1238576 Ontario Limited v Centre Wellington (Township), 2025 CanLII 106941

Ontario Land Tribunal

Tribunal ontarien de l’aménagement du territoire

ISSUE DATE: October 15, 2025

CASE NO.: OLT-25-000065

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

Applicant/Appellant

1238576 Ontario Limited

Subject:

Application to amend the Zoning By-law – Refusal or neglect to make a decision

Description:

238576 Ontario Limited-Adjust OS zone boundary to create woodland corridor

Reference Number:

RZ005/22

Property Address:

27, 32 and 40 Broken Front Path and 11 Gilkison Street

Municipality/UT:

Centre Wellington/Wellington

OLT Case No:

OLT-25-000065

OLT Lead Case No:

OLT-25-000065

OLT Case Name:

1238576 Ontario Limited v Centre Wellington (Township)

BEFORE:

BITA M. RAJAEE

Thursday, the 18th

MEMBER

day of September, 2025

UPON APPEAL having been brought pursuant to section 34(11) of the Planning Act by 1238576 Ontario Limited resulting from the failure of the Township of Centre Wellington to make a decision within the statutory timeframe on an application for a Zoning By-law Amendment pertaining to properties municipally known as 27, 32, and 40 Broken Front Path and 11 Gilkison Street, with the purpose of the application being to permit the rezoning of the open space along south River Road to a residential zone;

AND THE TRIBUNAL, at this first Case Management Conference on September 18, 2025 (“CMC”), having marked as Exhibit 1 the Affidavit of Service of Victoria Peacock, sworn on August 21, 2025, attesting to proper Notice having been given for this CMC, and confirming that no further Notice was required for this proceeding;

AND THE TRIBUNAL having received no requests for Party or Participant status;

AND THE TRIBUNAL confirming the Parties’ awareness of and interest in Tribunal-led mediation and giving direction for the Parties to reach out to the Tribunal’s Case Coordinator in writing for a mediation assessment;

AND THE TRIBUNAL, at the CMC, upon review of the issues in dispute and the number of potential witnesses, having scheduled a five-day Hearing to commence on Monday, May 11, 2026, to and including Friday, May 15, 2026, at 10 a.m. by videoconference, with the following details:

Monday, May 11, 2026, to Friday, May 15, 2026, at 10 a.m.

GoToMeeting: https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/638422541

Access Code: 638-422-541

Audio-Only Telephone Line: +1 (647) 497-9373 or (Toll Free) 1-888-299-1889

Audio-Only Access Code: 638-422-541

AND THE TRIBUNAL, having given some directions regarding the Procedural Order (“PO”), and having now received it, attached to this Order as “Attachment 2”;

NOW THEREFORE,

THE TRIBUNAL ORDERS THAT:

1. The Procedural Order appended as Attachment 2 shall govern the conduct of these proceedings.

2. The Hearing is scheduled as detailed above.

3. No further Notice is required.

4. This Member is not seized but may be contacted through the Case Coordinator should any procedural issues arise.

“Matthew Bryan”

MATTHEW BRYAN

ACTING REGISTRAR

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.

Attachment 1

CMC Attendance List

Party Name

Counsel/Representative*

1238576 Ontario Limited

Jennifer Meader Meredith Baker (in absentia)

Township of Wellington

Peter Pickfield Colin Leger (in absentia)

Attachment 2

CASE NO(S).: OLT-25-000065

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

Applicant/Appellant:

1238576 Ontario Limited

Subject:

Application to amend the Zoning By-law – Refusal or neglect to make a decision

Description:

238576 Ontario Limited-Adjust OS zone boundary to create woodland corridor

Reference Number:

RZ005/22

Property Address:

27, 32 and 40 Broken Front Path and 11 Gilkison Street

Municipality/UT:

Centre Wellington/Wellington

OLT Case No:

OLT-25-000065

OLT Lead Case No:

OLT-25-000065

OLT Case Name:

1238576 Ontario Limited v Centre Wellington (Township)

Procedural Order

The Tribunal may vary or add to the directions in this procedural order at any time by an oral ruling or by another written order, either on the parties’ request or its own motion.

Organization of the Hearing

1. The video hearing will begin on May 11, 2026, at 10:00 am, through video link https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/638422541. When prompted, enter code 638-422-541.

2. The parties’ initial estimation for the length of the hearing is 5 days. The parties are expected to cooperate to reduce the length of the hearing by eliminating redundant evidence and attempting to reach settlements on issues where possible.

3. The parties and participants identified at the case management conference are set out in Attachment 1 (see the sample procedural order for the meaning of these terms).

4. The issues are set out in the Issues List attached as Attachment 2. There will be no changes to this list unless the Tribunal permits, and a party who asks for changes may have costs awarded against it.

5. The order of evidence shall be as set out in Attachment 3 to this Order. The Tribunal may limit the amount of time allocated for opening statements, evidence in chief (including the qualification of witnesses), cross-examination, evidence in reply and final argument. The length of written argument, if any, may be limited either on the parties’ consent, subject to the Tribunal’s approval, or by Order of the Tribunal.

6. Any person intending to participate in the hearing should provide a mailing address, email address and a telephone number to the Tribunal as soon as possible – ideally before the case management conference. Any person who will be retaining a representative should advise the other parties and the Tribunal of the representative’s name, address, email address and the phone number as soon as possible.

7. Any person who intends to participate in the hearing, including parties, counsel and witnesses, is expected to review the Tribunal’s Video Hearing Guide, available on the Tribunal’s website.

Requirements Before the Hearing

8. A party who intends to call witnesses, whether by summons or not, shall provide to the Tribunal and the other parties a list of the witnesses and the order in which they will be called. This list must be delivered on or before February 6, 2026, and in accordance with paragraph 21 below. A party who intends to call an expert witness must include a copy of the witness’ Curriculum Vitae and the area of expertise in which the witness is prepared to be qualified.

9. Expert witnesses in the same field shall have a meeting on or before February 20, 2026, and use best efforts to try to resolve or reduce the issues for the hearing. Following the experts’ meeting the parties must prepare and file a Statement of Agreed Facts and Issues with the OLT case co-ordinator on or before March 6, 2026.

10. An expert witness shall prepare an expert witness statement, which shall list any reports prepared by the expert, or any other reports or documents to be relied on at the hearing. Copies of this must be provided as in paragraph 12 below. Instead of a witness statement, the expert may file his or her entire report if it contains the required information. If this is not done, the Tribunal may refuse to hear the expert’s testimony.

11. Expert witnesses who are under summons but not paid to produce a report do not have to file an expert witness statement; but the party calling them must file a brief outline of the expert’s evidence as in paragraph 12 below. A party who intends to call a witness who is not an expert must file a brief outline of the witness’ evidence, as in paragraph 12 below.

12. On or before March 20, 2026, the parties shall provide copies of their [witness and] expert witness statements to the other parties and to the OLT case co-ordinator and in accordance with paragraph 21 below.

13. On or before March 20, 2026, a participant shall provide copies of their written participant statement to the other parties in accordance with paragraph 21 below. A participant cannot present oral submissions at the hearing on the content of their written statement, unless ordered by the Tribunal.

14. On or before April 6, 2026, the parties shall confirm with the Tribunal if all the reserved hearing dates are still required.

15. On or before April 24, 2026, the parties shall provide copies of their visual evidence to all of the other parties in accordance with paragraph 21 below. If a model will be used, all parties must have a reasonable opportunity to view it before the hearing.

16. Parties may provide to all other parties and the OLT case co-ordinator a written response to any written evidence on or before April 20, 2026, and in accordance with paragraph 21 below.

17. The parties shall cooperate to prepare a joint document book which shall be shared with the OLT case co-ordinator on or before May 1, 2026.

18. A person wishing to change written evidence, including witness statements, must make a written motion to the Tribunal. See Rule 10 of the Tribunal’s Rules with respect to Motions, which requires that the moving party provide copies of the motion to all other parties 15 days before the Tribunal hears the motion.

19. A party who provides written evidence of a witness to the other parties must have the witness attend the hearing to give oral evidence, unless the party notifies the Tribunal at least 7 days before the hearing that the written evidence is not part of their record.

20. The parties shall prepare and file a preliminary hearing plan with the Tribunal on or before May 4, 2026, with a proposed schedule for the hearing that identifies, as a minimum, the parties participating in the hearing, the preliminary matters (if any to be addressed), the anticipated order of evidence, the date each witness is expected to attend, the anticipated length of time for evidence to be presented by each witness in chief, cross-examination and re-examination (if any) and the expected length of time for final submissions. The parties are expected to ensure that the hearing proceeds in an efficient manner and in accordance with the hearing plan. The Tribunal may, at its discretion, change or alter the hearing plan at any time in the course of the hearing.

21. All filings shall be submitted electronically. Electronic copies may be filed by email, an electronic file sharing service for documents that exceed 10MB in size, or as otherwise directed by the Tribunal. The delivery of documents by email shall be governed by the Rule 7.

22. No adjournments or delays will be granted before or during the hearing except for serious hardship or illness. The Tribunal’s Rule 17 applies to such requests.

23. A summary of the various filing dates is contained in Attachment 4.

This Member is not seized.

ATTACHMENT 1

Parties

1. 1238576 Ontario Limited

TMA Law

25 Main Street West, Suite 2010

Hamilton, ON L8P 1H1

Jennifer Meader

Email: jmeader@tmalaw.ca

Phone: 905.529.3476

Meredith Baker

Email: mbaker@tmalaw.ca

Phone: 905.529.3476

2. The Township of Wellington

Garrod Pickfield LLP

9 Norwich Street West

Guelph, ON N1H 2G8

Peter Pickfield

Email: pickfield@garrodpickfield.ca

Phone: (519) 837-0500

Colin Leger

Email: cleger@garrodpickfield.ca

Phone: (519) 837-0500

ATTACHMENT 2

Issues List

NOTE: The identification of an issue on the Issues List does not constitute an acknowledgement by the Tribunal or any party that the issue is either relevant or appropriate. The identification of an issue on this list by a party indicates that party’s intent to lead evidence or argue that the issue is relevant to the proceeding, for the purpose of fairly identifying to the other parties the case they need to meet, but shall not preclude any other party from calling evidence on the issue.

Township of Centre Wellington

1. Does the application to amend Township of Centre Wellington Zoning By-law 2009-045 have regard for matters of provincial interest in section 2 of the Planning Act, including clauses 2(a), and 2(h)?

2. Is the proposed zoning by-law amendment consistent with the Provincial Planning Statement, in particular: 4.1.1, 4.1.2, 4.1.5 (b), and 4.1.8?

3. Does the proposed zoning by-law amendment conform with the Official Plan of Wellington County, 1999, in particular: 2.2.14, 2.2.15, 5.5.4, 5.6.2 (a), 5.6.2 (b), 5.6.2 (c), 7.4.13, 7.4.14?

4. Does the proposed zoning by-law amendment conform with the Official Plan of the Township of Centre Wellington, 2005, in particular: C.2.1.3, C.3.1, C.3.9.1, C.3.9.3 (a), C.3.9.3 (b), C.3.9.3 (c), C.3.9.3 (d), C.3.9.3 (e), C.3.9.3 (f), C.15.4.1, C.15.4.2?

5. Does the proposed application provide appropriate protections for the existing woodlands on and adjacent to the subject property?

6. Does the proposed zoning by-law amendment represent good planning and is it in the public interest?

ATTACHMENT 3

Order of Evidence

1. 1238576 Ontario Limited
2. The Township of Wellington
3. 1238756 Ontario Limited In reply

ATTACHMENT 4

Summary of Filing Dates

EVENT

DATE

List of Witnesses

February 6, 2026

Expert Witness Meetings

February 20, 2026

Agreed Statement of Facts & Remaining Issues

March 6, 2026

Witness and Expert Witness Statements

March 20, 2026

Participant Statement

March 20, 2026

Confirm Hearing Dates with Tribunal

April 6, 2026

Reply Witness Statement

April 20, 2026

Visual Evidence

April 24, 2026

Joint Document Book

May 1, 2026

Hearing Plan

May 4, 2026

OLT Hearing Commences

May 11, 2026