Ontario Land Tribunal
Tribunal ontarien de l’aménagement du territoire
ISSUE DATE: April 9, 2026
CASE NO(S).: OLT-25-000965
PROCEEDING COMMENCED UNDER subsection 22(7) of the Planning Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. P.13, as amended
Applicant and Appellant: Claridge Homes (Leitrim Land East) Inc.
Subject: Request to amend the Official Plan – Failure to adopt the requested amendment
Description: To redesignate the Leitrim Expansion Lands to “Category 1-Future Neighbourhood Overlay"
Reference Number: D01-01-25-0012
Property Address: 4789 Bank Street
Municipality/UT: City of Ottawa
OLT Case No.: OLT-25-000965
OLT Lead Case No.: OLT-25-000965
OLT Case Name: Claridge Homes (Leitrim Land East) Inc. v. Ottawa (City)
Heard: February 27, 2026 by Video Hearing
APPEARANCES:
| Parties | Counsel |
|---|---|
| Claridge Homes (Leitrim Land East) Inc. (“Claridge”) | Ursula Melinz |
| City of Ottawa (“City”) | Timothy Marc |
MEMORANDUM OF ORAL DECISION DELIVERED BY D. CHIPMAN ON FEBRUARY 27, 2026, AND ORDER OF THE TRIBUNAL
INTRODUCTION
1The Tribunal convened a first Case Management Conference (“CMC”) in respect of the Appeal filed by Claridge pursuant to s. 22(7) and 22(7.0.2(1)) of the Planning Act, (“Act”) on the failure of the City to make a decision on an application for an Official Plan Amendment ( “OPA”) to redesignate the Leitrim Expansion Lands to “Category 1-Future Neighbourhood Overlay”, which would be an expansion to the urban boundary. The municipal addresses associated with this appeal are known as 4789, 4839 Bank Street, 3491 Blais Road and 4198, 4346, 4570, 4640, 4740 Hawthorne Road.
2The “Leitrim Expansion Lands” is an area 604.81 acres in size, located in the south-east area of the City. The Leitrim Expansion Lands are currently located in the rural area that lies to the south of Leitrim Road, east of Bank Street, and west of Hawthorne Road.
3Claridge is seeking an amendment to Ottawa’s Official Plan to expand the urban boundary to include the Leitrim Expansion Lands on behalf of Urbandale Corporation, Claridge Homes (Leitrim Phase 2) Inc., Claridge Homes (Bank St.) Limited Partnership, Claridge Homes (Bank St.) Inc., Claridge Homes (4570 Hawthorne) Inc., 1686992 Ontario Limited, 2103226 Ontario Inc. and Richcraft Homes Ltd. (together, “Leitrim Expansion Owners”).
4Claridge is seeking a redesignation as Category 1 – Future Neighbourhood, to bring the Leitrim Expansion Lands within the urban boundary to proceed through a detailed local plan, community design plan (CDP), or secondary plan process to define an urban community.
5The Tribunal received and marked the Affidavit of Service of the Notice of CMC sworn by Sandra Tree as Exhibit 1. There were no issues with the Service of Notice of the CMC, and as such no further notice is required.
REQUESTS FOR STATUS
6There were no requests for Party or Participant status.
MEDIATION
7The Tribunal notified the Parties that Tribunal-led mediation is available option and that additional information can be obtained through the Case Coordinator.
CMC HEARING
8Ursula Melinz, counsel for Claridge, explained there are a number of appeals before the Tribunal regarding Urban Boundary Expansion (“UBE”) to the surrounding lands beyond the City limits. The Tribunal heard that Claridge had attended a CMC regarding Tribunal Case No. OLT-25-000721 - Claridge Homes (1221 March Road) Inc. on February 23, 2026. Counsel is now suggesting that in order to provide an expeditious resolve to common issues raised in similar appeals involving the UBE, it would be an efficient course of action to identify common issues and have those common issues consolidated into one Issues List and one merit hearing. This would leave site-specific issues pertaining to each case to their own resolve through further hearings.
9The Tribunal stated it could not consolidate, post CMC with another Member, the common issues at this time between the two files as this Member was not privy to discussions that were involved or issues raised.
10The Tribunal agreed with Counsel that this would be an expeditious manner to resolve the common issues outstanding and recommended that Ms. Melinz work with the Case Coordinator to coordinate all case files and set a further CMC to discuss a Procedural Order and Issues List for the common issues relating to the UBE appeals.
PROCEDURAL ORDER AND HEARING DATES
11The Tribunal canvassed availability and the anticipated length of hearing with counsel. Based on the number of witnesses expected to provide evidence a 10-day Merit Hearing will commence on Monday, January 11, 2027, at 10 a.m. by video hearing.
12A Procedural Order and Issues List, populated with all dates in accordance with the hearing dates now provided, is to be delivered to the Tribunal for final review and approval no later than November 1, 2026.
13Parties and/or Participants and/or Observers 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://meet.goto.com/558205565
Access code: 558-205-565
14Parties 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
15Persons who experience technical difficulties accessing the GoTo Meeting application or who only wish to listen to the event can connect to the event by calling in to an audio-only telephone line: Toll-Free 1(888) 299-1889 or +1 (647) 497-9373. The Access Code is indicated above.
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 Video Hearing 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.
17As 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.
18If the Parties resolve the remaining issues, they are directed to contact the Case Coordinator to set a date for a settlement hearing.
ORDERS
19THE TRIBUNAL ORDERS its directions in this Decision.
20This Member remains available to assist with the case management of this proceeding, subject to the Tribunal’s calendar.
21This Member is not seized.
22No further notice will be given.
“D. Chipman”
D. CHIPMAN
MEMBER
Ontario Land Tribunal
Website: 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.