Ontario Land Tribunal
Tribunal ontarien de l’aménagement du territoire
ISSUE DATE: February 07, 2024
CASE NO(S).: OLT-23-000651
PROCEEDING COMMENCED UNDER subsection 22(7) of the Planning Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. P.13, as amended
Applicant/Appellant: Rox General Partners Ltd.
Subject: Request to amend the Official Plan – Failure to adopt the requested amendment
Description: To permit the development of 33 residential units in a 12-storey mixed-use building
Reference Number: 22 137060 STE 11 OZ
Property Address: 219-221 Roxton Road
Municipality: Toronto
OLT Case No.: OLT-23-000651
OLT Lead Case No.: OLT-23-000651
OLT Case Name: Rox General Partners Ltd. v. Toronto (City)
PROCEEDING COMMENCED UNDER subsection 34(11) of the Planning Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. P.13, as amended
Applicant/Appellant: Rox General Partners Ltd.
Subject: Application to amend the Zoning By-law – Refusal or neglect to make a decision
Description: To permit the development of 33 residential units in a 12-storey mixed-use building
Reference Number: 22 137060 STE 11 OZ
Property Address: 219-221 Roxton Road
Municipality: Toronto
OLT Case No.: OLT-23-000652
OLT Lead Case No.: OLT-23-000651
PROCEEDING COMMENCED UNDER subsection 114(15) of the City of Toronto Act, 2006, S.O. 2006, c. 11, Sched. A, as amended
Applicant/Appellant: Rox General Partners Ltd.
Subject: Site Plan
Description: To permit the development of 33 residential units in a 12-storey mixed-use building
Reference Number: 22 137059 STE 11 SA
Property Address: 219- 221 Roxton Road
Municipality: Toronto
OLT Case No.: OLT-23-000653
OLT Lead Case No.: OLT-23-000651
Heard: January 9, 2024 by Video Hearing
APPEARANCES:
Parties
Counsel
Rox General Partners Ltd.
Paul DeMelo
(Jim Kotospoulos)
Sarah Kagan (in absentia)
City of Toronto
Marc Hardiejowski
MEMORANDUM OF ORAL DECISION DELIVERED BY GREGORY J. INGRAM ON January 9, 2024 AND ORDER OF THE TRIBUNAL
INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND
1This is the second Case Management Conference (“CMC”) concerning the Rox General Partners Ltd. (“Appellant”) appeal against the failure of the City of Toronto (“City”) to decide on concurrent applications for an Official Plan Amendment (“OPA”), Zoning By-law Amendment (“ZBA”), and Site Plan Application (“SPA”) to redevelop lands known municipally as 219-221 Roxton Road, Toronto (“Subject Property”). The Subject Property has frontage on the south side of College Street and the east side of Roxton Road.
2The Appellant is seeking planning permissions that will allow for the demolition of two existing residential buildings (one vacant) and permit the redevelopment of 33 residential (rental) units in a 12-storey mixed-use building (“Proposal”).
3The OPA seeks to redesignate the Subject Property from Neighbourhoods to Mixed Use, permitting a higher-density, mixed-use and transit-supportive development. The ZBA seeks to rezone the Subject Property from Commercial Residential (CR.3.0 c1.0; r2.5 SS2 x2437) to Commercial Residential (“CR”) which permits a range of commercial uses, including, but not limited to, offices, personal service shops, retail stores, and eating establishments. The CR zone designation also permits residential uses such as an apartment building and mixed-use buildings.
4The first CMC resulted in the following:
a. The Affidavit of Service marked as Exhibit 1;
b. Party status requests from Greg Baxter and Anthony Muhitch being deferred and the request from Carlos Monteiro denied; and
c. A second CMC being scheduled to give Counsel for the City an opportunity to receive direction from City Council and the Parties were directed to provide an update regarding a possible settlement or provide a draft Procedural Order (“PO”) and Issues List (“IL”) to guide the next steps in these proceedings.
UPDATE
5Mr. DeMelo, Counsel for the Appellant, in his update to the Tribunal indicated that City Council provided direction to Marc Hardiejowski (Counsel for the City) during their meeting in December 2023. He indicated that professionals from both Parties are engaged in ongoing discussions which have resulted in many if not all “technical” issues being resolved. He requested that a third CMC be scheduled to potentially present a Settlement to the Tribunal, or if the issues have not been resolved, present a draft PO and IL in anticipation of a Hearing of the Merits (“Merit Hearing”). He requested that four days be scheduled for the Merit Hearing as he anticipated that each Party would bring experts in land use planning and architecture.
6Mr. Hardiejowski concurred with the summary provided by Mr. DeMelo and added that the City opposes the current proposal as it is written but supports resolution discussions that are ongoing between the two Parties. He preferred that the Tribunal schedule a third CMC in late April or early May 2024 and that a Merit Hearing be scheduled in the last quarter of the year, if possible.
STATUS REQUESTS
7Greg Baxter and Anthony Muhitch requested that their requests for Party status be withdrawn and instead requested permission to submit Participant status requests. They indicated that it is their opinion that the deficiencies in the Proposal remain and will include their previously submitted analysis with their respective new status requests. On consent of the Parties and the detailed list of concerns identified by both status requests, the Tribunal granted Mr. Baxter and Mr. Muhitch permission to submit Participant status requests on or before Friday, January 26, 2024. Mr. Muhitch and Mr. Baxter’s requests for Participant status were received by the Tribunal, reviewed, and approved on January 26, 2024.
8The Tribunal granted Carlos Monteiro Participant status with the consent of the Parties and with regard to his expressed concern for the impact of the Proposal on himself and others living in the vicinity of 219-221 Roxton Road.
9All individuals who received Participant status were granted an opportunity to update their initial Participant status requests given that the City’s position was unknown at the time the requests were originally submitted. Participants were permitted to add to their initial submission and submit it to the Case Coordinator on or before Friday, January 26, 2024.
10No additional requests for status in this case will be considered by the Tribunal.
MEDIATION
11Tribunal-led mediation was presented as an option to the Parties. They indicated that they are making progress through their own process and did not foresee requiring mediation assistance from the Tribunal.
HEARING PLANNING
12Parties are required to provide an update to the Tribunal on or before Friday, April 12, 2024, to indicate if they would like the CMC used to present a Settlement or to present a draft PO and IL in preparation for a Merit Hearing. On consent of the Parties, a request to cancel this CMC may be considered by the Tribunal, and if granted, the draft PO and IL must be provided to the Tribunal by Friday, April 12, 2024.
13A third CMC has been scheduled for Friday, April 26, 2024, beginning at 10 a.m. by video. A Merit Hearing has been scheduled for four days, to commence on Monday, November 25, 2024, at 10:00 a.m. by video.
14The details to access the Video Hearings for the third CMC and the four-day Merit Hearing are below.
15Parties and Participants are asked to log into the Video Hearings at least 15 minutes before the start of the event to test their video and audio connections:
Friday, April 26, 2024 at 10 a.m. (third CMC)
GoTo Meeting: https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/687587165
Access code: 687-587-165
Audio-only telephone line: +1 (647) 497-9373 or (Toll-Free) 1-888-299-1889
Audio-only access code: 687-587-165
Monday, November 25, 2024 at 10 a.m. (four-day Merit Hearing)
GoTo Meeting: https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/719383509
Access code: 719-383-509
Audio-only telephone line: +1 (647) 497-9373 or (Toll-Free) 1-888-299-1889
Audio-only access code: 719-383-509
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 into an 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 Video Hearings 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.
19No further notice is required.
20The Member is not seized.
ORDER
21THE TRIBUNAL ORDERS THAT:
The Party status requests of Greg Baxter and Anthony Muhitch are withdrawn and their requests for Participant status are granted. The Participant status request of Carlos Monteiro is granted.
A third Case Management Conference shall commence on Friday, April 26, 2024, at 10 a.m. by Video Hearing and an update to the Tribunal shall be provided by Friday, April 12, 2024.
A four-day Merit Hearing shall commence on Monday, November 25, 2024 at 10:00 a.m. by Video Hearing.
“Gregory J. Ingram”
GREGORY J. INGRAM
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.