Ontario Land Tribunal

Tribunal ontarien de l’aménagement du territoire

ISSUE DATE: March 14, 2025

CASE NO(S).: OLT-24-001074

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

Applicant/Appellant: MR-V 123 Bellamy Road North Inc.

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

Description: To permit three additional buildings with 44, 35, and 9 storeys

Reference Number: 24 126134 ESC 21 OZ

Property Address: 123 Bellamy Road

Municipality/UT: Toronto/Toronto

OLT Case No.: OLT-24-001074

OLT Case Name: MR-V 123 Bellamy Road North v. City of Toronto

Heard: March 11, 2025 by Video Hearing

APPEARANCES:

Parties	Counsel
MR-V 123 Bellamy Road North Inc.	Rodney Gill Mikaela Wang (Articling Student)
City of Toronto	Derin Abimbola Simona Messina

MEMORANDUM OF ORAL DECISION DELIVERED BY A. SNOWDON ON MARCH 11, 2025 AND ORDER OF THE TRIBUNAL

1This Decision arises from the first Case Management Conference (“CMC”) relating to an appeal brought pursuant to s. 34(11) of the Planning Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. P.13, as amended, from the failure by the Council of the City of Toronto (“City”) to make a decision within the statutory timeframes with respect to an application for a Zoning By-Law Amendment. The Appeal has been filed by MR-V 123 Bellamy Road North Inc. (“Appellant”) regarding the property located at 123 Bellamy Road, Toronto (“Subject Property”).

2The Appellant submitted the application to facilitate the rezoning of the Subject Property which would allow three (3) additional buildings on the eastern portion of the land. The added buildings would be 44, 35, and 9-storeys in height. The Subject Property is approximately 1.884 hectares in area and is located in the northeast quadrant of Eglinton Avenue East and Bellamy Road North. A 12-storey building currently exists on the western portion of the Subject Property. The Subject Property is within the Eglinton GO Protected Major Transit Station Area.

NOTICE

3The Affidavit of Service, sworn by Mina Siskopoulos on February 10, 2025, has been marked as Exhibit 1 on consent of the Parties.

STATUS REQUESTS

4The Tribunal received no requests for Party status or Participant status prior to or during the CMC.

OPPORTUNITIES FOR SETTLEMENT/MEDIATION

5The Parties have been scheduled for Tribunal-led mediation to take place on May 7, May 21, and May 23 of 2025.

DRAFT PROCEDURAL ORDER AND ISSUES LIST

6Prior to the commencement of the CMC, a draft Procedural Order (“PO”) was submitted to the Tribunal on consent of the Parties.

7On March 12, 2025, a revised PO was submitted to the Tribunal and is attached as Schedule A to this Decision. The revised PO has been reviewed and approved by the Tribunal and will govern the pre-Hearing procedural requirements and the hearing of the appeal.

SCHEDULING

8At the CMC, the Parties advised the Tribunal that they were seeking a 10-day hearing.

9A 9-day hearing for OLT Case File No. OLT-24-001074 is scheduled to commence on Tuesday, November 18, 2025 at 10 a.m. by video Hearing.

10Parties and/or Participants and/or Observers are asked to log in to the event at least 15 minutes before the event begins to test their video and audio connections:

GoTo Meeting: https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/765631861

Access Code: 765-631-861

11Parties and/or Participants and/or 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.

12Persons 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 noted in paragraph 10 above.

13Individuals 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 CMC 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.

ORDER

14THE TRIBUNAL ORDERS THAT:

(a) this matter has been scheduled for a Hearing as described above; and

(b) the Procedural Order appended as Schedule A shall govern this proceeding.

“A. Snowdon”

A. SNOWDON 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.

SCHEDULE A

CASE NO(S).: OLT-24-001074

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

Applicant/Appellant: MR-V 123 Bellamy Road North Inc.

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

Description: To permit three additional buildings with 44, 35, and 9 storeys

Reference Number: 24 126134 ESC 21 OZ

Property Address: 123 Bellamy Road

Municipality: City of Toronto

OLT Case No.: OLT-24-001074

OLT Lead Case No.: OLT-24-001074

OLT Case Name: MR-V 123 Bellamy Road North Inc. v. Toronto (City)

PROCEDURAL ORDER

1. 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

2. The video hearing will begin on November 18, 2025 at 10 a.m.

3. The length of the hearing is nine (9) 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.

4. 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).

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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

9. 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 August 20, 2025 and in accordance with paragraph 22 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.

10. Expert witnesses in the same field shall have a meeting on or before August 29, 2025 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 September 4, 2025.

11. 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 13 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.

12. 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 13 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 13 below.

13. On or before September 19, 2025, 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 22 below.

14. On or before September 19, 2025, participants shall provide copies of their written participant statement to the other parties in accordance with paragraph 22 below. A participant cannot present oral submissions at the hearing on the content of their written statement, unless ordered by the Tribunal.

15. On or before October 9, 2025, Parties may provide to all other parties and the OLT case co-ordinator a written response to any written evidence after the evidence is received and in accordance with paragraph 22 below.

16. On or before October 19, 2025: (a) the parties shall confirm with the Tribunal if all the reserved hearing dates are still required; and (b) any party seeking to exclude or limit the written or oral evidence of any witness must bring a written motion for that relief under Rule 10.3.

17. On or before October 20, 2025, the parties shall provide copies of their visual evidence to all of the other parties in accordance with paragraph 22 below. If a model will be used, all parties must have a reasonable opportunity to view it before the hearing.

18. The parties shall cooperate to prepare a joint document book which shall be shared with the OLT case co-ordinator on or before November 3, 2025.

19. 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.

20. 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.

21. The parties shall prepare and file a preliminary hearing plan with the Tribunal on or before November 10, 2025 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.

22. All filings shall be submitted electronically and in hard copy. 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.

23. No adjournments or delays will be granted except pursuant to a motion brought under Rule 17.

SUMMARY OF DATES

DATE	EVENT
June 26, 2025	Last date to provide copies of revised proposal, including all revised plans and drawings (if any)
August 20, 2025	Exchange of witness lists (names, disciplines and order to be called)
August 29, 2025 and September 4, 2025	Experts Meeting and Agreed Statement of Facts
September 19, 2025	Exchange of Witness Statements, summoned witness outlines, Expert Reports and Participant Statements
October 9, 2025	Exchange of Reply Witness Statements (if any)
October 19, 2025	Motion to exclude or limit evidence
October 20, 2025	Exchange of visual evidence (if any)
November 3, 2025	Preparation of Joint Document Book
November 10, 2025	Filing of Hearing Plan with the Tribunal
November 18, 2025	Hearing commences

ATTACHMENT 1

PARTIES/PARTICIPANTS

Parties

1. MR-V 123 Bellamy Road North Inc. Rodney Gill (416) 597-4136 rgill@goodmans.ca

2. City of Toronto Simona Messina/Derin Abimbola (416) 394-8002/(416) 338-1376 Simona.Messina@toronto.ca/Derin.Abimbola@toronto.ca

Participants

N/A

ATTACHMENT 2

ISSUES LIST

City of Toronto

Planning Act

1. Does the proposed development, and the Zoning By-law Amendment have appropriate regard for the matters of provincial interests set forth in Section 2 of the Planning Act, particularly:

a) 2(h) – orderly development of safe and healthy communities; and

b) 2(r) – the promotion of built form that is well-designed, encourages a sense of place, and provides for public spaces that are of high quality, safe, accessible, attractive, and vibrant?

2. Would the approval by the Tribunal of the proposed development, and the Zoning By-law Amendment have regard for any information and material received by City Council, as required by Section 2.1(2) of the Planning Act?

Provincial Planning Statement (2024)

3. Does the proposed development, and the Zoning By-law Amendment consistent with the Provincial Planning Statement (2024) as required by Section 3(5) of the Planning Act, including policies:

2.1

2.2;

2.3.1;

2.4;

2.9;

3.1;

3.4;

3.6;

3.7;

3.9; and

6.1.

City of Toronto Official Plan

4. Does the proposed development, and the Zoning By-law Amendment conform with the policies of the City of Toronto Official Plan, including the policies related to:

a) Structuring Growth in the City (Section 2.2);

b) Healthy Neighbourhoods (Section 2.3.1);

c) Bringing the City Together, Transportation (Section 2.4);

d) Public Realm (Section 3.1.1);

e) Built Form (Section 3.1.2, 3.1.3, Section 3.1.4);

f) Housing (Section 3.2.1);

g) Parks and Open Spaces (Section 3.2.3);

h) Building New Neighbourhoods (Section 3.3);

i) Apartment Neighbourhoods (Section 4.2.2, 4.2.3, 4.2.3b); and

j) Implementation (Sections 5.3.1, 5.3.2, 5.6)?

Built Form and Public Realm

5. Are the proposed built form type, massing, location, placement, scale and heights of the proposed development appropriate, given principles of good urban design, its relationship to the surrounding context, shadow impacts, wind impacts, the public realm, the relevant policy documents, and the further issues more particularly set out below?

6. Does the proposed development have appropriate regard for and meet the intent and purpose of the Eglinton GO Area Urban Design Guidelines implementation of the 45-degree front angular plane?

7. Are the ground floor setbacks appropriate on all public streets?

8. Are the proposed above and below grade setbacks from the railway corridor appropriate??

9. Is the vehicular access proposed in an appropriate location?

10. Is pedestrian circulation through the site appropriate?

11. Are the base buildings appropriate?

12. Are the proposed tall building stepbacks appropriate?

13. Does the proposed development provide adequate tree preservation?

14. Does the proposed development provide appropriate amounts of unencumbered soil volume in accordance with the Toronto Green Standard on site and to accommodate tree planting and landscaping necessary to enhance the public realm?

City of Toronto Guidelines

15. Does the proposed Zoning By-law Amendment meet the intent and purpose of the following City of Toronto Guidelines and standards?

a) Tall Building Design Guidelines (2013);

b) Growing Up: Planning for Children in New Vertical Communities, Urban Design Guidelines (2020);

c) Eglinton Go Area Urban Design Guidelines; and

d) Townhouse and low-rise apartment Guidelines.

Amenity Space

16. Does the proposed development and Zoning By-law Amendment provide for sufficient indoor and outdoor amenity space?

Servicing

17. Has it been demonstrated that there are adequate municipal services in place to support the proposed development, including but not limited to the availability of adequate sanitary, storm and water capacity, including water pressure, and the implementation of appropriate stormwater management measures and groundwater management measures?

Public Interest and Good Planning

18. Does the proposed development and Zoning By-law Amendment provide for good planning and urban design, and is it in the public interest?

Conditions

19. If the proposal for 123 Bellamy Road North is approved in whole or in part, should the Tribunal’s Order be withheld until the following conditions are satisfied, and the Tribunal has received confirmation from the City Solicitor that:

a) The final form and content of the draft Zoning By-law is in a form and content satisfactory to the Executive Director, Development Review;

b) The Owner has submitted a revised Transportation Impact Study, traffic signal warrant analysis and Transportation Demand Management Plan acceptable to, and to the satisfaction of, the Executive Director, Development Review and General Manager of Transportation Services;

c) The Owner has addressed all outstanding urban forestry issues outlined in the memorandum dated August 26, 2024, from the General Manager, Parks, Forestry and Recreation, and any other comments that may arise further to the review of materials, to the satisfaction of the General Manager, Parks, Forestry and Recreation;

d) The Owner has provided a revised Functional Servicing Report, Stormwater Management Report, Municipal Servicing and Grading Plan, and any other reports or documents deemed necessary in support of the development to the City for review and acceptance by and to the satisfaction of the Chief Engineer and Executive Director, Engineering and Construction Services. These reports shall determine whether the municipal water, stormwater runoff, sanitary and storm sewer systems can support the proposed development and whether upgrades or improvements of the existing municipal infrastructure are required; and,

e) The Owner has entered into a financially secured agreement for the construction of any improvements to the municipal infrastructure, at the Owner's sole expense, should it be determined that upgrades are required to support the development as identified in the accepted Functional Servicing and Stormwater Management Reports or any other reports accepted by the Chief Engineer and Executive Director, Engineering and Construction Services?

ATTACHMENT 3 ORDER OF EVIDENCE

1. MR-V 123 Bellamy Road North Inc.
2. City of Toronto
3. Reply of MR-V 123 Bellamy Road North Inc., if any.

Attachment to Sample Procedural Order

Meaning of terms used in the Procedural Order:

A party is an individual or corporation permitted by the Tribunal to participate fully in the hearing by receiving copies of written evidence, presenting witnesses, cross-examining the witnesses of the other parties, and making submissions on all of the evidence. An unincorporated group cannot be a party and it must appoint one person to speak for it, and that person must accept the other responsibilities of a party as set out in the Order. Parties do not have to be represented by a lawyer and may have an agent speak for them. The agent must have written authorisation from the party.

NOTE that a person who wishes to become a party before or at the hearing, and who did not request this at the case management conference (CMC), must ask the Tribunal to permit this.

A participant is an individual or corporation, whether represented by a lawyer or not, who may make a written submission to the Tribunal. A participant cannot make an oral submission to the Tribunal or present oral evidence (testify in-person) at the hearing (only a party may do so). Section 17 of the Ontario Land Tribunal Act states that a person who is not a party to a proceeding may only make a submission to the Tribunal in writing. The Tribunal may direct a participant to attend a hearing to answer questions from the Tribunal on the content of their written submission, should that be found necessary by the Tribunal. A participant may also be asked questions by the parties should the Tribunal direct a participant to attend a hearing to answer questions on the content of their written submission.

A participant must be identified and be accorded participant status by the Tribunal at the CMC. A participant will not receive notice of conference calls on procedural issues that may be scheduled prior to the hearing, nor receive notice of mediation. A participant cannot ask for costs, or review of a decision, as a participant does not have the rights of a party to make such requests of the Tribunal.

Written evidence includes all written material, reports, studies, documents, letters and witness statements which a party or participant intends to present as evidence at the hearing. These must have pages numbered consecutively throughout the entire document, even if there are tabs or dividers in the material.

Visual evidence includes photographs, maps, videos, models, and overlays which a party or participant intends to present as evidence at the hearing.

A witness statement is a short written outline of the person’s background, experience and interest in the matter; a list of the issues which he or she will discuss; and a list of reports or materials that the witness will rely on at the hearing.

An expert witness statement should include his or her (1) name and address, (2) qualifications, (3) a list of the issues he or she will address, (4) the witness’ opinions on those issues and the complete reasons supporting their opinions and conclusions and (5) a list of reports or materials that the witness will rely on at the hearing. An expert witness statement must be accompanied by an acknowledgement of expert’s duty.

A participant statement is a short written outline of the person’s or group’s background, experience and interest in the matter; a statement of the participant’s position on the appeal; a list of the issues which the participant wishes to address and the submissions of the participant on those issues; and a list of reports or materials, if any, which the participant wishes to refer to in their statement.

Additional Information

A summons may compel the appearance of a person before the Tribunal who has not agreed to appear as a witness. A party must ask a Tribunal Member or the senior staff of the Tribunal to issue a summons through a request. (See Rule 13 on the summons procedure.) The request should indicate how the witness’ evidence is relevant to the hearing. If the Tribunal is not satisfied from the information provided in the request that the evidence is relevant, necessary or admissible, the party requesting the summons may provide a further request with more detail or bring a motion in accordance with the Rules.

The order of examination of witnesses is usually direct examination, cross-examination and re-examination in the following way:

• direct examination by the party presenting the witness;
• direct examination by any party of similar interest, in the manner determined by the Tribunal;
• cross-examination by parties of opposite interest;
• re-examination by the party presenting the witness; or
• another order of examination mutually agreed among the parties or directed by the Tribunal.

1378-6083-8419