My Place on 7 Inc. v. Vaughan (City), 2024 CanLII 81247

ISSUE DATE: August 23, 2024

CASE NO(S).: OLT-24-000565, OLT-24-000566

PROCEEDING COMMENCED UNDER subsection 22(7) of the Planning Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. P.13, as amended

Applicant and Appellant: My Place On 7 Inc.

Subject: Request to amend the Official Plan – Failure to adopt the requested amendment

Description: To permit the development of a twelve-storey residential apartment building with 78 dwelling units

Reference Number: OP.21.015

Property Address: 4850 Highway 7 and 79 Arrowhead Drive

Municipality/UT: City of Vaughan/ Regional Municipality of York

OLT Case No.: OLT-24-000565

OLT Lead Case No.: OLT-24-000565

OLT Case Name: My Place on 7 Inc. v. Vaughan (City)

PROCEEDING COMMENCED UNDER subsection 34(11) of the Planning Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. P.13, as amended

Applicant/Appellant: My Place On 7 Inc.

Subject: Application to amend the Zoning By-law – Neglect to make a decision

Description: To permit the development of a twelve-storey residential apartment building with 78 dwelling units

Reference Number: Z.21.026

Property Address: 4850 Highway 7 and 79 Arrowhead Drive

Municipality/UT: City of Vaughan/ Regional Municipality of York

OLT Case No.: OLT-24-000566

OLT Lead Case No.: OLT-24-000565

Heard: August 20, 2024 by Video Hearing

APPEARANCES:

Parties

Counsel

My Place on 7 Inc.

Matthew Helfand

City of Vaughan

Colin Dougherty

Caitlin De Simone

Vaughanwood Ratepayers Association Inc.

Amber Stewart

MEMORANDUM OF ORAL DECISION DELIVERED BY P. TOMILIN AND A. SNOWDON ON AUGUST 20, 2024 AND ORDER OF THE TRIBUNAL

1This Decision arises from the first Case Management Conference (“CMC”) relating to appeals brought pursuant to s. 22(7) and s. 34(11) of the Planning Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. P.13, as amended, from the failure of the City of Vaughan (“City”) to make a decision regarding Applications to amend the Official Plan (“OPA”) and Zoning By-Law (“ZBA”), respectively. The Appeals have been filed by My Place on 7 Inc. (“Appellant”) regarding the property located at 4850 Highway 7 and 79 Arrowhead Drive, Vaughan (“Subject Property”).

2The Appellant submitted the Applications to facilitate the development of the Subject Property with a proposed residential development consisting of a twelve-storey tower with a total of 78 residential apartment units.

NOTICE

3The Affidavit of Service, sworn by Tarah Coutts on July 4, 2024, has been marked as Exhibit 1 on consent of the Parties.

CONSOLIDATION

4The Appellant requested that OLT-24-000565 and OLT-24-000566 be consolidated with the related files OLT-22-002104 (Appeal No. 002752) and OLT-22-003554 (Appeal No. 004784).

5The Tribunal granted the consolidation pursuant to Rule 16 of the Tribunal Rules of Practice and Procedure.

STATUS REQUESTS

6In advance of this CMC, the Tribunal was in receipt of six written requests for Party status from Nadia Libralesso, Ivan Solorzano, Carla and Giacinto Malta, Soussana Karas, Tony Bruno, and Vaughanwood Ratepayers Association Inc. (“VRA”). Tony Bruno did not attend the CMC, and the Tribunal has denied their Party status request. The Tribunal granted Party status to the VRA with the consent of all Parties. All other Party status requestors are members of the VRA, represented by the same legal counsel, and will be calling same expert witnesses. The Tribunal is of the opinion that, given the circumstances, granting individual Party status requests is redundant. Therefore, the Tribunal granted Party status only to the VRA.

OPPORTUNITIES FOR SETTLEMENT/MEDIATION

7The Tribunal reminded the Parties that if they are interested in Tribunal-led mediation, to reach out to the assigned Case Coordinator.

DRAFT PROCEDURAL ORDER AND ISSUES LIST

8Prior to the commencement of the CMC, the Appellant submitted a preliminary draft Procedural Order (“PO”). The VRA has requested until Friday, August 30, 2024 to review and finalize the PO.

9The City is awaiting instructions from City Council on this file and will not be able to finalize the PO until the fall.

10The Tribunal has directed the Parties to submit the finalized PO by Wednesday, November 20, 2024 or before.

SCHEDULING

11Prior to the CMC, the Parties advised the Tribunal that they were seeking a seven-day Hearing and that they would require a second CMC. At the CMC, Mr. Dougherty advised that he was not certain when he would receive instructions from the City’s Council, thus it was unknown when the second CMC would take place. The Tribunal advised the Parties that if they desire a second CMC prior to the Merit Hearing, one can be requested through the assigned Case Coordinator.

12A seven-day Merit Hearing for OLT-24-000565 and OLT-24-000566 is scheduled to commence on Tuesday, February 18, 2025, at 10 a.m. and ending on Wednesday, February 26, 2025, by video hearing.

13Parties are asked to log into the Merit Hearing at least 15 minutes before the start of the event to test their video and audio connections:

GoTo Meeting: https://meet.goto.com/370987861

Access Code: 370-987-861

14Parties and observers 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: +1 (647) 497-9391 or (Toll-Free) 1-888-455-1389. The access code is the same as the access code noted 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 Merit 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.

17No further appearances are scheduled prior to the Merit Hearing.

ORDER

18The Tribunal directives set out above are so ordered.

19No further notice is required.

20The Panel is not seized.

“A. Snowdon”

a. snowdOn

member

“P. Tomilin”

P. TOMILIN

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.