Lawton Dev LP v. Toronto (City), 2026 CanLII 3353

Ontario Land Tribunal

ISSUE DATE: January 15, 2026

CASE NO(S).: OLT-25-000527

PROCEEDING COMMENCED UNDER subsection 34(11) of the Planning Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. P.13, as amended

Applicant and Appellant: Lawton Dev LP

Subject: Application to amend the Zoning By-law – Refusal or neglect to make a decision

Description: To permit the development of two residential buildings with a maximum height of 43 storeys and 38 storeys

Reference Number: 25 121716 STE 12 OZ

Property Address: 59-81 Lawton Boulevard

Municipality/UT: City of Toronto

OLT Case No.: OLT-25-000527

OLT Lead Case No.: OLT-25-000527

OLT Case Name: Lawton Dev LP v. Toronto (City)

Heard: January 13, 2026 by video hearing

APPEARANCES:

Parties	Counsel
Lawton Dev LP	Michael Foderick Jamie Cole
City of Toronto	Ray Kallio

MEMORANDUM OF ORAL DECISION DELIVERED BY SHARON L. DIONNE ON JANUARY 13, 2026 AND ORDER OF THE TRIBUNAL

INTRODUCTION

1This is the Tribunal’s Decision and Order stemming from a second Case Management Conference (“CMC”) on the appeal filed by Lawton Dev LP in respect of the failure of the Council of the City of Toronto (“City”) to make a decision on a planning application for an amendment to the City’s Zoning By-law within the timeframe prescribed under the Planning Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. P 13, as amended (“Act”). The affected lands are municipally known as 59-81 Lawton Boulevard (“Subject Property”).

REQUEST FOR STATUS

2In accordance with an Order issued by the Tribunal (differently constituted) on December 10, 2025, the Request for Participant Status submitted by Andrew Peat was received and considered by the Tribunal. The Tribunal found it appropriate to grant Participant status and accepted Mr. Peat’s Participant Statement, without objection of the Parties.

PROCEDURAL MATTERS

3The Parties, having agreed on procedural matters, had filed a draft Procedural Order and Issues List (“PO/IL”) with the Tribunal in advance of the CMC, and were seeking the scheduling of a multi-day hearing on the merits of the appeal to be held sometime within the period of June–July 2026.

4The Tribunal inquired as to whether there were any other matters to be addressed, and the Parties indicated there were none.

5The Parties are aware that, should they have an interest, there are opportunities for Tribunal-led mediation available.

NEXT STEPS

6A hearing of the appeal is scheduled for a period of nine days, from Monday, June 8, 2026 to Friday, June 19, 2026, commencing at 10 a.m. by video conference. Please note that the Tribunal will not sit on Monday, June 15, 2026.

7Parties, 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://global.gotomeeting.com/join/692665589

Access code: 692-665-589

8Parties 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

9Persons 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: 692-665-589.

10Individuals are directed to connect to the event on the assigned date. 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

11THE TRIBUNAL ORDERS as follows:

a. Andrew Peat is granted Participant status;

b. A hearing is scheduled as set out above; and

c. The Procedural Order attached hereto as Schedule A shall govern the conduct of this proceeding.

“Sharon L. Dionne”

SHARON L. Dionne

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 A

CASE NO(S).: OLT-25-000527

PROCEEDING COMMENCED UNDER subsection 34(11) of the Planning Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. P.13, as amended

Applicant and Appellant: Lawton Dev LP

Subject: Application to amend the Zoning By-law – Refusal or neglect to make a decision

Description: To permit the development of two residential buildings with a maximum height of 43 storeys and 38 storeys

Reference Number: 25 121716 STE 12 OZ

Property Address: 59-81 Lawton Boulevard

Municipality/UT: City of Toronto

OLT Case No.: OLT-25-000527

OLT Lead Case No.: OLT-25-000527

OLT Case Name: Lawton Dev LP v. Toronto (City)

PROCEDURAL ORDER

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 hearing will begin on Monday, June 8, 2026 at 10:00 a.m. by video hearing.

3. The parties’ initial estimation for the length of the hearing is nine (9) days. The Tribunal will not sit on June 15, 2026.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. The procedural order deadlines are found in Attachment 1.

4. The parties and participants identified at the case management conference are set out in Attachment 2 (see the sample procedural order for the meaning of these terms).

5. The issues are set out in the Issues List attached as Attachment 3. 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 is set out in Attachment 4. 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 Hearings Guide, available on the Tribunal’s website.

Requirements Before the Hearing

9. If the applicant intends to seek approval of a revised proposal at the hearing, the applicant shall provide copies of the revised proposal, including any revised plans, reports, and studies, to the other parties on or before Monday, February 9, 2026. The Applicant acknowledges that any revisions to the plans or the introduction of any new or revised reports after that date without the consent of the parties may be grounds for a request to adjourn the hearing.

10. 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 Wednesday, February 18, 2026 and in accordance with paragraph 23 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 proposed to be qualified. Any challenges to the witness, including qualifications of a witness to give opinion evidence in the area of expertise proposed shall be made by motion in accordance with the Tribunal’s Rules and notice of same must be served on the other Parties (on or before Monday, March 2, 2026).

11. Expert witnesses in the same field shall have a meeting on or before Tuesday, March 10, 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 the remaining issues to be addressed at the hearing with the Tribunal’s case coordinator on or before Wednesday, March 25, 2026.

12. 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 Section 14 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.

13. 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 14 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 14 below. For greater certainty, each expert witness statement must comply with the minimum content requirements specified in Rule 7 of the Tribunal’s Rules of Practice and Procedure. If the expert witness has prepared any report(s) that they intend to rely on at the hearing, and which did not form part of the submissions made to the City, such report(s) shall be provided to the other parties at the same as the delivery of expert witness statements, as in paragraph 14 below.

14. On or before Thursday, April 9, 2026, the parties shall provide copies of their witness and expert witness statements to the other parties and to the Tribunal’s case coordinator in accordance with paragraph 23 below.

15. On or before Thursday, April 9, 2026, a participant shall provide copies of their written participant statement to the other parties in accordance with paragraph 23 below. A participant cannot present oral submissions at the hearing on the content of their written statement, unless permitted by the Tribunal.

16. On or before Monday, May 4, 2026, the parties shall confirm with the Tribunal if all the reserved hearing dates are still required.

17. On or before Monday, May 11, 2026, parties may provide to all other parties and the OLT case coordinator a written response to any written evidence in accordance with paragraph 23 below.

18. On or before Tuesday, May 19, 2026, the parties shall provide copies of their visual evidence to all of the other parties in accordance with paragraph 23 below. If a model will be used, all parties must have a reasonable opportunity to view it before the hearing.

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. The parties shall cooperate to prepare a Joint Document Book which shall be shared with the Tribunal’s case coordinator in accordance with paragraph 23 below on or before Friday, May 29, 2026.

21. 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.

22. The parties shall prepare and file a preliminary hearing plan with the Tribunal on or before Friday, May 29, 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 preliminary hearing plan. Any and all witnesses shall be available on the identified date(s), unless otherwise directed by the Tribunal or on consent of parties. The Tribunal may, at its discretion, change or alter the preliminary hearing plan at any time in the course of the hearing.

23. All filings shall be submitted electronically in PDF format, bookmarked with hyperlinks to all items listed in any table of contents. 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. All documents to be filed with the Tribunal shall be organized, tabbed and digitally searchable.

24. 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.

Meaning of Terms Used in the Procedural Order:

A party is an individual or corporation permitted by the Tribunal to participate fully in the hearing by receiving copies of written evidence, presenting witnesses, cross-examining the witnesses of the other parties, and making submissions on all of the evidence. An unincorporated group cannot be a party and it must appoint one person to speak for it, and that person must accept the other responsibilities of a party as set out in the Order. Parties do not have to be represented by a lawyer and may have an agent speak for them. The agent must have written authorisation from the party.

NOTE that a person who wishes to become a party before or at the hearing, and who did not request this at the case management conference (CMC), must ask the Tribunal to permit this.

A participant is an individual or corporation, whether represented by a lawyer or not, who may make a written submission to the Tribunal. A participant cannot make an oral submission to the Tribunal or present oral evidence (testify in-person) at the hearing (only a party may do so). Section 17 of the Ontario Land Tribunal Act states that a person who is not a party to a proceeding may only make a submission to the Tribunal in writing. The Tribunal may direct a participant to attend a hearing to answer questions from the Tribunal on the content of their written submission, should that be found necessary by the Tribunal. A participant may also be asked questions by the parties should the Tribunal direct a participant to attend a hearing to answer questions on the content of their written submission.

A participant must be identified and be accorded participant status by the Tribunal at the CMC. A participant will not receive notice of conference calls on procedural issues that may be scheduled prior to the hearing, nor receive notice of mediation. A participant cannot ask for costs, or review of a decision, as a participant does not have the rights of a party to make such requests of the Tribunal.

Written evidence includes all written material, reports, studies, documents, letters and witness statements which a party or participant intends to present as evidence at the hearing. These must have pages numbered consecutively throughout the entire document, even if there are tabs or dividers in the material.

Visual evidence includes photographs, maps, videos, models, and overlays which a party or participant intends to present as evidence at the hearing.

A witness statement is a short written outline of the person’s background, experience and interest in the matter; a list of the issues which he or she will discuss ; and a list of reports or materials that the witness will rely on at the hearing.

An expert witness statement should include his or her (1) name and address, (2) qualifications, (3) a list of the issues he or she will address, (4) the witness’ opinions on those issues and the complete reasons supporting their opinions and conclusions and (5) a list of reports or materials that the witness will rely on at the hearing. An expert witness statement must be accompanied by an acknowledgement of expert’s duty.

A participant statement is a short written outline of the person’s or group’s background, experience and interest in the matter; a statement of the participant’s position on the appeal; a list of the issues which the participant wishes to address and the submissions of the participant on those issues; and a list of reports or materials, if any, which the participant wishes to refer to in their statement.

Additional Information:

A summons may compel the appearance of a person before the Tribunal who has not agreed to appear as a witness. A party must ask a Tribunal Member or the senior staff of the Tribunal to issue a summons through a request. (See Rule 13 on the summons procedure.) The request should indicate how the witness’ evidence is relevant to the hearing. If the Tribunal is not satisfied from the information provided in the request that the evidence is relevant, necessary or admissible, the party requesting the summons may provide a further request with more detail or bring a motion in accordance with the Rules.

The order of examination of witnesses is usually direct examination, cross-examination and re-examination in the following way:

• direct examination by the party presenting the witness;

• direct examination by any party of similar interest, in the manner determined by the Tribunal;

• cross-examination by parties of opposite interest;

• re-examination by the party presenting the witness; or

• another order of examination mutually agreed among the parties or directed by the Tribunal.

ATTACHMENT 1

SUMMARY OF DATES

DATE	EVENT
Monday, February 9, 2026	Last date to provide copies of revised proposal, including all revised plans, reports, and studies (if any)
Wednesday, February 18, 2026	Exchange of witness lists (names, disciplines and order to be called)
Monday, March 2, 2026	Last day for parties to challenge expert witnesses
Tuesday, March 10, 2026	Experts meeting prior to this date
Wednesday, March 25, 2026	Statement of agreed facts filed with the Tribunal
Thursday, April 9, 2026	Exchange of witness statements, summoned witness outlines, expert reports and participant statements
Monday, May 4, 2026	Parties shall confirm with the Tribunal if all the reserved hearing dates are still required
Monday, May 11, 2026	Exchange of reply witness statements (if any)
Tuesday, May 19, 2026	Exchange of visual evidence (if any)
Friday, May 29, 2026	Hearing plan filed with the Tribunal
Friday, May 29, 2026	Joint document book filed with the Tribunal
Monday, June 8, 2026	Hearing commences

ATTACHMENT 2

LIST OF PARTIES AND PARTICIPANTS

PARTIES:

1. Lawton Dev LP

Michael Foderick and Jamie Cole McCarthy Tétrault LLP Suite 5300, TD Bank Tower Box 48, 66 Wellington Street West Toronto, ON M5K 1E6 Email: mfoderick@mccarthy.ca and jpcole@mccarthy.ca Tel: (416) 601-8300

2. City of Toronto

Ray Kallio Metro Hall 55 John Street, 26th Floor Toronto, ON M5V 3C6 Email: ray.kallio@toronto.ca Tel: (416) 392-8047

PARTICIPANTS:

1. Kevin Gillen, kevin@kpgillen.com
2. Craig Young, chyoung22@gmail.com
3. Anton Pfisztner, anton.pfisztner@slcmanagement.com
4. Andrew Peat, peatwrites@gmail.com

ATTACHMENT 3

LIST OF ISSUES

Note: The identification of an issue on this Issues List is intended to provide notice to all parties that a party will lead evidence and/or argument on the matter. This identification does not serve as an acknowledgement of relevancy to the determination of the Tribunal at the hearing. The extent to which these issues are appropriate or relevant to the determination of the Tribunal at the hearing will be a matter of evidence and argument at the hearing.

A party may revise their Issues List until May 29, 2026 in response to any revised proposal submitted pursuant paragraph 9 of this Procedural Order.

CITY OF TORONTO:

Planning Act

1. Do the proposed development and Zoning By-law Amendment have appropriate regard for the matters of provincial interest as set out in Section 2 of the Planning Act, including subsections 2(h) and (r)?

Provincial Planning Statement (2024)

2. Are the proposed development and Zoning By-law Amendment consistent with the Provincial Planning Statement (2024) as required by Section 3(5) of the Planning Act, including policies 2.1.6, 2.2.1, and 2.4.1.

City of Toronto Official Plan

3. Do the proposed development and Zoning By-law Amendment conform with the policies of the City of Toronto Official Plan, including the policies related to:

a. Public Realm (Section 3.1.1);

b. Built Form (Sections 3.1.3 and 3.1.4);

c. Apartment Neighbourhoods (Sections 4.2.2 and 4.2.3); and

d. Implementation (Sections 5.2.1, 5.3.1 and 5.3.2)?

4. Does the proposed development meet the intent and purpose of Chapter 8, The Major Transit Station Areas and Protected Major Transit Station Areas (SASP 721)?

Yonge-St. Clair Secondary Plan

5. Do the proposed development and Zoning By-law Amendment conform with the policies of the Yonge-St. Clair Secondary Plan (Sections 2.1, 3.2, 4.1 & 4.2)?

City of Toronto Guidelines and Planning Framework

6. Does the proposed development meet the intent and purpose of the Tall Building Design Guidelines (Sections 3.1.1, 3.1.2, 3.1.5, 3.2.1, 4.1 and 4.3)?

7. Does the proposed development meet the intent and purpose of the Growing Up Guidelines: Planning for Children in New Vertical Communities? (Section 2.1a)

Site-Specific Issues

Built Form, Hight, Massing and Density

8. Would a two-tower development with reduced height be a more appropriate built form for this site?

9. Is the site organization and built form of the proposed development appropriate, and more specifically:

a. Are the proposed building configuration/orientation, height, massing, and floor plate size appropriate?

b. Are the proposed setbacks, step backs and separation distances appropriate?

c. Does the proposal provide an appropriate built form relationship and transition to surrounding properties?

d. Are the privacy and overlook impacts from the proposed development appropriate?

10. Does the proposed development consider the potential development of adjacent lands?

11. Does the proposed development consider the potential for reduced vehicular parking?

Wind Impacts

12. Does the proposed development protect against the potential for uncomfortable wind conditions, for the intended uses of the building, such as the outdoor amenity space, pedestrian entrances, and on the public realm along Lawton Boulevard?

Public Realm

13. Does the proposed development provide appropriate public realm improvements for Lawton Boulevard?

On-Site Parkland Dedication

14. Does the proposed development provide the appropriate 5.0-metre setback between the northern park boundary and the adjacent building face?

Public Interest and Good Planning

15. Does the proposed Zoning By-law Amendment provide for good planning and good urban design, and is it in the public interest?

ATTACHMENT 4

ORDER OF EVIDENCE

IN CHIEF:

1. Lawton Dev LP

2. City of Toronto

REPLY:

1. Lawton Dev LP