Ontario Land Tribunal
Tribunal ontarien de l’aménagement du territoire
ISSUE DATE:
February 20, 2024
CASE NO(S).:
OLT-23-000723 OLT-23-000918
PROCEEDING COMMENCED UNDER subsection 17(36) of the Planning Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. P. 13, as amended
Appellant
Elizabeth Benneian
Appellant
The Preservation of Agricultural Lands Society
Applicant
Trustees of New Hope Church Niagara
Subject:
Proposed Official Plan Amendment
Reference Number:
22 115593 OP
Property Address:
2360 First Street Louth
Municipality/UT:
St. Catharines/Niagara
OLT Case No:
OLT-23-000723
OLT Lead Case No:
OLT-23-000918
OLT Case Name:
Benneian v St. Catharines (City)
PROCEEDING COMMENCED UNDER subsection 34(11) of the Planning Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. P. 13, as amended.
Applicant/Appellant
New Hope Church Niagara
Subject:
Application to amend the Zoning By-law – Refusal or neglect to make a decision
Reference Number:
22 115648 ZA
Property Address:
2360 First Street Louth
Municipality/UT:
St. Catharines/Niagara
OLT Case No:
OLT-23-000918
OLT Lead Case No:
OLT-23-000918
OLT Case Name:
New Hope Church Niagara v. St. Catharines (City)
Heard:
February 8, 2024 by Video Hearing
Parties
Counsel/Representative*
The Preservation of Agricultural Lands Society (“PALS”)
Lisa Triano
Elizabeth Benneian
Self-represented*
Trustees of New Hope Church Niagara (“NHC”)
Tom Hanrahan Andrea Mannell (in absentia)
Regional Municipality of Niagara
Brian Duxbury
City of St. Catherines
DID NOT APPEAR
MEMORANDUM OF ORAL DECISION DELIVERED BY KURTIS SMITH ON FEBRUARY 8, 2024 AND ORDER OF THE TRIBUNAL
INTRODUCTION
1This was an additional Case Management Conference (“CMC”) that was held regarding Case No. OLT-23-000723 (“Official Plan Amendment Appeals” OR “OPA Appeals”) and Case No. OLT-23-000918 (“Zoning By-law Amendment Appeal” OR “ZBLA Appeal”) pertaining to the lands Municipally known as 2360 First Street Louth in the City of St. Catherines (“City”) of the Region of Niagara (“Region”).
2Two previous CMCs were held for these matters, and decisions were issued on November 2, 2023, and January 23, 2024, where all preliminary matters were addressed, including the decision to have the matters heard together.
3The intended purpose of this CMC was to consider the ZBLA Party Status Request received by PALS, review and approve the Draft Procedural Order (“DPO”) and Issues Lists (“IL(s)”) and schedule the hearing of the merits.
PARTY REQUEST – ZONING BY-LAW AMENDMENT APPEAL
4Prior to the CMC, the Tribunal received a Party Request for the ZBLA from PALS.
5The Planning Act (“Act”) specifies that a Party may be added to an appeal under Section 34(11) if a person or public body satisfies one of the following conditions; before the by-law was passed, the person or public body made oral submissions at the public meeting or written submissions to the council, or if the Tribunal is of the opinion that there are reasonable grounds to add the person or public body as a party.
6Counsel for NHC, Tom Hanrahan, objected to the request. He argued that PALS did not provide written or oral submissions during the City Council process and further that PALS is a group, namely from Niagara on the Lake, and does not consider them to have a direct interest in the matter.
7The Tribunal is of the opinion that PALS has sufficient grounds to become Party to the matter as they are an appellant in the OPA Appeal thus having a direct interest in the ZBLA Appeal. As such, the Tribunal granted PALS Party Status to the ZBLA Appeal.
DRAFT PROCEDURAL ORDERS AND ISSUES LISTS
8An updated IL for the OPA Appeals was supplied to the Tribunal prior to the CMC. The parties were all agreeable to the IL except for issue 8. PALS questioned if issue 8, “Was the City of St. Catharines correct in requiring that the Applicant apply for an OPA?” should be dealt with by way of motion. Whereas the other Parties are of the opinion that issue 8 shall be determined at the merits hearing. After a brief discussion it was determined that the supplied IL is acceptable to all parties and that it should be attached to the final DPO.
9The ZBLA Appeal IL, prepared and updated by NHC, was provided to PALS prior to the CMC as directed at the previous CMC. PALS stated that some minor adjustments are required for them to consent to the IL. NHC agreed to work collaboratively with PALS to update the IL and indicated that the final IL would be in final form in two to three weeks time.
10A short discussion was held regarding the order in which the appeals will be heard. The Tribunal directed that the OPA Appeals would be held first, followed by the ZBLA Appeal. The Parties were all acceptable of the schedule.
11The Tribunal directed the Parties to supply the joint DPO, IL for the OPA Appeals, and IL for the ZBLA Appeal to the Tribunal for review and approval on or before February 29, 2024.
HEARING
12It was determined that eight days are required to fully address the matters, as there will be a total of seven witnesses being called to the stand.
13Counsel for PALS, Lisa Triano, informed the Tribunal that she has limited availability for the scheduling of eight consecutive days.
14After an extensive pursuit to find eight consecutive available days for all the Parties, the Tribunal found Wednesday, October 16, 2024 to Friday, October 25, 2024, to be suitable. As the scheduled hearing dates are not imminent, Ms. Triano has ample time to ensure her availability to attend the hearing.
15Parties 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://meet.goto.com/943363669
Access code: 943-363-669
16Parties 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
17Persons 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: 1-888-299-1889 Or + 1 (647)-497-9373.The Access Code is as indicated above.
18Individuals 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.
ORDER
19THE TRIBUNAL ORDERS as follows:
a. The Preservation of Agricultural Lands Society will be granted Party Status to OLT-23-000918.
b. The Parties to supply the Draft Procedural Order and Issues Lists to the Case Coordinator on or before Thursday, February 29, 2024.
c. That the hearing of the merits is scheduled to commence on Wednesday, October 16, 2024, as outlined above.
20The Member is not seized but may be contacted through the Case Coordinator should procedural issues arise.
“Kurtis Smith”
Kurtis Smith
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.