Ontario Land Tribunal
Tribunal ontarien de l’aménagement du territoire
ISSUE DATE: November 07, 2024
CASE NO(S).: OLT-24-000906
PROCEEDING COMMENCED UNDER subsection 22(7) of the Planning Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. P.13, as amended
Applicant and Appellant: 2600546 Ontario Inc.
Subject: Request to amend the Official Plan – Failure to adopt the requested amendment
Description: To permit a 21-storey mixed use building including 263 dwelling units and 213 square metres of ground floor retail.
Reference Number: 23 213844 STE 04 OZ
Property Address: 1304-1318 King Street West and 143-145 Cowan Avenue
Municipality/UT: Toronto
OLT Case No.: OLT-24-000906
OLT Lead Case No.: OLT-24-000906
OLT Case Name: 2600546 Ontario Inc. v. Toronto (City)
PROCEEDING COMMENCED UNDER subsection 34(11) of the Planning Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. P.13, as amended
Applicant and Appellant: 2600546 Ontario Inc.
Subject: Application to amend the Zoning By-law – Refusal or neglect to make a decision
Description: To permit a 21-storey mixed use building including 263 dwelling units and 213 square metres of ground floor retail.
Reference Number: 23 213844 STE 04 OZ
Property Address: 1304-1318 King Street West and 143-145 Cowan Avenue
Municipality/UT: Toronto
OLT Case No.: OLT-24-000907
OLT Lead Case No.: OLT-24-000906
OLT Case Name: 2600546 Ontario Inc. v. Toronto (City)
Heard: November 4, 2024 by video hearing
APPEARANCES:
| Parties | Counsel |
|---|---|
| 2600546 Ontario Inc. ("Appellant") | Eileen Costello Anna Lu, co-counsel |
| City of Toronto ("City") | Jyoti Zuidema Jamie Dexter |
MEMORANDUM OF ORAL DECISION DELIVERED BY D. CHIPMAN ON NOVEMBER 4, 2024 AND ORDER OF THE TRIBUNAL
1This event was the first Case Management Conference ("CMC") convened for an Appeal brought by 2600546 Ontario Inc. ("Appellant") on Applications for an Official Plan Amendment and Zoning By-law Amendment ("ZBA") pursuant to s. 22(7) and s. 34(11) of the Planning Act. on the City's refusal of the Applications for the property municipally known as 1304-1318 King Street West and 143-145 Cowan Avenue in the City of Toronto ("Subject Property").
2The Official Plan and Zoning By-law amendment applications seek to permit a 21-storey mixed use building including 263 dwelling units and 213 square metres of ground floor retail. The existing site contains a two storey building at 1304-1318 King Street West with several commercial units on the ground floor and eight rental residential dwelling units. The building at 145 Cowan Avenue is vacant.
PROCEDURAL MATTERS
3The sworn Affidavit of Service sworn by Natalie Hickey dated October 9, 2024, was filed prior to the hearing confirming that proper Notice of this CMC had been served and was marked as Exhibit 1.
PARTY STATUS REQUESTS
4The Tribunal received the following two requests for Party status.
5A request for Party status was submitted by Aaron Hershoff and Erin Grosberg. Mr. Hershoff is a full Member of the Canadian Institute of Planners and a Registered Professional Planner who specializes in land use planning permissions and approvals similar to the ones being sought (Official Plan Amendment/Zoning Amendments). He was present at the CMC and stated he has been an active participant in this matter at the City and had submitted his comments to be part of the decision making process. Mr. Hershoff was made aware of the limitations, expectations and obligations of a Party by the Tribunal.
6The Appellant's counsel opposed the Party status request. They argued that without knowing what Mr. Hershoff's planning issues are, the Appellant may be subjected to addressing new or possibly irrelevant issues. Counsel for the Appellant maintained that Mr. Hershoff should not be granted Party status because his issues can be addressed by the City. Counsel assert that granting Party status would result in adding unnecessary time and cost to the proceeding. The City raised no objections to the granting of Party status.
7At a general level, the Tribunal considers several common principles when considering a dispute over Party status, including whether the requestor has a direct interest in the matter, whether the public interest will be advanced, whether prejudice would be suffered by another Party, and whether the background to the issue supports the request.
8As suggested by the Appellant's counsel, the Tribunal arranged a 2nd CMC to review the draft Procedural Order ("PO") and Issues List ("IL"). Mr. Hershoff was directed to submit to the Parties a list of issues to be presented at the next CMC where the Tribunal will determine whether Party status will be granted.
9Consequently, the Tribunal reserves its decision to confer Mr. Hershoff Party status at this time and directs Mr. Hershoff to work with the statutory Parties to provide the Case Coordinator with a draft PO & IL on or before Wednesday, January 8, 2025, which will be the basis of discussion at the upcoming 2nd CMC.
10The Tribunal also indicated to Mr. Hershoff that should he wish to decline seeking Party status he is directed to advise the Case Coordinator as soon as possible at which time he can consider a written submission and request for Participant status of which both Parties were supportive.
11A second request for Party status was submitted by David Janvier who stated he represents the interest of UNITE HERE Local 75 membership.
12The Tribunal questioned Mr. Janvier on his Party status request as the content of the request did not specify any planning based issues.
13Although Mr. Javier confirmed he understood the role of a Party to the proceedings it was questionable to the Tribunal from his comments how any evidence would be presented. Through the information he provided, it was evident to the Tribunal that his request was based on the Appellant's business as a whole and not specific to the Application before the Tribunal.
14When asked, Mr. Janvier could not articulate any specific planning issues to convince the Tribunal that granting Party status to UNITE HERE would aid the Tribunal in making an informed decision or provide a fair and expeditious resolution to this matter.
15UNITED HERE and it's representative David Janvier were denied Party status.
16The Tribunal determined that should Mr. Javier on behalf of UNITED HERE wish to submit their comments through a Participant status request the Tribunal would consider and weigh their comments accordingly.
PARTICIPANT STATUS REQUESTS
17The Tribunal received (14) fourteen requests for Participant status from the following: Michelle Caers, Sara Davies, Philipe Devos, Parkdale Residents Association, Camille Bastianpillai, Miru Yogarajah, Stephanie Cormier, Erin Wotherspoon, Mary Margaret Gelinas, Libby Edwards, Bob Rose, Jim Jones, King Village Properties, 3 Elm Properties Ltd, 5 Elm Properties Ltd. and Robin Preboy.
18No objection on conferring Participant status to those named above was raised by the Parties.
19The Tribunal noted that all written submissions were part of the Case file moving forward to the merit hearing and the comments contained would be taken under consideration and weighed accordingly.
MEDIATION
20The Parties indicated that without prejudice discussions have and will continue to take place in order to scope the Issues before the next CMC. The Parties indicated that should they require the assistance of Tribunal-led mediation in an effort to resolve any or all of the Issues they will contact the Case Coordinator.
PROCEDURAL ORDER ("PO") AND ISSUES LIST ("IL")
21Counsel for the Appellant noted that the City and Appellant would work on the wording of Issue No. 11 and prepare a revised version of the Issue for consideration at the 2nd CMC.
22The Parties are directed to submit to the Case Coordinator on or before Wednesday, January 8, 2025, a draft PO and IL (inclusive of the list of issues submitted by Mr. Hershoff), for discussion at the next CMC.
CMC HEARING
23A 2nd CMC will commence on Wednesday, January 22, 2025, at 10 a.m. by video hearing.
24Parties and Participants are asked to log in to the video hearing at least 15 minutes before the start of the event to test their video and audio connections:
GoToMeeting coordinates: https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/687587165
Access Code: 687-587-165
HEARING DATE
25A 10-day hearing was requested by the Parties. With the number of witnesses expected to provide testimony the Tribunal agreed that the number of days to be set aside was appropriate. The Parties are directed to advise the Case Coordinator if there is any change to the number of days required for the merit hearing.
26A 10-day Merit Hearing will commence on Monday, May 26, 2025, at 10 a.m.by video hearing.
27Parties and Participants are asked to log in to the video hearing at least 15 minutes before the start of the event to test their video and audio connections:
GoToMeeting coordinates: https://meet.goto.com/680885805
Access Code: 680-885-805
28Parties 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
29Persons who experience technical difficulties accessing the GoToMeeting application or who only wish to listen to the event can connect to the event by calling in to an audio-only telephone line: Toll-Free 1(888) 299-1889 or +1 (647) 497-9373. The Access Code is indicated above.
30Individuals 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 Video Hearing 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.
31The Tribunal inquired as to whether there were any other matters to be addressed, which might assist in the fair, just and expeditious resolution of this matter. The Parties indicated that there were none.
ORDER
32The directions set out above are so ordered.
33The Tribunal grants Participant status to those named in paragraph [18].
34The Tribunal defers the granting of Party status to Aaron Hershoff and Erin Grosberg until the 2nd CMC on Wednesday, January 22, 2025.
35The Tribunal denies the Party status request of David Javier-UNITED HERE.
36This Member is not seized but will continue to manage this file and, remains available through the Case Coordinator should the need arise.
37No further notice will be given.
"D. Chipman"
D. CHIPMAN 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.