Ontario Land Tribunal
Tribunal ontarien de l’aménagement du territoire
ISSUE DATE: November 22, 2024
CASE NO(S).: OLT-24-000745
PROCEEDING COMMENCED UNDER subsection 17(36) of the Planning Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. P.13, as amended
Appellant: 2585231 Ontario Inc.
Appellant: Krashnik Investments Limited
Appellant: Meadowpark Investments (BT) Inc.
Appellant: Wismer Markham (Commercial) Developments Inc.
Subject: Proposed Official Plan Amendment No. 53 (OPA 53, Markham Road – Mount Joy Secondary Plan)
Municipality: City of Markham
OLT Case No.: OLT-24-000745
OLT Lead Case No.: OLT-24-000745
OLT Case Name: Krashnik Investments Limited v. York (Regional Municipality)
Heard: November 14, 2024 by Video Hearing
APPEARANCES:
Parties
Counsel
2585231 Ontario Inc. c/o LeBlanc Development
Jason Park
Krashnik Investments Limited
Meaghan McDermid Grace O’Brien Susan Rosenthal
Meadowpark Investments (BT) Inc.
Paul DeMelo
Wismer Markham (Commercial) Developments Inc.
Rodney Gill Robert Howe
Toronto Regional Conservation Authority (“TRCA”)
Tim Duncan
York Region District School Board (“YRDSB”)
Buck Sully
City of Markham
Pitman Patterson Maggie Cheung-Mada
MEMORANDUM OF ORAL DECISION DELIVERED BY G. ROSS ON NOVEMBER 14, 2024 AND ORDER OF THE TRIBUNAL
INTRODUCTION
1The Tribunal convened a first Case Management Conference (“CMC”) with respect to the Tribunal’s file OLT 24-000745. The Official Plan Amendment 53 (“OPA 53”) is the Markham Road – Mount Joy Secondary Plan. OPA 53 amends the Official Plan 2014 for the City of Markham (“City”) to include the Markham Road – Mount Joy Secondary Plan, fulfilling the requirement of section 9.3.7.2 of the Markham Official Plan, including Schedules A through M.
2The Affidavit of Service, giving notice of this CMC, was appropriately sworn/affirmed by the City on October 3, 2024. Seeing no concerns from the Parties, the Tribunal marked the Affidavit of Service as Exhibit 1.
3In advance of the CMC, the Tribunal received communications from the Parties related to their interest in seeking Tribunal-led Mediation.
City of Markham’s overview
4The City presented an overview regarding the OPA 53 Secondary Plan, centring on Markham Road between 16th Avenue and Major Mackenzie Drive. The area was identified as largely low-rise and commercial and light industrial. That said, it was noted as an area in transition now, including mixed-use at all stages of development.
5The appeal reflects the current diversity of the types of applications, approvals and construction underway. The City further identified that the appeal includes both macro-structural issues, such as community facilities and policies regarding the Greenway and hazard lands, to the more micro interest of specific properties.
6The City also mentioned an extensive parking lot area around the Bur Oak - Mount Joy GO Station.
PARTY / PARTICIPANT STATUS REQUESTS
7In advance of the CMC, the Tribunal received two requests for Party Status: the TRCA and the YRDSB. There were no requests for participant status. There were no new status requests at the Hearing.
8The Tribunal canvassed the Parties, and there were no objections to granting Party status to either the TRCA or the YRDSB.
9The Tribunal considered the consent of the Parties and granted Party status to the TRCA.
10The Tribunal considered the consent of the Parties and granted Party status to the YRDSB.
NEXT STEPS
11The Tribunal canvassed the Parties to confirm their interest in Tribunal-led Mediation. All Parties, including the two newly granted Parties, confirmed their interest. The Parties all agreed to ensure the Mediation was scheduled for the first quarter of 2025.
12The Tribunal canvassed the Parties to confirm if they agreed with the City’s suggested timing for the second CMC to be scheduled in the first week of March 2025.
13All parties concurred that timing worked, save one Party who requested an early start time of 9 a.m. to accommodate a conflict. All Parties confirmed that they could accommodate an earlier start time. A one-day CMC was scheduled for Wednesday, March 5, 2025, at 9 a.m. by Video Hearing.
14Parties 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:
GoTo Meeting: https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/638422541
Access Code: 638-422-541
15Parties 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 GoTo Meeting or a web application is available: https://app.gotomeeting.com/home.html
16Persons who experience technical difficulties accessing the GoTo Meeting 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.
17Individuals 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 CMC 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.
18The Parties agreed with the City regarding their request to hold off on providing the Procedural Order (“PO”) and Issues List (“IL)” given the agreement to move forward with Tribunal-led Mediation. They reasoned that providing a “laundry list” of issues would not be helpful, given that the submissions to the Tribunal already included detailed issues. The Tribunal found their justification reasonable but noted that the March 5, 2025 CMC also meant that there were tight timelines to ensure the Tribunal received the PO and IL in advance of the second CMC and asked that every effort be made to schedule the mediation as early as possible in the first quarter.
ORDER
19THE TRIBUNAL ORDERS THAT
a) The Case Management Conference will be held as scheduled in Paragraph [13].
b) Party status is granted to the Toronto Regional Conservation Authority as per Paragraph [9].
c) Party status is granted to the York Region District School Board as per Paragraph [10].
20No further notice is required.
21The Member is not seized but will avail itself to the Tribunal as needed.
“G. Ross”
G. Ross
MEMBER
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.