Y Developments Inc. v. St. Catharines (City), 2026 CanLII 46898

Ontario Land Tribunal

Tribunal ontarien de l’aménagement du territoire

ISSUE DATE: May 13, 2026

CASE NO(S).: OLT-26-000150

PROCEEDING COMMENCED UNDER subsection 22(7) of the Planning Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. P. 13, as amended.

Appellant: Y Developments Inc. Subject: Request to amend the Official Plan – Refusal of request Description: To permit the development of stacked town homes with parking on subject lands Reference Number: 25 112425 OP Property Address: 10 Phelps Street Municipality/UT: St. Catharines/St. Catharines OLT Case No: OLT-26-000150 OLT Lead Case No: OLT-26-000150 OLT Case Name: Y Developments Inc. v. St. Catharines (City)

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

Subject: Application to amend the Zoning By-law – Refusal of application Description: To permit the development of stacked town homes with parking on subject lands Reference Number: 25 112427 ZA Property Address: 10 Phelps Street Municipality/UT: St. Catharines/Niagara OLT Case No: OLT-26-000151 OLT Lead Case No: OLT-26-000150 OLT Case Name: Y Developments Inc. v. St. Catharines (City)

Heard: May 8, 2026 by video hearing

APPEARANCES:

Parties

Y Developments Inc.

Counsel

Tom Hanrahan Evan Alderman Sarah Premi (in absentia)

Parties

City of St. Catharines

Counsel

Callum Shedden

MEMORANDUM OF ORAL DECISION DELIVERED BY J. INNIS ON MAY 8, 2026 AND ORDER OF THE TRIBUNAL

1This event is the first Case Management Conference (“CMC”) respecting appeals by Y Developments Inc. (“Applicant”) arising from the refusal by Council for the City of St. Catharines (“City”), for an Official Plan Amendment (“OPA”) and Zoning By-law Amendment (“ZBA”) respecting lands municipally known as 10 Phelps Street in the City of St. Catharines (the “site”). The applications seek to permit a proposed residential development consisting of three blocks of three-storey stacked townhouses containing a total of 27 dwelling units on a private road. The proposed OPA seeks to redesignate the site from a Low Density Residential designation to a Medium Density Residential designation to permit a maximum net residential density of 90 units per hectare. The proposed ZBA seeks to rezone the site to a Medium Density Residential Zone with site-specific provisions to facilitate the proposed development.

Service of Notice of CMC

2There is no issue with service of the Notice of this CMC, and so no further notice is required. The Tribunal is in receipt of the Affidavit of Service, which is marked as Exhibit 1.

Requests for Status

3Each of the following area residents attended the CMC and were granted Participant status on consent. They reside in close proximity to the site and raised concerns related to matters including density, compatibility with the existing neighbourhood character, parking, waste collection, and safety.

• Deanna Shaw;
• Jordan Wyborn;
• Justin Doucette; and
• Michael Santos

4No one else attended the CMC seeking either Party or Participant status.

MEDIATION AND SETTLEMENT

5The Tribunal explored the possibility of mediation and settlement with the parties. The parties both expressed openness to resolution discussions and/or Tribunal-led mediation. They further confirmed that they will keep the Tribunal apprised of any developments with their resolution efforts, which the Tribunal finds satisfactory.

HEARING

6The Parties advised the Tribunal that they required additional time to continue discussions and to finalize the Procedural Order and Issues List. The Tribunal was advised that the anticipated issues in dispute were relatively narrow in scope and would primarily relate to density and parking matters. Although a draft Procedural Order and Issues List had not yet been finalized, the City and the Applicant jointly requested that the Tribunal schedule a two-day hearing and indicated their view that two days would be sufficient having regard to the anticipated scope of the issues.

7Based on the submissions of the Parties and the Tribunal’s understanding of the anticipated issues, the Tribunal was satisfied that a two-day hearing was appropriate. Accordingly, a two-day hearing was scheduled commencing Tuesday, July 14, 2026.

8The Tribunal directed that a Procedural Order and Issues List be submitted on consent no later than Friday, May 29, 2026 for approval by the Tribunal. The Parties were further advised that should any issues arise in finalizing those materials, they may request a further attendance before the Tribunal, including by way of teleconference, if necessary.

9Upon request of the Parties, the Tribunal set a 2-day hearing commencing on Tuesday, July 14, 2026, at 10 a.m. by video hearing. No further Notice is required for the hearing.

10Parties and Participants are asked to log into the video hearing at least 15 minutes before the start of the event to test their video and audio connections.

GoTo Meeting: https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/765631861

Access code: 765-631-861

11Parties 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 GoToMeeting or a web application is available: https://app.gotomeeting.com/home.html

12Persons who experience technical difficulties accessing the GoToMeeting application or who only wish to listen to the event can connect to the event by calling into an audio-only telephone line: (Toll-Free) 1-888-455-1389 or +1 (647) 497-9391. The access code is as indicated above.

13Individuals 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 hearing by video 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 having carriage of this case.

14As 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

15The Tribunal Orders that:

i. The date and particulars of the hearing are set out above;

ii. The parties shall submit a Procedural Order and Issues List to the Tribunal on consent, no later than Friday, May 29, 2026;

iii. Deanna Shaw, Jordan Wyborn, Justin Doucette, and Michael Santos are granted Participant status; and

16The Member may be spoken to through the Case Coordinator if any issues arise.

“J. Innis”

J. INNIS

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.