Ontario Land Tribunal
Tribunal ontarien de l’aménagement du territoire
ISSUE DATE: February 04, 2025
CASE NO(S).: OLT-24-001085
PROCEEDING COMMENCED UNDER subsection 17(24) of the Planning Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. P.13, as amended
Appellant: DD Real Estate Developments Limited & Ideal Capital Partners Inc.
Subject: Proposed Official Plan Amendment No. 11
Description: To permit the replacement of Zoning By-law 160-90 and By-law 61-16 where it currently applies to the municipal boundary.
Reference Number: OPA No. 11
Property Address: All lands within the City of Brantford, including the former County lands.
Municipality: Brantford
OLT Case No.: OLT-24-001085
OLT Lead Case No.: OLT-24-001085
OLT Case Name: BSC Landco Inc. et al v Brantford (City)
PROCEEDING COMMENCED UNDER subsection 34(19) of the Planning Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. P.13, as amended
Appellants: BSC Landco Inc., DD Real Estate Developments Limited & Ideal Capital Partners Inc. et al
Subject: By-law No. 124-2024
Description: To permit the replacement of Zoning By-law 160-90 and By-law 61-16 where it currently applies to the municipal boundary.
Reference Number: ZBA 124-2024
Property Address: All lands within the City of Brantford, including the former County lands.
Municipality: Brantford
OLT Case No.: OLT-24-001086
OLT Lead Case No.: OLT-24-001085
Heard: January 28, 2025 by Video Hearing
APPEARANCES:
| Parties | Counsel/Representative* |
|---|---|
| City of Brantford | Geoff Daley |
| Zoning By-law Appeal | |
| DD Real Estate Developments Limited & Ideal Capital Partners Inc. | Eric Davis |
| Losani Homes (1998) Ltd. | Nancy Smith*, Jennifer Meader (in absentia), Mark de Jong (in absentia) |
| Mattamy (Powerline) Limited, Mattamy (419 Powerline) Limited, Mattamy (466 King George) Limited, & 1000089067 Ontario Limited (“Mattamy”) | Denise Baker (in absentia), Sylvain Rouleau |
| KSNADG Lynden Park Inc | Caroline Jordan, Patrick Duffy (in absentia) |
| BSC Landco Inc | Alex Ciccone |
| LIV Communities lnc., LIV (Birkett) lnc., LIV (Conklin) lnc., & LIV Developments Ltd. (“LIV”) | Russell Cheeseman, Stephanie Fleming (in absentia) |
| Granite Canadian Holdings Ltd. Partnership & Granite Property Nominee Inc. | Andrea Skinner, Jonathan Marun-Batista |
| Primont (Brantford1) Inc. & Primonth (Brantford 2) Inc. | Chris Barnett |
| Welton & Innes G.P. Inc. | Sarah Kagan, Ira Kagan (in absentia) |
| Canadian National Railway | Katarzyna Sliwa, Diana Dorcin |
| S. C. Johnson & Son Inc. | Alan Heisey (in absentia), Arash Jazayeri |
| TSTL (Brantford) Building Corporation, FHC (211 Brantford) Ltd, 2546417 Ontario Inc., & Hans Holding (Brantford) Ltd. | Alex Lusty, Lauren Cao |
| Lafarge Canada Inc. | Sean Ovas, Kim Mullin (in absentia) |
| Official Plan Amendment Appeal | |
| DD Real Estate Developments Limited & Ideal Capital Partners Inc | Eric Davis |
MEMORANDUM OF ORAL DECISION DELIVERED BY Gregory J. Ingram ON JANUARY 28, 2025 AND ORDER OF THE TRIBUNAL
INTRODUCTION
1This is the first Case Management Conference (“CMC”) with respect to appeals launched by DD Real Estate Developments Limited & Ideal Capital Partners Inc. et al against the City of Brantford’s (“City”) passing of a new Comprehensive Zoning By-law No. 124-2024 (“CZBL”) pursuant to 34 (19) of the Planning Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. P.13, as amended (“Act”). DD Real Estate Developments Limited & Ideal Capital Partners Inc has also launched an appeal against the passing of the City-initiated Official Plan Amendment 11 (“OPA”) pursuant to subsection 17(24) of the Act.
BACKGROUND
2The City launched a “New Zoning By-law (“ZBL”) Project” in September 2021 following the approval of the Official Plan (“OP”) by the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing in August 2021. To conform with the OP, the City initiated the process of updating ZBL No.160-90 in its entirety as well as the County of Brant (“County”) ZBL No. 61-16, where it applies to the municipal boundary adjustment lands that were annexed to the City from the County in 2017. The new ZBL will regulate all lands within the City, including the former County lands. It contains specific requirements for parcels of land, including, for example, permitted uses, building height and setbacks, landscape, and parking requirements.
3Following the City’s consultation process and development of various drafts of the new ZBL, a companion OPA 11 was prepared to ensure that the new ZBL maintains conformity with the OP.
4The City served notice of the passing of CBZL No. 124-2024 on September 24, 2024, which replaced ZBL No. 160-90 in its entirety as well as County ZBL No. 61-16 as outlined in paragraph [2] above.
CMC
5At the onset of this CMC, the City provided an update and proposed next steps for these proceedings. The City indicated that it has communicated with each of the Appellants regarding their concerns and recommended that a date be set for a Motion Hearing where the issues may be further scoped. Counsel indicated that it is possible that some Appellant issues may be resolved through this process and may result in some withdrawing their appeals. Counsel also recommended that a date for a second CMC be set at a time after the issuance of the Tribunal’s motion decision. The City indicated that only one of the Appellants had not confirmed their willingness to scope their issues. All Appellant’s concurred with the City’s proposed next steps.
6Notice was confirmed through the Affidavit of Service signed by Lisa Madden on December 18, 2024, and entered into evidence as Exhibit 1. No further notice is required.
PARTY STATUS REQUESTS
7Party status was granted to the following given their involvement in the municipal process, the planning-related concerns identified in their applications, and with the consent of the Appellants:
- Canadian National Railway;
- S. C. Johnson & Son Inc.;
- TSTL (Brantford) Building Corporation, FHC (211 Brantford) Ltd, 2546417 Ontario Inc., and Hans Holding (Brantford) Ltd.; and
- Lafarge Canada Inc.
8No further status applications will be considered by the Tribunal.
MEDIATION
9The Parties concurred that, at this point, it is premature to consider Tribunal-led mediation given the ongoing deliberations but acknowledged that it may be helpful in the future.
NEXT STEPS
10The Tribunal is satisfied that scheduling a Motion Hearing to allow the Parties to further scope the issues is the best next step for these proceedings and will help to set the direction for a second CMC.
MOTION HEARING
11The Tribunal set a Motion Hearing to proceed by Video Hearing on Tuesday, March 4, 2025, at 10 a.m., as per the directions outlined below beginning in paragraph [13].
SECOND CMC
12The Tribunal set a second CMC to proceed by Video Hearing on Wednesday, April 30, 2025, at 10 a.m. The Parties are directed to provide a written update to the Tribunal by Wednesday, April 23, 2025, along with a proposed agenda for the CMC.
13Parties and Participants are asked to log in to the event at least 15 minutes before it begins to test their video and audio connections:
Tuesday, March 4, 2025 at 10 a.m. (Motion Hearing)
GoTo Meeting: https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/660145013
Access Code: 660-145-013
Audio-only telephone line: +1 (647) 497-9373 or (Toll-Free) 1-888-299-1889
Audio-only access code: 660-145-013
Wednesday, April 30, 2025 at 10 a.m. (Second CMC) GoTo Meeting: 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
14Parties 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: https://app.gotomeeting.com/home.html
15Persons 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.
16Individuals 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 events 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.
17The Member is not seized.
ORDER
18THE TRIBUNAL ORDERS THAT:
The dates and particulars of the Motion Hearing and second Case Management Conference are set out above, beginning in paragraph [11].
Party status be granted as outlined in paragraph [7] above.
“Gregory J. Ingram”
GREGORY J. INGRAM
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.