Ontario Land Tribunal

Tribunal ontarien de l’aménagement du territoire

ISSUE DATE: May 15, 2026

CASE NO(S).: OLT-25-000239

PROCEEDING COMMENCED UNDER subsection 29(11) of the Ontario Heritage Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. O.18, as amended

Appellant: Roya Rezaee

Subject: Passing of By-law 2025-39

Description: To designate the property as having cultural heritage value or interest.

Reference Number: By-law 2025-39

Property Address: 471 Eagle Street

Municipality: Town of Newmarket

OLT Case No.: OLT-25-000239

OLT Lead Case No.: OLT-25-000239

OLT Case Name: Rezaee v. Newmarket (Town)

Heard: April 9, 2026 by video hearing

APPEARANCES:

Parties	Counsel/Representative*
Roya Rezaee ("Appellant")	Patrick Mai*
Town of Newmarket ("Town")	Barbara Montgomery

MEMORANDUM OF ORAL DECISION DELIVERED BY JENNIFER CAMPBELL ON APRIL 9, 2026 AND ORDER OF THE TRIBUNAL

INTRODUCTION

1This Decision arises from a Case Management Conference ("CMC") regarding an appeal ("Appeal") by the Appellant of By-law No. 2025-39 ("By-law") concerning the designation of the property located at 471 Eagle Street, in the Town ("Subject Property"), as being of cultural heritage value or interest under s. 29, Part IV, of the Ontario Heritage Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. O.18, as amended ("Heritage Act").

2At the CMC, the Parties considered a draft Issues List ("IL") and Procedural Order ("PO"), set hearing dates, and discussed possible opportunities for settlement.

BACKGROUND

3The Subject Property contains a two-and-a-half storey Georgian architectural style residence, which fronts towards Eagle Street in Newmarket, Ontario, with a shallow setback from the roadway.

4On November 1, 2024, the Town issued a Notice of Intent to Designate the Subject Property under s. 29 of the Heritage Act. On February 10, 2025, the Town passed the By-law, which designated the Subject Property under s. 29 of the Heritage Act as being of cultural heritage value or interest. The Appellant appealed the By-law to the Tribunal.

Procedural Order and Issues List

5At the CMC, the Parties reviewed the draft PO and IL. While the Parties were generally in agreement on the key dates to be set out in the draft PO, they were not in agreement with respect to the draft IL, in respect of which the Appellant proposed to include the following six issues:

1. Whether the property at 471 Eagle Street meets the criteria for designation under section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act and Ontario Regulation 9/06.
2. Whether the property retains sufficient design or physical value under Ontario Regulation 9/06, having regard to its present physical and structural condition.
3. Whether the heritage attributes relied upon by the Town accurately reflect attributes that presently exist and remain capable of conservation under the Ontario Heritage Act.
4. Whether the present condition of the property affects the weight to be given to the alleged heritage attributes and the appropriateness of designation under section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act.
5. Whether the Town’s heritage evaluation and designation materials adequately identify and support the cultural heritage value or interest relied upon for designation under Ontario Regulation 9/06.
6. Whether, if the Tribunal determines that some but not all alleged heritage attributes are established, the designation by-law or the statement of heritage attributes should be modified accordingly.

6The Town objected to: (i) issues 2, 3, and 4 on the basis that they propose tests and factors for consideration which extend beyond those set out in Ontario Regulation 9/06 and which are not part of the statutory framework; and (ii) issues 5 and 6 on the basis that they do not set forth standalone issues for assessment by the Tribunal. The Tribunal concurred with the Town’s assessment of these issues.

7After discussion, it was agreed that the only issue to be included in the IL was issue 1, although the Town indicated that it wished to work further with the Appellant to effect some minor modifications to the language. Accordingly, the Town agreed to provide their final comments and/or additions on the draft IL to the Appellant by April 17, 2026, following which a proposed final version of the IL and PO would be delivered to the Tribunal on behalf of both Parties.

8Following the CMC, the finalized IL and PO were delivered to the Tribunal by the Parties. The Tribunal accepts and approves the finalized IL and PO.

Settlement Opportunities and Hearing Dates

9At the CMC, the Parties discussed opportunities for settlement and expressed a mutual willingness to enter into discussions. The Tribunal encouraged such endeavours. However, the Parties also requested that the Tribunal proceed to set hearing dates in case settlement discussions are not successful, and the Tribunal agreed to do so.

10Accordingly, at the request of the Parties, the Tribunal proceeded to schedule a two-day hearing to proceed by video on Tuesday, July 14, 2026 at 10 a.m. to Wednesday, July 15, 2026.

11Parties 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

12Parties 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 GoToMeeting or a web application is available: https://app.gotomeeting.com/home.html

13Persons 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: 709-076-365.

14Individuals 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 hearing event may be directed to the Tribunal’s Case Coordinator.

15As 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

16The Tribunal orders that:

(i) The Procedural Order and Issues List, appended at Schedule A hereto, shall be the Procedural Order and Issues List in respect of the appeal.

17There will be no further notice.

18This Member is not seized.

"Jennifer Campbell"

JENNIFER CAMPBELL 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-25-000239

PROCEEDING COMMENCED UNDER subsection 29(11) of the Ontario Heritage Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. O.18, as amended

Appellant: Roya Rezaee

Subject: Passing of By-law 2025-39

Description: To designate the property as having cultural heritage value or interest.

Reference Number: By-law 2025-39

Property Address: 471 Eagle Street

Municipality: Town of Newmarket

OLT Case No.: OLT-25-000239

OLT Lead Case No.: OLT-25-000239

OLT Case Name: Rezaee v. Newmarket (Town)

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 video hearing will begin on July 14, 2026 at 10:00 a.m. as directed in the Tribunal's Decision and Order.

3. The length of the hearing will be two (2) 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. The procedural order deadlines are generally found in Attachment 1.

4. The Parties and Participants are listed in Attachment 2 to this Order.

5. The Issues are set out in the Issues List attached as Attachment 3 to this Order. The Parties will attempt to resolve the issues prior to the hearing on the merits of the appeal. There will be no changes to the Issues List unless the Tribunal permits, and a Party who asks for changes may have costs awarded against it.

6. The order of evidence is tentatively set out in Attachment 4 to this Order, but may be changed at the request of the Parties in advance of the hearing. 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 shall provide a mailing address, email address and a telephone number to the Tribunal. Any such person who retains a representative must advise the other Parties and the Tribunal of the representative’s name, address, email address and the phone number.

8. If the hearing is to proceed electronically, 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 (https://olt.gov.on.ca/guides/).

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, the expert witness(es)' curriculum vitae and Acknowledgement of Expert Duty form(s), and the order in which the witnesses will be called. This list must be delivered on or before May 1, 2026. For expert witnesses, a party is to identify the area of expertise in which the witness is proposed to be qualified.

10. Expert witnesses in the same discipline(s) shall have at least one meeting before the hearing to try to resolve or reduce the issues for the hearing. The experts shall prepare a list of any agreed facts and the remaining issues to be addressed at the hearing, and provide this list to all of the Parties and the Tribunal on or before June 1, 2026 if agreement is reached.

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, the acknowledgement of expert’s duty and curriculum vitae. Copies of this must be provided as in Section 14. 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. 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 he/she intends to rely on at the hearing, and which did not form part of previous submissions made to the Town, such report(s) shall be provided to the other Parties at the same time as the delivery of expert witness statements, as in Section 14.

12. A witness or participant must provide to the Tribunal and the Parties a witness statement or participant statement, respectively, on or before June 1, 2026 or the witness or participant may not give oral evidence at the hearing. Participants are only permitted to provide written evidence to the Tribunal, unless otherwise permitted by the Tribunal.

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 Section 14.

14. On or before June 1, 2026 the Parties shall provide copies of their witness statements and expert witness statements (in accordance with Section 11 herein) to the other Parties and to the Tribunal.

15. On or before June 12, 2026 the Parties may provide to all other Parties a written response to any written evidence.

16. On or before June 15, 2026 the Parties shall advise the Tribunal of whether any hearing dates scheduled for this matter may be released from the Tribunal's calendar. This request may only be made on consent of all of the Parties. If no hearing dates are intended to be released from the Tribunal's calendar, no Party is required to advise the Tribunal anything further in that regard.

17. On or before June 1, 2026 the Parties shall provide copies of their visual evidence to the other Parties. The Tribunal and all Parties shall be notified if a model will be used, all Parties must have a reasonable opportunity to view it before the scheduled commencement of the hearing.

18. A person wishing to change written evidence, including witness statements, must make a written motion to the Tribunal. Such a motion shall be in accordance with the Tribunal’s Rule 10, which requires that the moving Party provide copies of the motion to all other Parties at least 15 days before the Tribunal hears the motion.

19. A Party who provides a witness’ written evidence 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.

20. On or before June 30, 2026 the Parties shall prepare and file a detailed Hearing Plan that identifies the following, at a minimum: the identified Parties participating in the Hearing Event, preliminary matters (if any to be addressed), the date a witness is intended to attend the Tribunal, the identified witness name/expertise, and the approximate time allotted for Examination in Chief, Cross Examination and any re-examination (if any) (the "Hearing Plan"). The Hearing Plan should be adhered to guide the Hearing Event to the best ability of all the Parties, and any and all witnesses shall be available on the identified date(s), unless otherwise directed by the Tribunal. The Tribunal may, at its discretion, change or alter the Hearing Plan throughout the Hearing Event.

21. The Parties undertake to make best their efforts to avoid duplicative evidence to the extent possible.

22. The Parties shall prepare a Joint Document Book on or before June 30, 2026, and which, if requested by the Tribunal, one (1) hard copy will be filed with the Tribunal as soon as practicable in advance of the Hearing. All Parties must be served with the Joint Document Book in an accessible electronic format in accordance with Section 23.

23. All filing of documents and materials shall be submitted electronically to the Tribunal, the Parties and Participants (if any). The Tribunal will be provided a hard copy of documents and materials in advance of the hearing event as soon as practicable. 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 and such materials will be filed in accordance with directions contained in the Tribunal’s Video Hearing Guide, dated July 2, 2020, or as may be amended. This section applies regardless if the hearing event is in-person or electronic.

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.

25. The Tribunal may conduct mediation on consent of all Parties, or on consent of those Parties who wish to participate in mediation, or if the Tribunal sees fit.

26. The purpose of this Procedural Order and the meaning of the terms used in this Procedural Order are set out in Attachment 5.

ATTACHMENT 1

SUMMARY OF DATES

DATE	EVENT
Friday, May 1, 2026	Exchange of witness lists (names, disciplines and order to be called)
Monday, June 1, 2026	Exchange of Witness Statements, Agreed Statement of Facts, summoned witness outlines, Expert Reports, Participant Statements (if any)
Monday, June 1, 2026	Exchange of visual evidence (if any)
Friday, June 12, 2026	Exchange of Reply Witness Statements or Expert Reports (if any)
Monday, June 15, 2026	Advise Tribunal if all hearing dates required
Tuesday, June 30, 2026	Joint Document Book and Hearing Plan
Tuesday, July 14, 2026	Hearing commences

ATTACHMENT 2

LIST OF PARTIES AND PARTICIPANTS

PARTIES

Name	Contact Information
1. Roya Rezaee	Han Mai Thusney Legal Services Professional Corp. 109 – 40 New Delhi Drive Markham, ON L3S 0B5 Tel: 877-413-1219 E-mail: legalservices@thusney.ca
2. Town of Newmarket	Barbara Montgomery, Senior Solicitor Legal Services Town of Newmarket 395 Mulock Drive Newmarket, ON L3R 9W3 Tel: 905-953-5300 ext 2438 E-mail: bmontgomery@newmarket.ca

ATTACHMENT 3

ISSUES LIST

1. Does the property at 471 Eagle Street meet a minimum of two heritage criteria as required by section 29(1) of the Ontario Heritage Act, and by O. Reg. 9/06: Criteria for Determining Cultural Heritage Value or Interest, for designation as a property of cultural heritage value or interest?

ATTACHMENT 4

Order of Evidence

1. Appellant
2. Town of Newmarket
3. Appellant (in reply)

ATTACHMENT 5

Purpose of the Procedural Order and Meaning of Terms

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. If an unincorporated group wishes to become a Party, 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 authorization 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, must ask the Tribunal to permit this.

Participant is an individual, group or corporation, whether represented by a lawyer or not, who may attend only part of the proceeding but who makes a written statement to the Tribunal on all or some of the issues in the hearing in accordance with Rule 7.7 of the Tribunal’s Rules of Practice and Procedure.

NOTE that such persons will likely not receive notice of a mediation or conference calls on procedural issues. They also cannot ask for costs, or review of a decision as Parties can.

Written and Visual Evidence:

Written evidence includes all written material, reports, studies, documents, letters and witness statements which a Party 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 intends to present as evidence at the hearing.

Witness Statements:

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 the witness will discuss and the witness’ opinions on those issues; and a list of reports that the witness will rely on at the hearing.

An expert witness statement should include the expert’s (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 for the opinions and (5) a list of reports that the witness will rely on at the hearing.

A participant statement is a short written outline of the person’s or group’s background, experience and interest in the matter; a list of the issues which the participant will address and a short outline of the evidence on those issues; and a list of reports, relied upon, if any, which the participant will provide to the Tribunal for consideration of the written statement at the hearing.

Additional Information:

Summons: A Party must ask a Tribunal Member or the senior staff of the Tribunal to issue a summons. This request must be made before the time that the list of witnesses is provided to the Tribunal and the Parties (see Rule 13 on the summons procedure). If the Tribunal requests it, an affidavit must be provided indicating how the witness’ evidence is relevant to the hearing. If the Tribunal is not satisfied from the affidavit, it will require that a motion be heard to decide whether the witness should be summoned.

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.