Ontario Land Tribunal

Tribunal ontarien de l’aménagement du territoire

ISSUE DATE: April 16, 2025

CASE NO(S).: OLT-23-000765

PROCEEDING COMMENCED UNDER subsection 51(39) of the Planning Act, R.S.O. 1990, c.P. 13, as amended

Applicant and Appellant: Hydro One Networks Inc. Subject: Proposed Plan of Subdivision – Appeal a decision of an Approval Authority that approved a plan of subdivision Description: To permit the development of Phases 17 to 21 and Block 1239 of the Rolling Meadows Subdivision Reference Number: D12-04-2022 Property Address: Phases 17 to 21 and Block 1239 Municipality/UT: Thorold/Niagara OLT Case No.: OLT-23-000765 OLT Lead Case No.: OLT-23-000765 OLT Case Name: Hydro One Networks Inc. v. Thorold (City)

PROCEEDING COMMENCED UNDER subsection 51(48) of the Planning Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. P. 13, as amended

Applicant and Appellant: Hydro One Networks Inc. Subject: Proposed Plan of Subdivision – Appeal any of the changed conditions imposed by the approval authority Description: To permit the development of Phases 17 to 21 and Block 1239 of the Rolling Meadows Subdivision Reference Number: D12-04-2022 Property Address: Phases 17 to 21 and Block 1239 Municipality/UT: Thorold/Niagara OLT Case No.: OLT-23-001131 OLT Lead Case No.: OLT-23-000765 OLT Case Name: Hydro One Networks Inc. v. Thorold (City)

Heard: January 31, 2025 by Video Hearing

APPEARANCES:

Parties	Counsel
Rolling Meadows Land Development Corp. ("Rolling Meadows")	S. Lampert M. Flowers
Parkbridge Lifestyle Communities Inc. and 1000352619 Ontario Inc.	C. Lantz J. Cheng
Rudanco Hospitality Corporation	C. Lantz J. Cheng
Hydro One Networks Inc.	C. Barnett
City of Thorold	M. Barrett P. Harrington

MEMORANDUM OF ORAL DECISION DELIVERED ON JANUARY 31, 2025 BY CARMINE TUCCI AND ORDER OF THE TRIBUNAL

INTRODUCTION

1This Hearing is the Third Case Management Conference ("CMC") respecting third party appeals to Zoning By-law Amendments and a proposed Plan of Subdivision subject to Conditions advanced by the Applicant and approved by the City related to the Rolling Meadows Plan of Subdivision, Phases 17-21 and Block 1239, in the City of Thorold.

Third CMC

2The purpose of the third CMC was to receive status updates from all Parties to organize a hearing.

3The Parties requested the matter to be scheduled for a five (5) day hearing, and the Tribunal has scheduled a five-day video hearing commencing on Monday, July 21, 2025, at 10 a.m. as follows:

Go To Meeting: https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/344779885

Access Code: 344-779-885

4Parties and Participants are asked to log into the video hearing at least 15 minutes before the start of the event to test their video and audio connections.

5Parties 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

6Persons 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: (Toll-Free) 1-888-299-1889 or +1 (647) 497-9373. The Access Code is as indicated above.

7Individuals 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 hearing 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

8The Tribunal hereby schedules a hearing of these appeals commencing on Monday, July 21, 2025, at 10 a.m. Five (5) days have been set aside.

9The Member is not seized.

10No further notice is required.

"Carmine Tucci"

CARMINE TUCCI 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.

ATTACHMENT 1

OLT CASE NO.: OLT-23-000765

PROCEEDING COMMENCED UNDER subsection 51(39) of the Planning Act, R.S.O. 1990, c.P. 13, as amended

Applicant and Appellant: Hydro One Networks Inc. Subject: Proposed Plan of Subdivision – Appeal a decision of an Approval Authority that approved a plan of subdivision Description: To permit the development of Phases 17 to 21 and Block 1239 of the Rolling Meadows Subdivision Reference Number: D12-04-2022 Property Address: Phases 17 to 21 and Block 1239 Municipality/UT: Thorold/Niagara OLT Case No.: OLT-23-000765 OLT Lead Case No.: OLT-23-000765 OLT Case Name: Hydro One Networks Inc. v. Thorold (City)

PROCEEDING COMMENCED UNDER subsection 51(48) of the Planning Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. P. 13, as amended

Applicant and Appellant: Hydro One Networks Inc. Subject: Proposed Plan of Subdivision – Appeal any of the changed conditions imposed by the approval authority Description: To permit the development of Phases 17 to 21 and Block 1239 of the Rolling Meadows Subdivision Reference Number: D12-04-2022 Property Address: Phases 17 to 21 and Block 1239 Municipality/UT: Thorold/Niagara OLT Case No.: OLT-23-001131 OLT Lead Case No.: OLT-23-000765 OLT Case Name: Hydro One Networks Inc. v. Thorold (City)

Procedural Order

1. The Tribunal may vary or add to these rules at any time, either on request or as it sees fit. It may alter this Order by an oral ruling, or by another written Order.

Organization of the Hearing

2. The hearing will begin on July 21, 2025 at 10:00 a.m. by videoconference.

3. The length of the hearing will be approximately five (5) days. The parties are expected to cooperate to reduce the length of the hearing by eliminating redundant evidence and attempting to reach settlements in issues where possible.

4. The parties and participants (see Attachment 4 for the meaning of these terms) identified at the case management conference are set out in Attachment 1 to this Order.

5. The issues for the hearing 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, except of the Issues List is modified on consent of the parties, through mediation or pursuant to a settlement between the parties.

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 April 22, 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 proposed to be qualified.

10. Expert witnesses in the same field shall have a meeting on or before May 12, 2025 and use best efforts to try to resolve or reduce the issues for the hearing. Following the experts' meeting, and if the expert witnesses reach an agreement, the parties must prepare and file a Statement of Agreed Facts and Issues with the OLT case co-ordinator on or before May 22, 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 June 6, 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 June 6, 2025, a participant shall provide copies of their written participant statement to the other parties and to the OLT case co-ordinator and 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. Parties may provide to all other parties and the OLT case co-ordinator a written response to any written evidence on or before June 27, 2025 and in accordance with paragraph 22 below.

16. On or before June 16, 2025, the parties shall confirm with the Tribunal if all the reserved hearing dates are still required.

17. On or before July 7, 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 July 7, 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 and the other parties 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 July 14, 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 to the Tribunal if requested. 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 before or during the hearing except for serious hardship or illness. The Tribunal's Rule 17 applies to such requests.

SUMMARY OF DATES

DATE	EVENT
April 22, 2025	Parties to exchange lists of witnesses (names, disciplines, CVs and intended order to be called)
May 12, 2025	Expert witnesses in the same field shall have a meeting
May 22, 2025	Parties to file Statements of Agreed Facts and Issues
June 6, 2025	Witness Statements and Participant Statements to be exchanged
June 27, 2025	Reply Witness Statements to be exchanged
June 16, 2025	Parties to advise OLT if all scheduled hearing days are required
July 7, 2025	Parties to exchange copies of visual evidence
July 7, 2025	Joint document book to be filed
July 14, 2025	Parties to file hearing plan
July 21, 2025	Hearing commences

ATTACHMENT 1 LIST OF PARTIES

1. Rolling Meadows Land Development Corp.

Davies Howe LLP 425 Adelaide Street West, 10th Floor Toronto, ON M5V 3C1 Mark R. Flowers markf@davieshowe.com Tel: (416) 263-4513 Fax: (416) 977-8931

2. Hydro One Networks Inc.

Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP 100 King St W, Suite 6200 Toronto, ON M5X 1C8 Chris Barnett cbarnett@osler.com Tel: (416) 862-6651 Fax: (416) 862-6666

3. City of Thorold

Aird & Berlis LLP 181 Bay Street, Suite 1800 Toronto, ON M5J 2T9

Patrick Harrington pharrington@airdberlis.com Tel: (416) 865-3424 Fax: (416) 863-1515

Non-Appellant Party

4. Parkbridge Lifestyle Communities Inc. and 1000352619 Ontario Inc.

Stikeman Elliot LLP 5300 Commerce Court West 199 Bay Street Toronto, ON M5L 1B9 Calvin Lantz clantz@stikeman.com Jonathan Cheng jcheng@stikeman.com Tel: (416) 869-5500 Fax: (416) 947-0866

ATTACHMENT 2 ISSUES LIST

Issues List of Hydro One Networks Inc.

1. Does the proposed plan of subdivision recognize the constraints associated with the Hydro One transmission corridor(s), as required by policy B1.8.14.5 of the City of Thorold Official Plan?
2. Does the proposed plan of subdivision conform with the City of Thorold Official Plan, including but not limited to the policies of the Rolling Meadows Secondary Plan, in particular policies:
   1. A.4.1.8;
   2. B.1.6, B1.8.4, B1.8.10.2 g),
   3. D.4.3, D.4.4.3
   4. Schedule A.3

as they relate to the proposed extension of:

i. Block 1278/1279 - Institutional Public/Separate Elementary school; ii. Blocks 1236/1241 - Medium Density; iii. Block 1247 Neighbourhood Park; iv. Valiant Gate/ Street I - Roads; and v. Block 1688 - Street Townhouse

into lands covered by the Hydro One easement (the "Encroachments") represent good planning and do such extensions conform with the existing zoning and Official Plan?

3. Is the proposed plan of subdivision as it relates to the Encroachments consistent with policies 3.3, 3.5 and 3.6 of the Provincial Planning Statement?
4. Does the proposed plan of subdivision as it relates to the Encroachments have appropriate regard for the matters of provincial interest in sub-sections 2 h), m),n),o) and r) of the Planning Act and for the matters set out in ss. 51(24)a), c), d), e), f), g), and j) of the Act?
5. Can the proposed plan of subdivision proceed in the absence of consent from Hydro One Networks Inc. to the Encroachments into the lands that are subject to an easement?

ATTACHMENT 3 ORDER OF EVIDENCE

1. Rolling Meadows Land Development Corp.
2. City of Thorold
3. Hydro One Networks Inc.
4. Parkbridge Lifestyle Communities Inc. and 1000352619 Ontario Inc.
5. Reply of Rolling Meadows Land Development Corp., if any

ATTACHMENT 4 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.