Ontario Land Tribunal
Tribunal ontarien de l’aménagement du territoire
ISSUE DATE: March 06, 2024
CASE NO(S).: OLT-23-000937
PROCEEDING COMMENCED UNDER subsection 17(36) of the Planning Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. P.13, as amended
Appellant: Cytec Canada Inc. and 2610832 Ontario Inc.
Applicant: City of Niagara Falls
Subject: OPA 147
Description: Proposed modifications to implement the City’s Employment Lands Strategy
Reference Number: By-law No. 2023-037
Property Address: Employment Lands within the City of Niagara Falls
Municipality/UT: City of Niagara Falls / Region of Niagara
OLT Case No.: OLT-23-000937
OLT Lead Case No.: OLT-23-000937
OLT Case Name: Cytec Canada Inc. and 2610832 Ontario Inc. v. Niagara (City)
Heard: January 16, 2024, via Video Conference
APPEARANCES:
Parties
Counsel
2610832 Ontario Inc.
Nancy Smith
Cytec Canada Inc.
Jeffrey Wilker
Al Burton
800460 Ontario Limited
Sara Premi
T. A. Richardson
1000166643 Ontario Inc.
Jonathan Minnes
Regional Municipality of Niagara
Alexander Suriano
City of Niagara Falls
Paul DeMelo
MEMORANDUM OF ORAL DECISION DELIVERED BY SHARYN VINCENT ON JANUARY 16, 2024, AND ORDER OF THE TRIBUNAL
1Cytec Canada Inc (“Cytec”) and 2610832 Ontario Inc. brought appeals against the decision of the Region of Niagara to approve, with modifications, the City of Niagara Falls Official Plan Amendment No. 147 (“OPA 147”), which designates and addresses policies relating to the conversion of Employment Lands to alternate land uses. The specific appeals are brought in connection with the designations of lands known as 9304 McLeod Road and 9015 Stanley Avenue.
2The Tribunal was in receipt of three requests for Party status; the first being from 800460 Ontario Limited, the Applicants, proposing to redevelop 9304 McLeod Road, also subject of By-law No. 2023-078, which is not before the Tribunal as part of this proceeding, but which is subject of an appeal by Cytec pursuant to s. 34(19) of the Planning Act (OLT file No. OLT-23-000906, scheduled for a first event on Thursday, March 7, 2024). The second from 1000166632 Ontario Inc. in connection with 7047 Reixinger Road, and 1000166643 Ontario Inc. in connection with 5789 Lyons Creek Road. In response to the objection of 2610832 Ontario Inc., the request on behalf of 1000166632 Ontario Inc, 7047 Reixinger Road was withdrawn. The two remaining requests were granted, together with the request for Participant status by Mark Fiorentino on behalf of 2601052 Ontario Inc., a working chicken farm located at 7473 Reixinger Road.
3The appeals and Party interests are discretely related to the respective proposed designation of either the McLeod lands or the Stanley lands.
4Specifically, Cytec has appealed the Special Policy Area 87 permissions of OPA 147 applicable to the McLeod lands, which would permit a mix of residential, open space and environmental protection uses together with the related site-specific Zoning By-law (“ZBA") No. 2023-078, which subject to holding provisions, permits the same mix of uses. 800460 Ontario Limited has sought and been granted Party status to this appeal, and requests that the OPA 147 and ZBA appeals be administratively consolidated at the March 7, 2024, Hearing scheduled to consider the appeal by Cytec of ZBA No. 2023-078. All Parties concur with this course of action.
52610832 Ontario Inc. reserves the right to seek Party status in the McLeod appeal, which is to be determined once the Procedural Order(s) (“PO”) and Issues list(s) have been submitted to the Tribunal in draft for consideration and finalization at the March 7, 2024, Hearing event. At that time, the Tribunal will also consider whether to grant partial approval of the portions of OPA 147 not subject to appeal.
6The other discrete appeal brought on behalf of 2610832 Ontario Inc, has appealed the modification by the Region in its decision to approve OPA 147 wherein the lands at 9015 Stanley Avenue were redesignated Employment Lands, to conform with the designation in the Regional Official Plan; whereas the owner seeks, by way of private applications, to change the designation to “Residential”, “Commercial” and “Environmental Protection Area” land uses.
7100016643 Ontario Inc., the owner of lands located at 5789 Lyons Creek Road, which directly abuts the Stanley lands to the west, sought and was granted Party status.
8The Parties to the respective appeals are identified on the attached aerial photographs.
9There was a general discussion and submissions by Counsel on behalf of the various Parties as to whether the matters would be heard together given the common foundational policy framework or whether all interests would and could be best served through two distinct hearings. It is anticipated that a preferred path forward will reveal itself through the collaboration of Counsel in drafting the Issues and will be presented to the Tribunal for consideration at the Thursday, March 7, 2024, Hearing event. Counsel were directed to submit the proposal with an accompanying draft PO and Issues list one week prior to the next Case Management Conference (“CMC”).
10The Parties were aligned that Bill 150 had no bearing on these appeals.
11The City also advised that discussions were still ongoing with 2610832 Ontario Inc. on the issue as to whether an appeal of the mapping forming part of the OPA, is statute barred. Should there be a dispute on the form and content of the appeal by 2610832 Ontario Inc., the matter will be brought to the attention of the presiding Member at the next CMC, and a determination will be made as to whether to incorporate a Motion date within the timeframes to be set out in the draft PO.
12A second CMC is scheduled for Thursday, March 7, 2024, at 10 a.m. by Video Hearing.
GoToMeeting: https://meet.goto.com/370987861
Access Code: 370-987-861
13Parties 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.
14Persons 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 1-888-455-1389 or +1 (647) 497-9391. The Access Code is indicated above.
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 GoToMeeting or a web application is available: https://app.gotomeeting.com/home.html
16Individuals 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
17THE TRIBUNAL ORDERS that:
a) Party and Participant status is conferred as set out above in this disposition;
b) A second Case Management Conference is scheduled to coincide with the Case Management Conference scheduled to consider OLT Case File No. OLT-23-000906 as referenced above; and
c) No further notice is required, and the Member is not seized but may be called upon in the event that assistance is required in implementing this Order.
“Sharyn Vincent”
SHARYN VINCENT
VICE-CHAIR
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.