Ontario Land Tribunal

Tribunal ontarien de l’aménagement du territoire

ISSUE DATE: March 09, 2026

CASE NO(S).: OLT-24-001057

PROCEEDING COMMENCED UNDER section 14 of the Development Charges Act, 1997, S.O. 1997, c. 27

Appellant: LIV (Menoke 3) LP

Description: Determination of the development charges

Reference Number: By-Law 2024-47

Property Address: 8743 Highway 11 North

Municipality/UT: Severn/Simcoe

OLT Case No.: OLT-24-001057

OLT Lead Case No.: OLT-24-001057

OLT Case Name: LIV (Menoke 3) LP v. Severn (Township)

Heard: January 20, 2026 by Video Hearing

APPEARANCES:

Parties	Counsel
LIV (Menoke 3) LP (“Appellant”)	Russell Cheeseman, Stephanie Fleming
Township of Severn (“Township”)	Andrew Biggart

MEMORANDUM OF ORAL DECISION DELIVERED BY GREGORY J. INGRAM ON JANUARY 20, 2026 AND ORDER OF THE TRIBUNAL

INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND

1This is the first Case Management Conference (“CMC”) with respect to the appeal filed by LIV (Menoke 3) LP against the enactment of Development Charges By-law 2024-47 (“DCBL”) by the Township of Severn (“Township”) on August 28, 2024. The appeal was launched to the Tribunal under section 14 of the Development Charges Act.

2Briefly summarized, DCBL imposes charges to support town-wide services such as highways, fire protection, parks and recreation, library services, by-law enforcement and growth-related studies. In addition, it includes charges to support area specific wastewater and water services for Westshore and Coldwater and waste treatment services for areas not receiving wastewater service.

3The Appellant’s appeal raises issues related to population, housing and employment forecasts, consistency with other documents from the Township and Simcoe County, consideration of the post-period benefit only paying for capital costs associated with increased service needs, extent that charges benefit existing development, accuracy of quality and quantity of existing assets and the appropriateness of including a capital project that is anticipated to be the responsibility of the County.

CMC – January 20, 2026

4At the onset of this CMC, the Parties provided an update to the Tribunal, submitted a draft Procedural Order (“PO”), and proceeded to request that the Tribunal set dates for a five (5)-day hearing. It is anticipated that each Party may call two or three witnesses.

5The Tribunal issued a Notice of Service on December 1, 2025. The Tribunal deems that proper notice of the CMC was provided, and no further notice is required. The Notice of Service was marked as Exhibit 1.

6The Appellant indicated an interest in participating in Tribunal-led mediation, but Counsel for the Township stated that he did not have direction from Council at this point to agree to that option. Both sides indicated that discussions will be ongoing and requested that a hearing date be set far enough into the future to provide an opportunity for the Parties to potentially reach a settlement.

NEXT STEPS

7The Tribunal received the draft PO and has reviewed and approved it. It is attached as Schedule 1 and will govern the proceedings leading up to and including the hearing.

8The Tribunal set a five (5)-day Merit Hearing to proceed by video on Monday, October 5, 2026, at 10 a.m. and concluding on Friday, October 9, 2026. The Parties were directed to submit a final draft PO to the Case Co-ordinator by Tuesday, February 3, 2026.

9Parties 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/709076365

Access code: 709-076-365

10Parties 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

11Persons 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: +1 (647) 497-9373 or (Toll-Free) 1-888-299-1889. The access code is: 709-076-365.

Individuals 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

12THE TRIBUNAL ORDERS THAT:

1. The dates and particulars of the Merit Hearing are set out above, beginning in paragraph [8].

2. The Procedural Order, included as Schedule 1, is in full force and effect as of the issuance of this decision.

3. The Member is not seized, and no further notice is required.

“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.

SCHEDULE 1

PROCEEDING COMMENCED UNDER: subsection 14 of the Development Charges Act, 1997, S.O. 1997, c. 27, as amended

Applicant/Appellant: LIV (Menoke 3) LP

Description: Determination of the development charges

Reference Number: By-law 2024-47

Property Address: 8743 Highway 11 North

Municipality/Upper Tier: Severn/Simcoe

OLT Case No.: OLT-24-001057

OLT Lead Case No.: OLT-24-001057

OLT Case Name: LIV (Menoke 3) LP v Severn (Township)

1. The Tribunal may vary or add to the directions in this procedural order at any time by an oral ruling or by another written order, either on the parties’ request or its own motion.

Organization of the Hearing

2. The video hearing will begin on October 5, 2026 at 10:00AM.

GoTo Meeting: https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/709076365

Access code: 709-076-365

3. The parties’ initial estimation for the length of the hearing is 5 days. The parties are expected to cooperate to reduce the length of the hearing by eliminating redundant evidence and attempting to reach settlements on issues where possible.

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

5. The issues 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.

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 Friday, July 17, 2026 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 prepared to be qualified.

10. Expert witnesses in the same field shall have a meeting on or before Friday, July 31, 2026 and use best efforts to try to resolve or reduce the issues for the hearing. Following the experts’ meeting the parties must prepare and file a Statement of Agreed Facts and Issues with the OLT case co-ordinator on or before Friday, August 7, 2026.

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 Friday, August 21, 2026, 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. Response to written evidence is due August 31, 2026.

14. On or before Friday, August 21, 2026, a participant shall provide copies of their written participant statement to the other parties 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. On or before Friday, August 31, 2026 the parties shall confirm with the Tribunal if all the reserved hearing dates are still required.

16. On or before Friday, September 25, 2026, 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.

17. Parties may provide to all other parties and the OLT case co-ordinator a written response to any written evidence within ten (10) days after the evidence is received and in accordance with paragraph 22 below.

18. The parties shall cooperate to prepare a joint document book which shall be shared with the OLT case co-ordinator on or before Friday, September 25, 2026.

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 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 Monday, September 28, 2026 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. 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 Procedural Dates

Date	Event
Friday, July 17, 2026	Witness List
Friday, July 31, 2026	Final day for expert witness meeting
Friday, August 7, 2026	Statement of Agreed Facts and Issues filed
Friday, August 21, 2026	Expert witness and witness statements due
Friday, August 21, 2026	Written participant statement due
Monday, August 31, 2026	Response to written evidence due
Monday, August 31, 2026	Hearing date confirmation
Friday, September 25, 2026	Visual evidence due
Friday, September 25, 2026	Joint Document Book due
Monday, September 28, 2026	Preliminary hearing plan due
Monday, October 5, 2026	Hearing

Attachment 1

List of Parties and Participants

1. LIV (Menoke 3) LP Russell D. Cheeseman & Stephanie Fleming Municipal Law Chambers rdcheese@aol.com sfleming@mlawc.com

2. Township of Severn Andrew Biggart Ketcheson Hart & Biggart abiggart@khblaw.ca

Attachment 2

Issues List

1. Why has the curling club been included as part of the Level of Service inventory when the Township does not own the club assets?
2. Are libraries double-counted in the City of Orillia Development Charges Background Study and Township of Severn Development Charges Background study? Is the correct Gross Floor Area used in the Township study?
3. Has the Township correctly used maximum daily demand for the Westshore Wastewater Treatment Facility at 400L/c/day when the Township’s standards are being revised to 350L/c/day as advised by Township staff?
4. Has the Township used the appropriate Benefit to Existing calculation for the proposed twinning of the sanitary forcemain under Highway 11 in the Westshore area?

Attachment 3

Order of Evidence

1. LIV (Menoke 3) LP v Severn (Township)
2. Severn (Township)
3. LIV (Menoke 3) LP v Severn (Township), in Reply