Ontario Land Tribunal
Tribunal ontarien de l’aménagement du territoire
CORRECTION NOTICE
OLT CASE NO(S).:
OLT-23-000711
DECISION ISSUE DATE(S):
March 07, 2024
CORRECTION NOTICE ISSUE DATE:
March 20, 2024
RE: United Parcel Service Canada Ltd. v. Vaughan (City)
Correction to: the Appearance List on page 2- to reflect the Party name and legal counsel for Canadian National Railway Company (“CN”)
Originally:
Corrected to:
APPEARANCES:
Parties
Counsel
United Parcel Service Canada Ltd.
T. Piurko
J. White
City of Vaughan
Z. Al-Waadh
Zancor Homes (Steeles) LP
Q. Annibale
B. Ruddick
APPEARANCES:
Parties
Counsel
United Parcel Service Canada Ltd.
T. Piurko
J. White
City of Vaughan
Z. Al-Waadh
Zancor Homes (Steeles) LP
Q. Annibale
B. Ruddick
Canadian National Railway Company (“CN”)
Kevin Pirak
“Euken Lui”
EUKEN LUI
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 ribunal (“Tribunal”). Any reference to the preceding tribunals or the former Ontario Municipal Board is deemed to be a reference to the Tribunal.
Ontario Land Tribunal
Tribunal ontarien de l’aménagement du territoire
ISSUE DATE:
March 07, 2024
CASE NO(S).:
OLT-23-000711
PROCEEDING COMMENCED UNDER subsection 17(36) of the Planning Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. P.13, as amended
Appellant:
United Parcel Service Canada Ltd.
Subject:
Official Plan Amendment No. 99
Description:
To permit the development of a high-rise mixed-use building
Reference Number:
OP.21.028
Property Address:
2600 and 2700 Steeles Avenue
Municipality:
City of Vaughan
OLT Case No:
OLT-23-000711
OLT Lead Case No:
OLT-23-000711
OLT Case Name:
United Parcel Service Canada Ltd. v. Vaughan (City)
PROCEEDING COMMENCED UNDER subsection 34(19) of the Planning Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. P.13, as amended
Appellant:
United Parcel Service Canada Ltd.
Subject:
Zoning By-law No 039-2023
Description:
To permit the development of a high-rise mixed-use building
Reference Number:
Z.21.057
Property Address:
2600 and 2700 Steeles Avenue
Municipality:
City of Vaughan
OLT Case No:
OLT-23-000702
OLT Lead Case No:
OLT-23-000711
PROCEEDING COMMENCED UNDER subsection 34(19) of the Planning Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. P.13, as amended
Appellant:
United Parcel Service Canada Ltd.
Subject:
Zoning By-law No. 040-2023
Description:
To permit the development of a high-rise mixed-use building
Reference Number:
Z.21.057
Property Address:
2600 and 2700 Steeles Avenue
Municipality:
City of Vaughan
OLT Case No:
OLT-23-000703
OLT Lead Case No:
OLT-23-000711
Heard:
November 6, 2023 by Video Hearing
APPEARANCES:
Parties
Counsel
United Parcel Service Canada Ltd.
T. Piurko
J. White
City of Vaughan
Z. Al-Waadh
Zancor Homes (Steeles) LP
Q. Annibale
B. Ruddick
MEMORANDUM OF DECISION DELIVERED BY CARMINE TUCCI ON NOVEMBER 6, 2023, AND ORDER OF THE TRIBUNAL
1This is the first Case Management Conference (“CMC”) for this case. The purpose of the CMC was to receive status updates from all parties to organize the hearing of these appeals.
OVERVIEW
[2] The purpose of the application is to appeal the Zoning Bylaw Amendment (“ZBA”) and Official Plan Amendment (“OPA”) associated with a high-rise mixed-use development consisting of 3,116 residential dwelling units on the lands located at 2600 and 2700 Steeles Avenue West (the “subject lands”) in the City of Vaughan (“City”).
3The subject lands are located within 500 metres of the United Parcel Service Canada Ltd. (UPS) distribution facility and storage.
4Policy 11.3.18 of the Steeles West Secondary Plan, expressly protects both the existing operation and future expansion, as permitted by existing zoning, of the UPS distribution facility.
5On April 25, 2023, the City Council adopted Official Plan Amendment No. 99 (“OPA 99”) and passed Zoning By-law Nos. 039-2023 and 040-2023 (“Zoning By-law”) submitted by Zancor Homes (Steeles) LP, in support of the proposed development.
6On June 21, 2023, the Region of York provided notice of its approval of the City’s OPA 99.
7An Affidavit of Service sworn by Andrea Buchanan was marked as Exhibit 1.
NATURE OF THE APPEALS
8The Tribunal was informed that the appeals pertain to noise, vibration and traffic issues.
9Zancor Homes (Steeles) LP submitted a Noise and Vibration Feasibility Study prepared by HGC Engineering (‘HGC Noise Report’) and Acoustical Modelling for the UPS Facility prepared by HGC Engineering in support of the development proposed at the subject lands.
10Both the City’s Environmental Engineering staff and Aeroacoustics Engineering Limited concluded there were no concerns with compatibility. The main noise concern that is causing exceedance of the noise criteria is from the adjacent property to the west and their loading/unloading operations.
11The Applicant had been directed to provide an updated Noise & Vibration Feasibility Study and Acoustical Modelling.
12UPS retained Valcoustics Canada Ltd. to peer review the Applicant’s acoustical modeling (the “Valcoustics Peer Review”). UPS has not been provided a copy of an updated Noise & Vibration Feasibility Study and Acoustical Modelling report.
STATUS REQUEST
13The Tribunal is in receipt of one request for Party Status.
14Canadian National Railway Company (“CN”) is the owner and operator of the MacMillan Rail Yard (the “MacMillan Yard”), located in the City. The Yard is one of the largest rail classification facilities in North America and handles a large volume of CN’s rail traffic in Canada. The ongoing and uninterrupted operation of the MacMillan Yard is integral to the Greater Toronto Area (“GTA”), freight-dependent business, and the Canadian economy.
15The Tribunal heard the subject lands are located within the 1,000 metres area of influence of the MacMillan Yard and are located directly to the south of CN rail tracks where MacMillan Yard operations regularly take place. The coordination of land uses along railway corridors poses a unique set of challenges. The development of sensitive uses in proximity to railway lines, which experience a high traffic of freight train operations, leads to increased potential for conflict between the rail operations and adjacent land uses. The Federation of Canadian Municipalities and the Railway Association of Canada Guidelines for New Development in Proximity to Railway Operations recommend that municipalities take a proactive approach to identifying potential land use conflicts. In general, sensitive uses should not be permitted within 300 metres of railway lines and within 1,000 metres of rail yards unless the impact of the rail yard or the operations can be mitigated through the implementation of appropriate mitigation measures.
16CN participated in the commenting and approval process for the Proposed Development, including by providing comments relating to noise, vibration, air quality and safety.
17The Tribunal canvassed the Parties for any comments or concerns. The Appellant and City had no objections to the request.
18The Applicant presented an opposition to the request.
19Counsel for the Applicant submitted that non-appellant parties are required to shelter under the issues of an appellant and that they have no standing to independently advance issues of their own.
- 8.3 Non-Appellant Party A party to a proceeding before the Tribunal which arises under any of subsections 17(24) or (36), 34(19) or 51(39) of the Planning Act who is not an appellant of the municipal decision or enactment may not raise or introduce a new issue in the proceeding. The non-appellant party may only participate in these appeals of municipal decisions by sheltering under an issue raised in an appeal by an appellant party and may participate fully in the proceeding to the extent that the issue remains in dispute. A non-appellant party has no independent status to continue an appeal should that appeal be withdrawn by an appellant party.
20Mr. Annibale further provided if CN were to be granted Party status, the effect of this rule is that the scope of its participation in the hearing would be limited by the issues raised by UPS.
21In his submissions, he stated that the issues raised by UPS through its appeals are strictly limited to noise and traffic impacts related to its own operations as opposed to a more general concern regarding noise or traffic impacts. In particular, as it relates to noise, the concerns are clearly limited to a consideration of noise impacts from its current and future operations at its distribution facility located to the west of the development.
22Mr. Annibale further provided that CN’s interest in the applications has nothing whatsoever to do with noise impacts from the UPS facility. Instead, its interest is entirely related to impacts from the MacMillan Rail Yard and its main line located to the north of the development.
23Upon review of the submissions, the Tribunal will grant CN Party Status to these hearings with the express direction that CN will solely shelter under the issues of UPS and not seek advancement of their individual issues.
24The Tribunal is encouraged that a possible resolution through mediation is under consideration.
HEARING
25A second CMC for the parties to update the Tribunal on the status of this matter will be held on Thursday, April 4, 2024, at 10 a.m.
26A 13-day merit hearing is scheduled to proceed by video on Monday, July 29, 2024, at 10 a.m.
27The Parties and Participants 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:
Thursday, April 4, 2024, at 10 a.m. (One-Day CMC Hearing)
GoTo Meeting: https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/719383509
Access code: 719-383-509
Audio-only telephone line: (Toll Free) 1-888-299-1889 or +1(647) 497-9373
Audio-only access code 719-383-509
Monday, July 29, 2024, at 10 a.m. (13-Day Merit Hearing)
GoTo Meeting: https://meet.goto.com/677087597
Access code: 677-087-597
Audio-only telephone line: (Toll Free) 1-888-455-1389 or +1 (647) 497-9391
Audio-only access code 677-087-597
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 into an audio-only telephone line.
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 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
31A second CMC for the parties to update the Tribunal on the status of this matter will be held on Thursday, April 4, 2024
32A hearing of these Appeals is scheduled to commence on Monday, July 29, 2024. Thirteen days have been set aside.
33There will be no further notice.
34The Member is not seized.
“Carmine Tucci”
CARMINE TUCCI
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.