (* Also note that the spelling Error Estats [sic] in the Articles of Incorporation has been corrected and updated to Estates.)
b. Request for Participant status for Anthony Bickof.
c. Request for status for the Upper Thornhill & Area Community Association (“UTACA”) which had formerly been a Party Status request was now a request for Participant status.
4The Articles of Incorporation affirmed on September 11, 2024, for PUTECA were marked as Exhibit 1.
5The Affidavit of Hassanain Mamdani affirmed on September 11, 2024, was marked as Exhibit 2.
6The Draft Procedural Order and Issue List (“PO & IL”) was received.
PARTY / PARTICIPANT STATUS REQUESTS
7On Consent of the Parties, PUTECA was granted Party Status.
8The Tribunal considered submission related Mr. Bickof’s request for Participant status. The Appellant’s Council requested that the submission exclude one line related to non-planning issues which identified Charter and Human Rights related to Emergency Vehicle Access. Counsel indicated concern, that if included, they would then need to address non-planning related issues at the Hearing Event. Mr. Bickof responded that he wanted to leave those in his submission. The Tribunal confirmed that the Parties need only to address matters related to Planning at the Hearing event. To assist, the Appellant’s Counsel agreed to add the issue of transportation and related access to include emergency vehicles more succinctly.
9On consent of the Parties, Mr. Bickof was granted Participant status.
10Though absent, UTACA, on consent of Parties, was granted Participant Status.
DRAFT PROCEDURAL ORDER
11The Tribunal reconfirmed the scheduled a five-day Merit Hearing commencing on Monday, February 10, 2025, at 10 a.m., through to Friday, February 14, 2025, by Video Hearing was acceptable to all Parties.
12The final PO & IL will be resubmitted to the Tribunal on or before Monday, November 4, 2024. * The final PO & IL was received on consent on October 2,2024.
13The exchange of the Witness List will be conducted on or before Monday, November 18th.
NEXT STEPS
14The Video Hearing are scheduled to proceed as follows:
GoToMeeting: https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/765631861
Access Code: 765-631-861
15Parties and Participants are asked to access and set up the application well in advance of the event to avoid unnecessary delay, and log into the video hearing no later than 15 minutes before the start of the event to test their video and audio connections. The desktop application can be downloaded at GoToMeeting or a web application is available: https://app.gotomeeting.com/home.html
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) 1-888-455-1389 or +1 (647) 497-9391. The access code is as indicated above.
22Individuals 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.
MEDIATION
19The Tribunal advised the Parties of the option of Tribunal-led mediation and to contact the Case Coordinator to determine next steps if the need for mediation arises.
ORDER
20THE TRIBUNAL ORDERS that:
a) The date and particulars of the Hearing on the Merits are set out above;
b) Party status is granted for ‘Preserve Upper Thornhill Estates Community Association. See paragraph [6]; and
c) Participant status is granted for Anthony Bickof and the Upper Thornhill & Area Community Association See paragraph [8] and [9].
21No further notice is required.
22The Panel is not seized of this matter.
“G. Ross”
G. ROSS
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.