Ontario Land Tribunal
Tribunal ontarien de l’aménagement du territoire
ISSUE DATE: April 24, 2024
CASE NO(S).: OLT-23-001241
PROCEEDING COMMENCED UNDER subsection 34(11) of the Planning Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. P.13, as amended
Applicant and Appellant: Jameson Plaza Limited
Subject: Application to amend the Zoning By-law – Refusal or neglect to make a decision
Description: To permit a twelve-storey mixed-use building.
Reference Number: 23 147008 STE 04 OZ
Property Address: 1437-1455 Queen Street West
Municipality/UT: Toronto
OLT Case No.: OLT-23-001241
OLT Lead Case No.: OLT-23-001241
OLT Case Name: Jameson Plaza Limited v Toronto (City)
Heard: February 29, 2024 by Video Hearing
APPEARANCES:
Parties
Counsel
Jameson Plaza Limited
David Bronskill
City of Toronto
Cameron McKeich, Sarah O’Connor
MEMORANDUM OF ORAL DECISION DELIVERED ON FEBRUARY 29, 2024 BY S. DEBOER AND ORDER OF THE TRIBUNAL
INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND
1The Tribunal convened a Case Management Conference (“CMC”) with respect to the appeal by Jameson Plaza Limited (“Appellant”) pursuant to s. 34(11) of the Planning Act due to the City of Toronto’s (“City”) failure to make a decision within the statutory timelines pertaining to the Appellant’s Zoning By-law Amendment Application.
2The Subject Property pertaining to this appeal is 1437-1455 Queen Street West in the City of Toronto (“Site”).
3The Application proposed demolition of the existing buildings on the site to allow for the construction of a new 12-storey mixed-use building. The new structure would contain 249 dwelling units with a gross floor area of 17,576 m2 which would result in a floor space index of 5.48 relative to the gross floor area calculations under the City Zoning By-law 569-2013.
4The purpose of the CMC was to consider the requests for Party and Participant status, and to finalize the Procedural Order (“PO”) and Issues List (“IL”) that would be used to govern a Hearing of the Merits.
AFFIDAVIT OF SERVICE
5The Tribunal marked the Affidavit of Service by Renata Ribeiro dated February 08, 2024 as Exhibit 1 to the hearing event.
PARTY REQUESTS
6There were no other Party requests made before nor during the hearing.
PARTICIPANT REQUESTS
7No Participant requests were received by the Tribunal prior to nor during the hearing.
PROCEDURAL ORDER AND ISSUES LIST
8The Tribunal asked the Parties for the number of expert witnesses that would be presented at the Hearing. Given the projected number of expert witnesses and materials, a seven-day Hearing would be appropriate to determine the matter. The Parties had not had the opportunity to complete the procedural order (“PO”) and issues list (“IL”) as City Staff had not received direction from Council concerning the application (“Application”). City Staff would be presenting the application for direction to Council during the meeting of March 20 to March 22, 2024. Until direction is given from Council, the finalization of the PO and IL cannot be completed.
9The Parties asked the Tribunal to tentatively book a seven-day hearing. The Tribunal told the Parties that the booking of Hearing dates prior to the finalization of a PO and IL is not taken lightly by the Tribunal due to the demands on the Tribunal’s calendar. However, after further discussions with the Parties, the Tribunal determined that the tentative holding of Hearing dates by booking them until a PO and IL has been submitted and approved would be prudent pertaining to this particular matter.
10The Tribunal directed the Parties to submit an updated PO and IL to the Tribunal for review no later than April 5, 2024, and that if the PO and IL were not received by that time, the Tribunal could release the tentatively scheduled Hearing dates.
11Following this CMC, the Tribunal received an updated PO and IL. However, the Tribunal has also received correspondence that the Parties have started without-prejudice discussions concerning the Application and are in preliminary settlement discussions. Due to these discussions, the Parties have requested that a second CMC be scheduled in September 2024, and that a seven-day Merit Hearing be scheduled in January of 2025.
SCHEDULING OF THE HEARING
12The Tribunal has scheduled a second CMC, at which the Tribunal will be provided with an updated PO and IL for approval pertaining to the Merit Hearing. The CMC will commence on Wednesday, September 11, 2024, at 10 a.m. and proceed by video conference. The Parties are directed to provide the Tribunal with a further updated PO and IL by September 9, 2024.
13The Tribunal has scheduled a Merit Hearing to proceed for a length of seven days, commencing on Tuesday, January 28, 2025, at 10 a.m.
14The Hearings are scheduled to proceed by video as follows: Case Management Conference: Wednesday, September 11, 2024 at 10 a.m. GoTo Meeting: https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/442599157 Access code: 442-599-157 Audio-only telephone line: +1 (647) 497-9391 or Toll-Free 1-888-455-1389 Audio-only access code: 442-599-157 Merit Hearing: Tuesday, January 28, 2025 at 10 a.m. – Wednesday,
February 05, 2025
GoTo Meeting: https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/765631861 Access code: 765-631-861 Audio-only line: +1 (647) 497-9391 or Toll-Free 1-888-455-1389 Audio-only access code: 765-631-861
15Parties and Participants are asked to log in to the Video Hearing at least 15 minutes before the start of the event to test their video and audio connections.
16Parties 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
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 in to the audio-only telephone line.
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 that the second CMC in this matter is to occur by Video Hearing, commencing on Wednesday, September 11, 2024 at 10 a.m.
20THE TRIBUNAL ORDERS that a seven-day Merits Hearing has been set to occur by Video Hearing on Tuesday, January 28, 2025 at 10 a.m.
21The Member is not seized.
22No further notice will be provided.
“S. deBoer”
S. DeBoer
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.