du territoire
Ontario Land Tribunal
Tribunal ontarien de l’aménagement
ISSUE DATE: September 27, 2024
CASE NO(S).: OLT-24-000485
PROCEEDING COMMENCED UNDER subsection 17(36) of the Planning Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. P.13, as amended
Appellant: 9218 Yonge Street Inc. & Taheri Development Inc.
Appellant: Yonge Sixteen Inc.
Subject: Proposed Official Plan Amendment
Description: To update the City’s Official Plan with area-specific policies to guide future development in the Key Development Area
Reference Number: OPA 18.5
Property Address: City Wide
Municipality/UT: City of Richmond Hill
OLT Case No.: OLT-24-000485
OLT Lead Case No.: OLT-24-000485
OLT Case Name: 9218 Yonge Street Inc. v. Richmond Hill (City)
Heard: September 25, 2024 by Video Hearing
APPEARANCES:
Parties
Counsel
9218 Yonge Street Inc. and Taheri Development Inc.
Michael Cara Christopher Tanzola (in absentia)
Yonge Sixteen Inc.
Natalie Ast Daniel Artenosi (in absentia)
City of Richmond Hill
Raj Kehar Carlton Thorne (in absentia)
MEMORANDUM OF ORAL DECISION DELIVERED BY S. BOBKA ON SEPTEMBER 25, 2024 AND ORDER OF THE TRIBUNAL
INTRODUCTION
1This was the first Case Management Conference (“CMC”) regarding appeals pursuant to section 17(36) of the Planning Act (“Act”) by 9218 Yonge Street Inc. and Taheri Development Inc. (together “9218 Yonge”) and Yonge Sixteen Inc. (“Yonge Sixteen”) regarding the City of Richmond Hill’s (“City”) approval of an Official Plan Amendment (“OPA 18.5”). OPA 18.5 updates the City’s Official Plan (“OP”) with area-specific policies to guide future development in the Key Development Area.
NOTICE
2The Tribunal was provided with the Affidavit of Service, sworn by Natasha McLarty, confirming that proper notice of this CMC had been provided. The Tribunal marked this document as Exhibit 1 and, upon review, determined that no further notice would be required.
UPDATE
3Counsel for the City, Mr. Kehar, provided the Tribunal with an overview of OPA 18.5, which applies to lands generally located north of Oak Avenue, south of Baif Boulevard, east of Springhead Gardens and west of the Canadian National Railroad. He explained that OPA 18.5 was City-initiated as part of the City’s OP Update process. Its purpose is to provide more detailed planning policy and schedules regarding the Yonge Street and Carrville/16th Avenue Key Development Area. It seeks to address matters such as long-term planning vision, permitted land use, design elements, public realm, mix of land use, density of development and adjustments to boundaries in order to be in conformity with the York Region Official Plan, 2022, which contains direction regarding protected major transit station areas within and near the identified area.
4Mr. Kehar advised that both 9218 Yonge and Yonge Sixteen had also separately filed site-specific appeals with the Tribunal regarding their respective properties. Each appeal has been adjudicated by differently constituted Panels of the Tribunal, with Decisions issued for 9218 Yonge in May 2024 (OLT file: OLT-22-003667) and for Yonge Sixteen in September 2024 (OLT file: OLT-21-001156). Mr. Kehar suggested that the current appeals were to ensure that nothing in the City-wide OPA 18.5 would undermine the Decisions in the respective site-specific appeals.
5Mr. Kehar proposed that a second CMC be set in six to eight weeks, which would allow the Parties to have without prejudice discussions in hopes of resolving the appeals. He suggested that this approach would be brief enough to keep the Parties focused yet provide sufficient time to achieve this type of resolution, if possible. He stated that a second CMC could be used to either present the solutions for consideration by the Tribunal or to provide a draft Procedural Order, including an Issues List, and set a date for a Hearing of the Merits.
6Counsel for both 9218 Yonge and Yonge Sixteen concurred with the course of action proposed by the City, including the proposed timing.
NEXT STEPS
7Upon consideration, the Tribunal agreed with the proposed path forward and set a second CMC to commence Friday, November 29, 2024, at 10 a.m. by Video Hearing.
8Parties 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:
GoTo Meeting: https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/909787981
Access Code: 909-787-981
9Parties 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 GoTo Meeting or a web application is available: https://app.gotomeeting.com/home.html
10Persons who experience technical difficulties accessing the GoTo Meeting application or who only wish to listen to the event can connect to the event by calling in to an audio-only telephone line: (Toll-Free) 1-888-455-1389 or +1 (647) 497-9391. The Access Code is as indicated above.
11Individuals 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 Video Hearing 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.
12The Tribunal directed that any materials to be considered at the second CMC be provided on or before Monday, November 18, 2024.
ORDER
13THE TRIBUNAL ORDERS that a second Case Management Conference has been scheduled as detailed in paragraph [7] above.
14There will be no further notice and the Member is not seized on this matter.
“S. Bobka”
S. BOBKA
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.