Ontario Land Tribunal
Tribunal ontarien de l’aménagement du territoire
ISSUE DATE: April 18, 2024
CASE NO(S).: OLT-23-000924
PROCEEDING COMMENCED UNDER subsection 22(7) of the Planning Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. P.13, as amended
Applicant and Appellant: Concen Development Limited
Subject: Request to amend the Official Plan – Failure to adopt the requested amendment
Description: To permit the development of two 12-storey mixed-use residential buildings consisting of 700 dwelling units, 1,080 square metres of ground floor commercial space fronting on to Centre Street, a 1,205 square metre Privately Owned Public Space (POPS) and a Floor Space Index (FSI) of 4.08 times the area of the lot
Reference Number: OP.22.023
Property Address: 1260, 1272, 1282, 1294, 1304 and 1314 Centre Street
Municipality/UT: City of Vaughan
OLT Case No.: OLT-23-000924
OLT Lead Case No.: OLT-23-000924
OLT Case Name: Concen Development Limited v. Vaughan (City)
PROCEEDING COMMENCED UNDER subsection 34(11) of the Planning Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. P.13, as amended
Applicant/Appellant: Concen Development Limited
Subject: Application to amend the Zoning By-law – Neglect to make a decision
Description: To permit the development of two 12-storey mixed-use residential buildings consisting of 700 dwelling units, 1,080 square metres of ground floor commercial space fronting on to Centre Street, a 1,205 square metre Privately Owned Public Space (POPS) and a Floor Space Index (FSI) of 4.08 times the area of the lot
Reference Number: Z.22.045
Property Address: 1260, 1272, 1282, 1294, 1304 and 1314 Centre Street
Municipality/UT: City of Vaughan
OLT Case No.: OLT-23-000925
OLT Lead Case No.: OLT-23-000924
PROCEEDING COMMENCED UNDER subsection 41(12) of the Planning Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. P.13, as amended
Referred by: Concen Development Limited
Subject: Site Plan
Description: To permit the development of two 12-storey mixed-use residential buildings consisting of 700 dwelling units, 1,080 square metres of ground floor commercial space fronting on to Centre Street, a 1,205 square metre Privately Owned Public Space (POPS) and a Floor Space Index (FSI) of 4.08 times the area of the lot
Reference Number: DA.22.077
Property Address: 1260, 1272, 1282, 1294, 1304 and 1314 Centre Street
Municipality/UT: City of Vaughan
OLT Case No.: OLT-23-000926
OLT Lead Case No.: OLT-23-000924
Heard: April 5, 2024 by Video Hearing
APPEARANCES:
Parties
Counsel/Representative*
Concen Development Limited (“Applicant” or “Appellant”)
Rodney Gill
City of Vaughan (“City”)
Raj Kehar
Zaynah Al-waadh
Catilin De Simone (Student-at-law)*
Protect Thornhill
Ajay Kapur*
Beverley Glen Ratepayers’ Association (“BGRA”)
John Kucharczuk*
MEMORANDUM OF ORAL DECISION DELIVERED BY Kurtis Smith ON April 5, 2024 AND ORDER OF THE TRIBUNAL
INTRODUCTION
1This was the second Case Management Conference (“CMC”) regarding this appeal. The background to this appeal is found in the Decision issued on January 23, 2024, and need not be repeated.
2The original purpose of this CMC was to consider any additional Party status requests, review and approve a Draft Procedural Order (“DPO”) and Issues List (“IL”), and to schedule the hearing.
3Mr. Gill, Counsel for the Applicant, provided the Tribunal with an overview of what has transpired since the first CMC. Since then, the plans have been updated and revised for the Proposed Development based on the continuous discussions with the City and Participants. The updated plans have been provided to the City and Participants shortly before this CMC. Included in the updated plans is the removed vehicular access from Concord Dr, adjusted balconies, reduced underground footprint, increased landscape buffer, and altered stepping of the building.
4City Council and staff have not had an opportunity to review the revised plans to provide an updated IL and requested that an additional CMC be scheduled following the Tuesday, June 25, 2024, City Council meeting.
PARTY STATUS REQUESTS
5In advance of the CMC, three Party status requests were received:
Protect Thornhill, a newly incorporated entity formed to be a unified voice of the community and is represented by Ajay Kapur;
BGRA which has been a recognized association within the City for over 35 years and is represented by John Kucharczuk; and
Robert Burko, who previously sought Party status at the first CMC and was granted Participant status.
6The City indicated that they have no objections to any of the Party status requests.
7Mr. Gill’s position on all the requests was to defer them to the next CMC. In his submissions, he indicated they will continue positive discussions with the City and community members, and are optimistic that most or possibly all the concerns could be addressed by the time of the next CMC.
8Mr. Burko was agreeable with the deferral and is content with the ongoing positive discussions.
9Mr. Kapur and Mr. Kucharczuk understood the position of the Applicant, however indicated that formal participation in the appeal as a Party is preferred at this time.
10The Tribunal granted Protect Thornhill and BGRA to be a Party to the proceeding, as they have a direct interest in the Proposed Development. The Tribunal confirmed that Protect Thornhill and BGRA fully comprehends the duties and responsibility as a Party.
ADDITIONAL CASE MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE
11As indicated above, an additional CMC was requested to provide additional time to reduce and scope the IL. The City requested that a date shortly after the Tuesday, June 25, 2024 City Council meeting was preferred.
12The Tribunal was able to secure Friday, June 28, 2024, at 10 a.m. by Video Hearing for the third CMC where Mr. Burko’s Party status request will be considered, the DPO and IL will be finalized, and the scheduling of the hearing will occur.
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.
GoToMeeting: https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/709076365
Access Code: 709-076-365
14Parties 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
15Persons 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.
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 the following:
a. That Robert Burko’s Party status request be considered at the next Case Management Conference;
b. That Protect Thornhill and Beverley Glen Ratepayers’ Association is granted Party status;
c. That the Draft Procedural Order and Issues List be supplied to the Case Coordinator on or before Wednesday, June 26, 2024; and
d. That a third Case Management Conference is scheduled for Friday, June 28, 2024, at 10 a.m. by Video Hearing.
“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.