Ontario Land Tribunal Tribunal ontarien de l’aménagement du territoire
ISSUE DATE: April 10, 2025
CASE NO(S).: OLT-25-000095
PROCEEDING COMMENCED UNDER subsection 22(7) of the Planning Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. P.13, as amended
Applicant and Appellant: Benny Stark Limited
Subject: Request to amend the Official Plan – Failure to adopt the requested amendment
Description: To permit a mixed-use development comprised of seven buildings with 1818 units and a new a public park
Reference Number: 21 228594 STE 09 OZ
Property Address: 0, 119-125, 144, 160 & 200 Benny Stark Street and 116-122 Turnberry Avenue, Toronto
Municipality/UT: Toronto
OLT Case No.: OLT-25-000095
OLT Lead Case No.: OLT-25-000095
OLT Case Name: Benny Stark Limited v. Toronto (City)
PROCEEDING COMMENCED UNDER subsection 34(11) of the Planning Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. P.13, as amended
Applicant and Appellant: Benny Stark Limited
Subject: Application to amend the Zoning By-law – Refusal or neglect to make a decision
Description: To permit a mixed-use development comprised of seven buildings with 1818 units and a new a public park
Reference Number: 21 228594 STE 09 OZ
Property Address: 0, 119-125, 144, 160 & 200 Benny Stark Street and 116-122Turnberry Avenue, Toronto
Municipality/UT: Toronto
OLT Case No.: OLT-25-000096
OLT Lead Case No.: OLT-25-000095
OLT Case Name: Benny Stark Limited v. Toronto (City)
Heard: April 9, 2025, by Video Hearing
APPEARANCES:
| Parties | Counsel |
|---|---|
| Benny Stark Limited | Michael Foderick, Jamie Cole |
| City of Toronto | Adrienne de Backer, Cameron McKeich |
| Toronto and Region Conservation Area | Matthew Rutledge, Tim Duncan (in absentia) |
MEMORANDUM OF ORAL DECISION DELIVERED BY STEVEN T. MASTORAS ON APRIL 9, 2025, AND ORDER OF THE TRIBUNAL
INTRODUCTION
1The matter before the Tribunal was scheduled as a first Case Management Conference (“CMC”) relating to appeals pursuant to s.22(7) and 34(11) of the Planning Act as the result of the City of Toronto’s (“City”) refusal or neglect to make a decision related to an Official Plan Amendments (“OPA”) and a Zoning By-law Amendment (“ZBA”) (“Applications”/“Appeals”). The Appeals were submitted by Benny Stark Limited (“Appellant”) and are related to the municipal addresses known as 0, 119-125, 144, 160 & 200 Benny Stark Street and 116-122 Turnberry Avenue (“Subject Lands”).
2Generally, the proposed development (“Proposal”) is seeking the conversion of lands designated Core Employment Areas to Mixed Use Areas and Parks and Natural Areas to create a new mixed-use community that would include a mix of low-rise, mid-rise, and tall buildings, office and retail uses, a new public park, and a network of public streets including extensions to Keele Street and Gunns Road.
3More specifically, the Proposal would amend the City Official Plan and Zoning By-law No. 569-2013, as amended, to allow for four residential towers, with heights of 22, 24, 38, and 46 storeys, three-mid rise buildings with heights between eight and ten storeys, and three blocks of three-storey townhouses collectively totalling 1,818 new residential dwelling units. Also included in the Proposal, are 723 parking spaces, 1,673 bicycle parking spaces and a total gross floor area of 18,122 square metres of non-residential space. The Applications were deemed complete by the City on November 30, 2021.
4The Tribunal was in receipt of an Affidavit, signed by Robert Jefferson on March 6, 2025, providing Notice of this CMC Hearing, and is marked as Exhibit 1.
STATUS REQUESTS AND MERIT HEARING
5The Tribunal noted that there was one written Party Status request from the Toronto Region Conservation Authority (“TRCA”), as represented by Counsel present for the TRCA, related to issues surrounding natural hazard matters, in relation to the Humber River Slope Stability, and consistency with the Provincial Planning Statement 2024. There were no objections from other Parties and the Tribunal conferred Party status on the TRCA.
6There was also one written Participant Status request from Fern Santos Furtado, expressing concern including but not limited to height, density, traffic impact and shadowing. There were no objections to this request and the Tribunal conferred Participant status on Fern Santos Furtado.
7Just prior to discussion around the request for a Merit Hearing, the Tribunal invited submissions clarifying if a separate Draft Plan of Subdivision (“DPS”) application is also being processed, in order to facilitate the division of the Subject Lands. The Parties confirmed that while a DPS application had been filed with the City, no appeal before the Tribunal was pending. The Tribunal noted that this would normally be administratively combined with these Applications, should that matter come forward under a separate appeal to the Tribunal in the future. Additionally, Parties advised that there were also three separate Site Plan applications under consideration by the City, which are currently held in abeyance related to the Proposal Blocks 2, 3, and 4, and not under appeal.
8Finally, the Tribunal was updated on the subject of the Keele-St. Clair Secondary Plan, adopted by the City on July 22, 2022 (“OPA-537”), which is awaiting approval from the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing in the immediate future, and appeared to be part of what has delayed progress of these Applications. Other reasons for the apparent timing delays, related to City staff scheduling and the anticipated role of the TRCA in the process.
9Following some constructive discussion around the number of witnesses expected from Counsel for all of the Parties, a 10-day Merit Hearing in early 2026, was requested, to be scheduled at the discretion of the Tribunal.
10Based on all of the information before the Tribunal, direction was given that a Merit Hearing be scheduled to commence for a period of 10 days from Monday February 2, 2026, to Friday February 13, 2026, at 10 a.m., by Video Hearing with details that follow below:
11Parties are asked to log in to the event at least 15 minutes before it begins to test their video and audio connections:
GoTo Meeting: https://meet.goto.com/558205565
Access Code: 558-205-565
12Parties 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 at: https://app.gotomeeting.com/home.html.
13Persons who experience technical difficulties accessing the GoTo Meeting application or who only wish to listen to the event can connect to it by calling in to the audio-only telephone line: +1 (647) 497-9373 or (Toll-Free) 1-888-299-1889. The access code is as indicated above.
14Individuals 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 event to ensure that they are properly connected at the correct time. Questions prior to the event may be directed to the Case Coordinator having carriage of this case.
15Parties were further directed to submit a Procedural Order and Issues List (“PO/IL”) on or before Friday July 4, 2025, following formal input from City Council in June 2025.
16Finally, the Tribunal noted a very cooperative approach between all the Parties, who were also reminded of the availability of Tribunal-led mediation should there be mutual consent to do so in the matter.
ORDER
17THE TRIBUNAL ORDERS that:
a) The date and particulars of the Merit Hearing noted above, are hereby confirmed; and,
b) All other directions in this Decision are so ordered.
18The Member is not seized on this matter.
19There will be no further notice.
“Steven T. Mastoras”
STEVEN T. MASTORAS
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.