Ontario Land Tribunal
Tribunal ontarien de l’aménagement du territoire
ISSUE DATE: March 05, 2026
CASE NO(S).: OLT-25-000737
PROCEEDING COMMENCED UNDER subsection 34(19) of the Planning Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. P.13, as amended
Applicant/Appellant: Crystal Ridge Homes
Subject: Zoning By-law
Description: To permit the development of 7 townhouses.
Reference Number: ZBA-08-2025
Property Address: 3957 Rebstock Road
Municipality/UT: Fort Erie/Niagara
OLT Case No.: OLT-25-000737
OLT Lead Case No.: OLT-25-000737
OLT Case Name: Crystal Ridge Homes v. Fort Erie (Town)
Heard: February 27, 2026 by Video Hearing
APPEARANCES:
Parties
Counsel
Crystal Ridge Homes (“Appellant”)
Tom Hanrahan
Town of Fort Erie (“Town”)
Nikolas Koschany
Denise Baker (in absentia)
MEMORANDUM OF ORAL DECISION DELIVERED BY W. DANIEL BEST ON FEBRUARY 27, 2026 AND ORDER OF THE TRIBUNAL
INTRODUCTION
1This Decision arises from the first Case Management Conference (“CMC”) for the above-noted matter. The Appellant has appealed under s. 34(19) of the Planning Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. P.13, as amended (“Act”) for the approval of a Zoning By-law Amendment (“ZBA”) to permit the development of seven townhouses at the municipal address of 3957 Rebstock Road (“Subject Lands”).
2The Subject Lands are located within the Urban Boundary in the Crystal Beach Secondary Plan Area in the Town of Fort Erie. The Subject Lands are irregular in shape with an approximate lot area of 3231.3 square metres (“m2”) and a lot frontage of 54.21 metres (“m”). The Subject Lands have frontage on the south side of Rebstock Road which is classified as a collector road.
3The Subject Lands are currently vacant. The surrounding neighbourhood consists of single detached dwellings, townhouses, and apartment buildings. The Subject Lands are located approximately 840 m north of commercial areas on Erie Road and about 600 m west of Crystal Ridge Park.
4The Subject Lands are currently zoned ‘Residential 2 (R2) Zone’ in the Town’s Comprehensive Zoning By-law. The proposed ZBA seeks to rezone the Subject Lands to the ‘Residential Multiple 1 (RM1) Zone’ to permit the construction of seven townhouse dwellings.
5The original ZBA application proposed eight townhouse units. After the public engagement process, the proposed development was revised to seven townhouse units to address concerns regarding stormwater management and setbacks.
6Town Staff provided a positive recommendation report recommending the passing of the ZBA based on the revised seven townhouse unit concept.
7Council wished to reduce the density to six townhouse units and passed By-law No. 79-2025 which allows for a maximum of six street townhouse dwellings on the Subject Lands.
8The Affidavit of Service affirmed on January 20, 2026, meets the requirements of the Tribunal, and is marked as Exhibit 1. No further notice will be required.
9There are two Parties of record in this matter. No additional requests for Party status were made at this CMC. There were no requests for Participant status.
10The Parties anticipated the length of the Merit Hearing, based on the issues to be addressed and anticipated number of expert witnesses, to be two days.
PROCEDURAL ORDER AND ISSUES LIST
11Mr. Hanrahan, Counsel for the Appellant, advised the Tribunal that a revised draft Procedural Order (“PO”) and Issues List (“IL”), on consent, will be circulated and forwarded to the Case Coordinator post-CMC, for the consideration of the Tribunal. Mr. Hanrahan, on behalf of the Parties, advised that the revised draft PO will be submitted by Friday, March 27, 2026.
MEDIATION AND SETTLEMENT
12The Parties are aware that Tribunal-led mediation is available to the Parties, should the need arise.
NEXT STEPS
13The Tribunal directs the Parties to submit a revised draft PO, on consent, by Friday, March 27, 2026. The Tribunal will review the draft PO and, if approved, it will govern the proceedings of the Merit Hearing.
14The Tribunal directs that the Parties prepare a clear Hearing Plan for the benefit of the Member presiding at the Merit Hearing. This Hearing Plan will describe how the Merit Hearing will proceed, what, if any, evidence is relative to both matters, and when each distinct matter is to be heard. The report following the meeting of the expert witnesses should clearly describe what facts are and are not in dispute at the Merit Hearing.
15The Tribunal inquired as to whether there were any other matters to be addressed which might assist in the fair, just, and expeditious resolution of this matter. The Parties indicated there were none.
16The Tribunal thanked all Counsel for their assistance on the matter.
17A Merit Hearing is scheduled to proceed by video on Wednesday, May 6, 2026, at 10 a.m. to Thursday, May 7, 2026, inclusive.
18Parties 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/656004293
Access Code: 656-004-293
19Parties 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.
20Persons who experience technical difficulties accessing the GoTo Meeting application or who only wish to listen to the event can connect to it by calling into an audio-only telephone line: +1 (647) 497-9373 or (Toll-Free) 1-888-299-1889. The access code is: 656-004-293.
21Individuals 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.
22As of March 30, 2026, all hearing events are governed by the Tribunal’s Artificial Intelligence Practice Direction. This Practice Direction requires a party, participant, or witness to include a declaration within each submitted document if generative AI was used to create or generate content.
ORDER
23THE TRIBUNAL ORDERS the directions contained in this Decision.
“W. Daniel Best”
W. DANIEL BEST
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.