Ontario Land Tribunal
Tribunal ontarien de l’aménagement du territoire
ISSUE DATE: June 28, 2024
CASE NO(S).: OLT-24-000220
PROCEEDING COMMENCED UNDER subsection 22(7) of the Planning Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. P.13, as amended
Applicant and Appellant: QF Development Group (BT) Inc.
Subject: Request to amend the Official Plan – Failure to adopt the requested amendment
Description: To permit a 15-storey residential building
Reference Number: OP.22.022
Property Address: 87 Keatley Drive
Municipality/UT: Vaughan/York
OLT Case No.: OLT-24-000220
OLT Lead Case No.: OLT-24-000220
OLT Case Name: QF Development Group (BT) Inc. v. Vaughan (City)
PROCEEDING COMMENCED UNDER subsection 34(11) of the Planning Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. P.13, as amended
Applicant and Appellant: QF Development Group (BT) Inc.
Subject: Application to amend the Zoning By-law – Refusal or neglect to make a decision
Description: To permit a 15-storey residential building
Reference Number: Z.22.043
Property Address: 87 Keatley Drive
Municipality/UT: Vaughan/York
OLT Case No.: OLT-24-000221
OLT Lead Case No.: OLT-24-000220
Heard: June 11, 2024 by Video Hearing
APPEARANCES:
Parties
Counsel
QF Development Group (BT) Inc.
Paul DeMelo
City of Vaughan
Colin Dougherty Caitlin De Simone (student-at-law)
Toronto and Region Conservation Authority
Matthew Rutledge Tim Duncan (in absentia)
MEMORANDUM OF ORAL DECISION DELIVERED BY G. ROSS and C. I. MOLINARI ON JUNE 11, 2024 AND ORDER OF THE TRIBUNAL
INTRODUCTION
1The Tribunal convened a Case Management Conference (“CMC”) in respect of appeals filed pursuant to s. 22(7) and 34(11) of the Planning Act (“Act”) by QF Development Group (BT) Inc. (“Appellant”) against the City of Vaughan (“City”) for its failure to make a decision on Official Plan Amendment and Zoning By-law Amendment applications (“Applications”) within the timeframe prescribed by the Act.
2The lands that are the subject of the application are known municipally as 87 Keatley Drive (“Property”). The Appellant proposes to develop the Property with a 296-unit residential building with a maximum height of 15 storeys and podiums ranging from four to nine storeys.
NOTICE
3An Affidavit of Service sworn on May 24, 2024, attesting to the giving of Notice for this proceeding, was marked as Exhibit 1. There were no concerns raised regarding the Notice and the Tribunal was satisfied that proper notice of this CMC was provided.
PARTY / PARTICIPANT STATUS REQUESTS
4In advance of the CMC, three requests for Party status were received from the following:
Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (“TRCA”);
The Upper Thornhill & Area Community Association (“UTACA”); and
A prospective corporation to be named ‘Preserve Upper Thornhill Estats Community Association’ [sic] (“PUTECA”).
5Mr. Rutledge noted that portions of the Property are located within TRCA’s Regulated Area and cited concerns related to natural hazard matters. With the consent of the Parties, Party status was granted to TRCA.
6UTACA did not attend the CMC and therefore the Party status request was not considered.
7Mr. Flett confirmed that PUTECA is a prospective corporation but is not yet incorporated. He noted that the application for incorporation misspelled ‘Estates’ as ‘Estats’ and that it would therefore be incorporated as ‘Preserve Upper Thornhill Estats Community Association’ in the Articles of Incorporation (“Articles”).
8Mr. Flett requested provisional Party status be granted to PUTECA with the condition of providing PUTECA ten days to produce the Articles. He indicated that while there may be some issues in common between PUTECA and the City, their interests are different in scope, in that the City has a mandate of a much broader public interest and the interests of PUTECA are more local in nature.
9The Tribunal determined to defer the Party status requests of both PUTECA and UTACA to the next CMC to provide PUTECA time to incorporate and for UTACA to attend the Hearing to address their Party status request. The Tribunal encouraged the resident associations to consider consolidating and requesting Party status together in order to eliminate duplication of effort and material before the Tribunal at the Merit Hearing. Party status was therefore neither granted nor denied to PUTECA and UTACA.
[10]
The Tribunal also received several requests for Participant status from the following individuals:
11Collectively, the Participant concerns relate to height, density, air quality, pollution, noise, traffic and road capacity, access, safety, schools, the environment and natural habitats, property values, privacy, density, quality of life, affordable housing, parking, shadows, views, community character and compatibility, crime, walkability, accessibility, affordable housing, the need for commercial uses, sufficiency of public transit, sufficiency of sidewalks, sufficiency of infrastructure, sufficiency of community services and parks, and Official Plan conformity.
12The Participant Status Request Form from Yirong Liu was inadvertently omitted from the list of Participants during the CMC. Although incomplete due to the text not properly fitting on the page, the form notes additional concerns to those listed above including livability, social fabric and public health.
13With the consent of the Parties, all Participant status requests were granted.
14The Tribunal advised the Parties to ensure that their witnesses address the concerns of the Participants in their evidence.
15There were no additional requests for Party or Participant status during the CMC.
DRAFT PROCEDURAL ORDER
16The Tribunal was in receipt of a draft Procedural Order (“PO”) indicating a five-day Hearing event but with no Issues List (“IL”) attached.
17Mr. DeMelo noted an edit to paragraph 10 in the draft PO, related to modifications to the proposal by the Applicant after the date indicated but without consent of the Parties that may trigger an adjournment. Mr. Rutledge added that the proposed wording of paragraph 10, as per the latest draft PO submitted to the Tribunal on June 10, 2024, includes additional wording to address modifications to the development footprint.
18Mr. DeMelo endeavoured to further edit the draft PO to ensure the inclusion of the paragraph related to confirming with the Tribunal, at least 35 days prior to the start of the Merit Hearing, whether all the reserved hearing dates will still be required.
19Neither the City nor TRCA had any concerns with the draft PO.
20The Tribunal requests the Parties to submit a final draft PO with a complete IL to the Case Coordinator by Thursday, September 19, 2024, for finalization at the CMC on Thursday, September 26, 2024, at 10 a.m.
NEXT STEPS
21The Tribunal engaged the Parties in a discussion about next steps in the process, which included expectations for a second CMC and details required for a Merit Hearing.
22Mr. DeMelo requested a second CMC in October 2024, as the City has not yet received Council instructions and does not yet have an IL. Mr. Dougherty advised that the City could produce a draft IL once formal instructions are received from City Council and could be ready for a second CMC in September 2024.
23Mr. Flett indicated he would bring a Motion in advance of the second CMC to request the consideration of PUTECA’s Party status request, as not having status until a CMC in September or October would greatly prejudice his client’s case.
24Mr. DeMelo noted that a five-day Merit Hearing would be required based on the issues identified through the City’s comment matrix on the Applications. He indicated that, even with PUTECA and UTACA as added Parties, a five-day Merit Hearing would be sufficient. There were no objections to the proposed length of the Merit Hearing by any of the Parties or prospective Parties.
HEARING EVENTS
25At the request of the Appellant and the City, the Tribunal scheduled a second CMC for Thursday, September 26, 2024, at 10 a.m. by Video Hearing.
26The purpose of the second CMC will be to determine the status of UTACA and PUTECA and to review and finalize the draft PO and IL, among other preliminary matters to be determined.
27At the request of the Appellant, the Tribunal scheduled a five-day Merit Hearing commencing on Monday, February 10, 2025, at 10 a.m., through to Friday, February 14, 2025, by Video Hearing.
28The Video Hearings are scheduled to proceed as follows:
Thursday, September 26, 2024, at 10 a.m. (One-day CMC)
GoToMeeting: https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/709076365
Access Code: 709-076-365
Audio Only Telephone: (Toll-Free) + 1-888-299-1889 or +1 (647) 497-9373
Audio Only Access Code: 709-076-365
Monday, February 10, 2025, at 10 a.m. (Five-day Merit Hearing)
GoToMeeting: https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/765631861
Access Code: 765-631-861
Audio-Only Telephone: (Toll-Free) +1-888-455-1389 or +1 (647) 497-9391
Audio-Only Access Code: 765-631-861
29Parties and Participants are asked to log into the video hearing at least 15 minutes before the start of the event to test video and audio connections.
30Parties 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 at: https://app.gotomeeting.com/home.html
31Persons 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.
32Individuals are directed to connect to the event on the assigned dates at the correct times. It is the responsibility of the persons participating in hearing events by video to ensure that they are properly connected at the correct time. Questions prior to these hearing events may be directed to the Tribunal’s Case Coordinator having carriage of this case.
MEDIATION
33The Tribunal advised the Parties of the option of Tribunal-led mediation and to contact the Case Coordinator to determine next steps if the need for mediation arises.
ORDER
34The Tribunal confers Party status on the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority.
35The Tribunal confers Participant status on all persons listed in paragraph [10] above and on Yirong Liu.
36No further notice is required.
37The Panel is not seized of this matter.
“G. Ross”
G. ROSS
MEMBER
“C. I. Molinari”
C. I. MOLINARI
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.