Ontario Land Tribunal
Tribunal ontarien de l’aménagement du territoire
ISSUE DATE: November 14, 2024
CASE NO.: 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
BEFORE:
G. ROSS MEMBER
Thursday, the 14th day of November, 2024
THE TRIBUNAL ORDERS that further to the Decision issued on October 11, 2024, the Procedural Order, as agreed to between the Parties and attached hereto as Schedule “A”, shall be in force and effect for the purpose of governing the required procedures leading up to and including the hearing, which is scheduled to commence on February 10, 2025. The Tribunal has set aside 5 day(s) for the hearing.
“Euken Lui”
EUKEN LUI
ACTING REGISTRAR
Ontario Land Tribunal Website: 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.
PROCEDURAL ORDER
- The Tribunal may vary or add to the directions in this procedural order at any time by an oral ruling or by another written order, either on the parties’ request or its own motion.
Organization of the Hearing
The Hearing will begin on Monday February 10, 2025, at 10:00 a.m. Unless otherwise subsequently ordered by the Tribunal, the Hearing shall proceed by videoconference.
The Parties’ initial estimation for the length of the Hearing is 5 days. The Parties are expected to cooperate to reduce the length of the Hearing by eliminating redundant evidence and attempting to reach settlements on issues where possible.
The Parties and Participants identified at the case management conference are set out in Attachment 1.
The issues for the Hearing are set out in the Issues List attached as Attachment 2. There will be no changes to this list unless the Tribunal permits, and a Party who asks for changes may have costs awarded against it.
The order of evidence shall be as set out in Attachment 3. The Tribunal may limit the amount of time allocated for opening statements, direct evidence (including the qualification of witnesses), cross-examination, evidence in reply and final argument. The length of written argument, if any, may be limited either on the Parties’ consent, subject to the Tribunal’s approval, or by Order of the Tribunal.
The purpose of this Procedural Order and the meaning of the terms used in it are set out in Attachment 4.
Any person intending to participate in the hearing should provide a mailing address, email address and a telephone number to the Tribunal as soon as possible – ideally before the case management conference. Any person who will be retaining a representative should advise the other parties and the Tribunal of the representative’s name, address, email address and the phone number as soon as possible.
Any person who intends to participate in the Hearing, including Parties, counsel and witnesses, is expected to review the Tribunal’s Video Hearing Guide, available on the Tribunal’s website (https://olt.gov.on.ca/tribunals/lpat/).
Requirements Before the Hearing
If the applicant intends to seek approval of a revised proposal that substantially increases height, massing and/or density or substantially alters the deployment of massing or the form of the proposed development at the Hearing, then it shall provide copies of the revised proposal including revised plans, drawings, proposed instruments, updated supporting documents and reports, to the other Parties on or before Monday, November 4, 2024. The Applicant acknowledges that any revisions to the proposal after that date without the consent of the Parties may be grounds for a request to adjourn.
A Party who intends to call witnesses, whether by summons or not, shall provide to the Tribunal and the other Parties a list of the witnesses and the order in which they will be called. This list must be delivered on or before Monday, November 18, 2024, and in accordance with paragraph 23 below. A Party who intends to call an expert witness must include a copy of the witness’ Curriculum Vitae and the area of expertise in which the witness is prepared to be qualified.
Expert witnesses in the same field shall have a meeting on or before Friday November 29, 2024, and try to resolve or reduce the issues for the Hearing. Following the experts’ meetings, and if any agreement is reached, the Parties must prepare and file a Statement of Agreed Facts and Issues with the Case Co-ordinator on or before Friday December 13, 2024
An expert witness shall prepare an Expert Witness Statement, which shall list any reports prepared by the expert, or any other reports or documents to be relied on at the Hearing. Copies of this must be provided as in paragraph 16 below. Instead of an Expert Witness Statement, the expert may file his or her entire report if it contains the required information. If this is not done, the Tribunal may refuse to hear the expert’s testimony.
Expert witnesses who are under summons and not paid to produce a report do not have to file an Expert Witness Statement; but the Party calling them must file an outline of the expert’s evidence as in paragraph 16 below.
A Party who intends to call a witness who is not an expert must file a Witness Statement, as in paragraph 16 below.
On or before Friday December 20, 2024, the Parties shall provide copies of their Witness Statements and Expert Witness Statements to the other Parties and to the Case Co-ordinator and in accordance with paragraph 24 below.
On or before Friday December 20, 2024, a Participant shall provide copies of their written Participant Statement to the Parties and to the Case Co-ordinator in accordance with paragraph 23 below. A Participant cannot present oral evidence or submissions at the Hearing unless ordered by the Tribunal.
Parties may provide to all other Parties and the Case Co-ordinator a written response to any Written Evidence on or before Friday January 17, 2025, and in accordance with paragraph 24 below.
On or before Friday January 31, 2025, the Parties shall provide copies of their visual evidence to all of the other Parties in accordance with paragraph 24 below. If a model will be used, all Parties must have a reasonable opportunity to view it before the Hearing.
The Parties shall cooperate to prepare a Joint Document Book which shall be shared with the Case Co-ordinator on or before Friday January 31, 2025.
A person wishing to change Written Evidence, including Witness Statements, must make a written Motion to the Tribunal. See Rule 10 of the Tribunal’s Rules with respect to Motions, which requires that the Moving Party provide copies of the Motion to all other Parties 15 days before the Tribunal hears the Motion.
A Party who provides Written Evidence of a witness to the other Parties must have the witness attend the Hearing to give oral evidence, unless the Party notifies the Tribunal and the other Parties by Friday January 31, 2025 that the written evidence is not part of their record.
The Parties shall prepare and file a preliminary Hearing Plan with the Tribunal on or before Wednesday February 5, 2025 with a proposed schedule for the Hearing that identifies, as a minimum, the Parties participating in the Hearing, the preliminary matters (if any to be addressed), the anticipated order of evidence, the date each witness is expected to attend, the anticipated length of time for evidence to be presented by each witness in direct, cross-examination and re-direct examination (if any) and the expected length of time for final submissions. The Parties are expected to ensure that the Hearing proceeds in an efficient manner and in accordance with the Hearing Plan. The Tribunal may, at its discretion, change or alter the Hearing Plan at any time in the course of the Hearing.
All filing shall be electronic, unless the Tribunal requests a hard copy(ies) of any document. Electronic copies may be filed by email, an electronic file sharing service for documents that exceed 10MB in size, or as otherwise directed by the Tribunal. The delivery of documents by email shall be governed by the Rule 7.
No adjournments or delays will be granted before or during the Hearing except for serious hardship or illness. The Tribunal’s Rule 17 applies to such requests.