OLT 2025

The applicant appealed a decision of the City of Burlington's Committee of Adjustment refusing minor variances related to parking requirements for a 28-storey mixed-use building.

The scheduled merit hearing was converted to a Case Management Conference after the parties advised the Tribunal that a settlement had been reached in principle.

The Tribunal scheduled a one-day written hearing to consider the settlement and directed the parties to provide the necessary supporting materials.

The appellant sought a Zoning By-law Amendment to retroactively legalize unauthorized development on a waterfront property, including additions to a seasonal cottage and various decks within the prescribed 30-metre shoreline setback.

The Ontario Land Tribunal dismissed the appeal, finding that the requested exceptions failed to conform with the Township Official Plan's strict shoreline setback policies designed to protect the ecological and heritage features of the Rideau Canal waterway.

The Tribunal rejected the appellant's ecological evidence due to factual misapprehensions and accepted the municipality's evidence that the unauthorized development likely had an unacceptable negative impact on the environment and Species at Risk habitat.

The applicant brought a motion to strike portions of witness statements or, alternatively, for leave to file new witness statements ahead of an impending hearing.

The respondent municipality brought a cross-motion.

The Tribunal issued an interim order granting the applicant leave to file the new witness statements and granting the municipality leave to add a responding witness, subject to strict timelines, with full reasons to follow.

The appellants appealed the City of Toronto's adoption of Official Plan Amendment No. 720, which introduced new complete application requirements.

The parties reached a resolution.

The Ontario Land Tribunal ordered that OPA 720 came into effect on June 19, 2024, except for the site-specific appeals by Calmco Inc. and Dunpar Development Inc., which were adjourned sine die.

The Tribunal further ordered that these site-specific appeals would be deemed withdrawn once the respective applications for the properties are deemed complete.

The claimant in an expropriation compensation proceeding brought an unopposed motion for a confidentiality order under Rule 22.2 of the Ontario Land Tribunal Rules.

The claimant sought to protect its own sensitive financial and business information, as well as proprietary market data obtained from a non-party data provider, Kalibrate Canada Inc. The Tribunal found that the information involved intimate financial matters whose protection outweighed the public interest in open proceedings.

The motion was granted and the confidentiality order issued.

The Ontario Land Tribunal issued a procedural order for the appeals of the City of Sarnia's Official Plan Amendment No. 3 (Development Area 2 Secondary Plan).

The order establishes the procedural rules, issues list, order of evidence, and key dates leading up to a 12-day video hearing scheduled to commence on September 9, 2025.

The claimant brought a proceeding against Metrolinx under subsection 26(b) of the Expropriations Act for the determination of compensation.

The Ontario Land Tribunal received an executed Consent to Dismiss the proceeding.

The Tribunal ordered the proceeding dismissed without costs.

The Tribunal issued an order amending the procedural timelines for a hearing scheduled to commence on March 4, 2025, regarding appeals of the Town of Georgina's failure to adopt requested official plan and zoning by-law amendments.

On consent of the parties, the deadline to prepare and share a joint document book was extended from February 21, 2025, to February 26, 2025.

The applicant appealed the City of Mississauga's failure to make decisions on Official Plan and Zoning By-law Amendment applications to permit a mixed-use building with purpose-built rental units.

The parties reached a settlement for a revised 12-storey slab building with 173 units, including affordable rental units.

The Tribunal accepted uncontested expert planning evidence that the revised proposal is consistent with the Provincial Planning Statement, conforms to the municipal official plans, and represents good land use planning.

The appeals were allowed in part on an interim basis, with final approval withheld pending the execution of agreements securing the rental tenure and affordable units.

At a Case Management Conference regarding site-specific appeals of the Town of New Tecumseth's comprehensive Zoning By-law No. 2021-128, the parties provided a status update indicating ongoing settlement discussions.

The parties requested a further CMC in the fall of 2025 to either approve a settlement or set a hearing date.

The Tribunal declined to schedule a further appearance at this time, directing the parties to contact the Case Coordinator once they determine whether they have reached a settlement or require a hearing date.

The parties requested on consent to amend the procedural order to change the hearing start date from June 15, 2025, to November 24, 2025.

The Ontario Land Tribunal granted the request and ordered the hearing to commence on the new date, with all other aspects of the procedural order remaining the same.

The Ontario Land Tribunal held a Case Management Conference regarding appeals by Keeli Li GP Inc. against the City of Toronto's failure to make a decision on zoning by-law amendment and site plan applications for a 33-storey mixed-use building.

On consent of the parties, the Tribunal issued a revised Procedural Order and Issues List to govern the proceedings leading up to a 10-day hearing scheduled to commence on May 26, 2025.

The Ontario Land Tribunal issued a Procedural Order governing the procedures leading up to and including the hearing scheduled to commence on May 26, 2025, regarding an appeal by the applicant against the municipality's failure to adopt a requested Official Plan Amendment.

The appellant appealed the City of Mississauga's enactment of an Interim Control By-law that restricted uses on its property while the City completed land use studies.

At the first Case Management Conference, the parties requested that the appeal be scoped to the subject property and adjourned sine die.

The adjournment would allow the appellant's concurrent Zoning By-law Amendment application to proceed, which could potentially resolve the issues.

The Tribunal granted the request, scoped the appeal to the subject property, and adjourned the matter sine die, directing the parties to provide a status update within six months.

The Ontario Land Tribunal held a Case Management Conference regarding a claim for compensation under the Expropriations Act following a partial expropriation by the respondent.

The Tribunal scheduled a ten-day hearing to commence in February 2026 and issued a Procedural Order to govern the pre-hearing steps, including discovery, mediation, and the exchange of expert reports.

A second case management conference was held regarding appeals against the modified approval of an official plan amendment and zoning by-law amendment to permit three residential apartment towers.

No requests for party or participant status were received.

The Tribunal reviewed and approved the final procedural order to govern the upcoming five-day merits hearing, noting that the parties are actively engaged in settlement discussions.

The City of Markham passed a by-law designating a property containing a one-storey brick dwelling as a heritage property under the Ontario Heritage Act.

The property owner appealed the designation to the Ontario Land Tribunal.

The Tribunal evaluated the property against the prescribed criteria and found that while it met the criterion for design or physical value as a modest Ontario Cottage style tradesman's dwelling, it did not meet the criteria for historical or contextual value.

Because a property must meet a minimum of two criteria to be eligible for designation, the Tribunal allowed the appeal and ordered the by-law repealed.

The Tribunal issued an order amending the procedural timelines contained in a previously issued Procedural Order, on consent of the parties.

The dates for providing visual evidence and written responses to written evidence were extended to March 14, 2025.

The appellants appealed the Regional Municipality of Durham's approval of Official Plan Amendment 126, which updated the Brookhill Neighbourhood Secondary Plan.

Brookhill North Landowners Group Inc. brought a motion for partial approval of the amendment for lands not subject to the site-specific appeals.

The Tribunal granted the motion, finding that partial approval would not prejudice the appellants' site-specific appeals and that withholding approval for the entire secondary plan area would prejudice other landowners.

The Tribunal also approved a Procedural Order and scheduled a three-day video hearing for the remaining appeals.

The appellant appealed the City of Ottawa Committee of Adjustment's refusal of minor variance applications to permit the development of four new semi-detached dwellings on existing severed lots.

The requested variances included reductions in lot width, lot area, rear yard setback, and rear yard area.

The Ontario Land Tribunal allowed the appeal, finding that the proposed development was consistent with the Provincial Planning Statement 2024, conformed to the City's Official Plan goals for intensification, and met the four tests for minor variances under section 45(1) of the Planning Act.