A-O Bayview Inc. v. Toronto (City), 2025 CanLII 54241

Ontario Land Tribunal

Tribunal ontarien de l’aménagement du territoire

June 02, 2025

OLT-25-000068

PROCEEDING COMMENCED UNDER subsection 17(24) of the Planning Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. P. 13, as amended.

Appellant A-O Bayview Inc.

Appellant Amexon Development Inc.

Appellant Autumn Peak Developments Inc.

Appellant Bayview Village Holdings Inc.

and others

Subject: Official Plan Amendment 777

Description: Sheppard East Secondary Plan

Reference Number: 19 254260 NNY 17 OZ

Property Address: City Wide (Sheppard Ave. East)

Municipality/UT: Toronto/Toronto

OLT Case No: OLT-25-000068

OLT Case Name: A-O Bayview Inc. v. Toronto (City)

Heard:

May 6, 2025 by video hearing

Parties

Counsel

City of Toronto

J. Dexter L. Bisset (in absentia)

Appellants and Added Parties

See Attachment 1

Introduction

1This first Case Management Conference (“CMC”) was held for some 17 appeals to the City of Toronto (“City”) Official Plan Amendment 777 (“OPA 777”), being the Sheppard East Secondary Plan (“SESP”).

2The new SESP replaces and renews a portion of the Sheppard Avenue East Subway Corridor Secondary Plan that was established 25 years ago. The area covered by the new SESP includes three Subway stations, one GO station, anticipated Major Transit Station Areas, and includes seven character areas, each with its own policies to guide growth and development.

3The City will maintain a list of Appellants, Added Parties, and Participants, attached hereto as Attachment 1. Persons seeking corrections or changes to the list should contact the City.

4No issues were raised with Notice. The Tribunal marked the City’s Affidavit of Service for Notice as Exhibit 1.

Parties

5The statutory Parties are the City and each Appellant.

6One request for Added Party status was addressed at the CMC and the Tribunal withheld its Decision to enable a careful review of s. 17(44.1) and (44.2) of the Planning Act (“Act”).

7The Toronto Lands Corporation (“TLC”), represented by Matthew Bagnall, seeks Added Party status. The TLC, being a subsidiary of the Toronto District School Board (“TDSB”), is responsible for real estate and land use planning for the TDSB. The TLC explains that it owns property within the area affected by OPA 777 and participated throughout the City’s OPA process, including providing written comments to the City before the adoption of the SESP. The TLC supports the SESP land use designation for its property at 50 Ethennonnhawahstihnen Lane (“school site”) on which a future elementary school is planned.

8The City does not oppose the TLC being granted Added Party status provided that TLC: must shelter under the Issues List per Rule 8.3 of the Tribunal’s Rules of Practice and Procedure; be limited to the Issues identified in TLC’s letter to City staff; and be scoped to its school site. TLC does not oppose the City’s requested conditions.

9In its review under s. 17(44.1) of the Act, the Tribunal finds that the TLC, as a subsidiary of the TDSB, is a “public body” as defined in s. 1(1) of the Act, being a “local board” and/or a “board [or] agency … of a provincial … government.” As such, the TLC is eligible for consideration of Added Party status, but must comply with “one of the conditions set out in subsection (44.2)”: having provided oral or written submissions to the Council; and/or reasonable grounds exist to grant Party status.

10The Tribunal will grant Added Party status to the TLC subject to the sheltering provision of Rule 8.3. Despite the City’s submission that TLC communicated with staff rather than Council, and thereby fails the first condition, the Tribunal finds that there are reasonable grounds to grant Party status. Only one of the conditions must be met for the Tribunal to grant Added Party status.

11The TLC, with the TDSB, is a public body that provides an essential service to City residents. Within the SESP area, the TLC owns lands for a future TDSB elementary school, being a necessary service to a growing community. TLC supports the SESP as adopted, but the SESP is subject to substantial appeals that may have effects on the school site or the broader community for educational purposes. Thus, the Tribunal will not impose the City’s requested conditions that the TLC be limited to its issues identified in correspondence, and be scoped to the one school site. When the Issues List is drafted, TLC may determine which issues it requests to shelter under.

12Having found that one of the conditions for Party status is met, the Tribunal need not make a finding on whether the TLC’s written communications with the City constitute written submissions to Council. Neither the TLC nor the City provided complete evidence and submissions to enable a finding on option one of the Added Party requirements of s. 17(44.2) of the Act.

Participants

13Without concerns from any Party, the Tribunal granted Participant status to the Sheppard Avenue East Community Group (“Community Group”), represented by David Reid. The Community Group wishes to remain current on the status of the appeals. As this case evolves and disputed issues are determined, the Community Group may file a written Participant statement in accordance with the timeline in the Procedural Order, when crafted.

Next Steps

14The Parties agree to consider mediation, where possible, and to prepare for the next CMC based on the following steps:

Appellants interested in pursuing mediation will circulate their draft Issues List by Friday, June 6, 2025 (to aid in identifying/grouping high-level issues for mediation);
Added Parties will advise on the Issues under which they will shelter by Friday, June 13, 2025;
Appellants will confirm their scope of appeals by circulating their draft final Issues List by Friday, September 12, 2025 for inclusion in a draft Procedural Order to be prepared by the City.

15As raised by counsel Cynthia MacDougall at the CMC, the Tribunal acknowledges that the Parties’ discussions and mediation may take additional time which may delay the preparation of final Issues beyond September 2025. The City is directed to keep the Tribunal apprised of progress, including through a draft Agenda (in due course) for the next CMC.

16The second CMC will be held on Friday, November 14, 2025 at 10 a.m. by video hearing. No further Notice will be given.

17Parties and Participants 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://global.gotomeeting.com/join/519389173

Access code: 519-389-173

18Parties and/or 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: https://app.gotomeeting.com/home.html

19Persons 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 an audio-only telephone line: (647) 497-9373 or Toll Free 1-888-299-1889. The access code is: 519-389-173.

20Individuals 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 Tribunal’s Case Coordinator.

ORDER

21The Tribunal Orders its directions as set out above, and

the Toronto Lands Corporation is granted Added Party status, and
the Sheppard Avenue East Community Group is granted Participant status.

“S. Tousaw”

S. tousaw

VICE-CHAIR

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.

File No. OLT-25-000068

Attachment 1

Appellants

Appellant Name

Contact Information

Address

Wycliffe Square Limited

Goodmans LLP Bay Adelaide Centre, West Tower 333 Bay Street, Suite 3400 Toronto, ON M5H 2S7 Joe Hoffman 416-597-5168 jhoffman@goodmans.ca

794-806 Sheppard Avenue East

JFJ Development Inc., 2393678 Ontario Inc., and 2594025 Ontario Inc.

Goodmans LLP Bay Adelaide Centre, West Tower 333 Bay Street, Suite 3400 Toronto, ON M5H 2S7 Max Laskin 416-597-6938 mlaskin@goodmans.ca

589 Sheppard Avenue East and 7-11 Barberry Place

A-O Bayview Inc.

Davies Howe LLP 425 Adelaide Street, 10th Floor Toronto, ON M5V 3C1 Mark Flowers 416-263-4513 markf@davieshowe.com

2810-2816 and 2818 Bayview Avenue

Maziar Moini

Municipal Law Chambers Royal Building 277 Lakeshore Road East, Suite 211 Oakville, ON L6J 1H9 Russell Cheeseman / Stephanie Fleming 416-955-9529 / 416-955-9533 ext. 106 rdcheese@aol.com / SFleming@mlawc.com

27 Barberry Place

SangWoo Bae and Lee Soonok Bae

Borden Ladner Gervais LLP Adelaide Centre, East Tower 22 Adelaide Street West, Suite 3400 Toronto, ON M5H 4E3 Isaac Tang / Brett Davis 416-367-6143 / 416-367-6632 itang@blg.com / bdavis@blg.com

25 Barberry Place

YMCA of Greater Toronto

Kagan Shastri DeMelo Winer Park LLP 250 Yonge Street Suite 2302, PO Box 65 Toronto, ON M5B 2L7 Jason Park / Adrian Frank 416-645-4572 / 416-645-4582 jpark@ksllp.ca / afrank@ksllp.ca

567 Sheppard Avenue East

Toronto Catholic District School Board

Miller Thomson LLP Scotia Plaza 40 King Street West, Suite 5800 PO Box 1011 Toronto, ON M5H 3S1 Tara Piurko / Jesse White 416-595-2647 / 416-597-4371 tpiurko@millerthomson.com / tjwhite@millerthomson.com

396 Spring Garden Avenue (St. Gabriel Catholic School)

Canadian Tire Corporation, Limited and Canadian Tire Properties Inc.

Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP Suite 3200, Bay Adelaide Centre – North Tower, 40 Temperance Street Toronto, ON M5H 0B4 Signe Leisk / Adrianna Pilkington 416-859-5411 / 416-860-6453 sleisk@cassels.com / apilkington@cassels.com

1009, 1015, and 1019 Sheppard Avenue East

Concord Adex Corporation, Concord Adex Investments Limited, 2624879 Ontario Inc., and 2768831 Ontario Inc.

Davies Howe LLP 425 Adelaide Street, 10th Floor Toronto, ON M5V 3C1 Mark Flowers 416-263-4513 markf@davieshowe.com

68 and 75 Esther Shiner Boulevard; 25, 27, 85, 95, 115, 117, and 121 McMahon Drive; 18 and 75 Billes Heights; 15, 19, 25, 29, and 33 Singer Court; 75 Ethennonnhawahstihnen’ Lane (formerly part of 1001 Sheppard Avenue East); and 1001, 1125, and 1181 Sheppard Avenue East

A10

Burbank Heights Development Inc.

690-720 Sheppard Avenue East

A11

Autumn Peak Developments Inc.

680 and 688 Sheppard Avenue East

A12

Rockbrook Developments Inc.

71 Talara Drive

A13

Amexon Developments Inc. and Heritage York Holdings Inc.

McMillan LLP Brookfield Place, 181 Bay Street, Suite 4400 Toronto, ON M5J 2T3 Mary Flynn-Guglietti 416-865-7256 mary.flynn@mcmillan.ca

1200, 1210, and 1220 Sheppard Avenue East

A14

bcIMC Realty Corporation

McCarthy Tetrault LLP PO Box 48, Suite 5300 Toronto-Dominion Bank Tower Toronto, ON M5K 1E6 Cynthia MacDougall 416-601-7643 cmacdoug@mccarthy.ca

2911 Bayview Avenue

A15

Bayview Village Holdings Inc.

McCarthy Tetrault LLP PO Box 48, Suite 5300 Toronto-Dominion Bank Tower Toronto, ON M5K 1E6 Cynthia MacDougall 416-601-7643 cmacdoug@mccarthy.ca

2901 Bayview Avenue and 630 Sheppard Avenue East

A16

BLOCK (GREENBRIAR) DEVELOPMENTS LIMITED

Aird & Berlis LLP Brookfield Place, 181 Bay Street, Suite 1800 Toronto, ON M5J 2T9 Sidonia Tomasella / Naomi Mares 416-865-7763 / 647-426-2842 stomasella@airdberlis.com / nmares@airdberlis.com

"The properties located along Greenbriar Road" (22-36 Greenbriar Road, plus additional lands)

A17

Amir Charmchi and 1837537 Ontario Inc.

Aird & Berlis LLP Brookfield Place, 181 Bay Street, Suite 1800 Toronto, ON M5J 2T9 Matthew Helfand 416-865-4624 mhelfand@airdberlis.com

635 Sheppard Avenue East and 1 Greenbriar Road

Added Parties

Party Name

Contact Information

Address

Toronto Lands Corporation (on behalf of the Toronto District School Board)

Toronto Lands Corporation 60 St. Clair Avenue East, Suite 201, Toronto, ON M4T 1N5 Matthew Bagnall 647-294-6811 mbagnall.tlc@tdsb.on.ca

50 Ethennonnhawahstihnen’ Lane

Participants

Participant Name

Contact Information

Address

Sheppard Avenue east Community Group (SAECG) (Incorporated Not-for-Profit)

David Reid 416-755-4862 saecgus@gmail.com / davidareidhome@gmail.com

“The members are in buildings located beside and to the north of 680/688 Sheppard East and near other developments being pursued by appellants in this Tribunal Case.”