Ontario Land Tribunal
Tribunal ontarien de l’aménagement du territoire
ISSUE DATE:
January 19, 2026
CASE NO(S).:
OLT-25-000756
PROCEEDING COMMENCED UNDER subsection 22(7) of the Planning Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. P. 13, as amended.
Applicant/Appellant:
Grand Ave. Developments (Cambridge) LP
Subject:
Request to amend the Official Plan – Failure to adopt the requested amendment
Description:
Applications to facilitate the development of a 28-storey mixed use building
Reference Number:
OR02/25
Property Address:
32, 36 and 38 Grand Avenue South (Plan 456, PT Lot 2, Pt Lot 24)
Municipality/UT:
Cambridge/Waterloo
OLT Case No:
OLT-25-000756
OLT Lead Case No:
OLT-25-000756
OLT Case Name:
Grand Ave. Developments (Cambridge) LP v. Cambridge (City)
PROCEEDING COMMENCED UNDER section 34(11) of the Planning Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. P. 13, as amended.
Applicant/Appellant:
Grand Ave. Developments (Cambridge) LP
Subject:
Application to amend the Zoning By-law – Refusal or neglect to make a decision
Reference Number:
OR02/25
Property Address:
32, 36 and 38 Grand Avenue South (Plan 456, PT Lot 2, Pt Lot 24)
Municipality/UT:
Cambridge/Waterloo
OLT Case No:
OLT-25-000757
OLT Lead Case No:
OLT-25-000756
Heard:
January 12, 2026, by Video Hearing
APPEARANCES:
Parties
Counsel
Grand Ave. Developments (Cambridge) LP
Denise Baker Siraj Syed
City of Cambridge
Nicole Auty Katie McBride
MEMORANDUM OF ORAL DECISION DELIVERED BY S. BOBKA ON january 12, 2026 AND ORDER OF THE TRIBUNAL
INTRODUCTION
Link To Order
1This was the first Case Management Conference (“CMC”) for appeals filed by Grand Ave. Developments (Cambridge) LP (“Applicant/Appellant”) pursuant to ss. 22(7) and 34(11) of the Planning Act regarding the failure of the City of Cambridge (“City”) to make a decision within the required timeframe on an application for an Official Plan Amendment (“OPA”) and an application for a Zoning By-law Amendment (“ZBA”) to facilitate the development of a 28-storey mixed-use building on the property municipally known as 32, 36, 38 Grand Avenue South (“Subject Lands”).
2The Subject Lands have an area of approximately 2044.8 square metres with approximately 53 metres (“m”) of frontage on Grand Avenue, and 42 m of frontage on Hood Street. Currently, Nos. 32 and 36 are each occupied by an existing commercial structure, and No. 38 contains a mixed-use building.
NOTICE
3The Tribunal canvassed Counsel, who confirmed that there were no issues with the service of the Notice of the CMC. The Tribunal is in receipt of the Affidavit of Service sworn by Marie Wakefield on December 10, 2025, which was marked as Exhibit 1, and confirms that Notice was adequately served. As such, no further notice is required.
PARTICIPANT STATUS REQUESTS
4Prior to the CMC, the Tribunal received four requests for Participant status from Katie Dobbie, Jeff Hunter, Leslee Urquhart and Carrie Thomas who raised various concerns with the proposed development including, but not limited to, potential impacts of construction on surrounding heritage homes, excessive height, reduced setbacks, shadow impacts, insufficient parking, increased traffic, pedestrian safety, and compatibility with the character of the neighbourhood.
5Counsel for both the Applicant/Appellant and the City had no objections to the requests for Participant Status.
6Upon review and consideration, the Tribunal granted Participant status to all four requestors.
CONSOLIDATION
7While these matters were joined together administratively for efficiency for the purposes of this CMC, no formal ruling had yet been made as to whether they should be consolidated or heard together.
8The Parties submitted that consolidation would be appropriate in this case. As the matters involve the same property and evidence would be presented by the same expert witnesses, the Tribunal found it appropriate to consolidate the matters.
UPDATE, MEDIATION AND SETTLEMENT
9Counsel for the Applicant/Appellant advised that they had just recently received the City’s draft Issues List, which they acknowledged still required approval from City Council. Based on the review of the preliminary issues and given that each side proposed to call about six witnesses (for a possible total of 12 witnesses), it was proposed that a 14 or 15-day Hearing on the Merits (“Hearing”) be set late in 2026, subject to availability on the Tribunal calendar. Counsel for the City confirmed that instructions from Council were still required and agreed with the estimate of 14-15 days for the Hearing.
10Regarding settlement, both Parties were open to having discussions, in the hopes that some of the issues could be resolved or narrowed.
11The Tribunal reminded the Parties that, if interested in Tribunal-led mediation, they could contact the Case Coordinator to begin a mediation assessment.
NEXT STEPS
12Prior to the CMC, the Parties submitted a draft Procedural Order (“PO”), including an Issues List, for consideration by the Tribunal.
13Upon consideration of the draft PO and the submissions of the Parties, the Tribunal agreed with the proposed path forward and scheduled a 14-day Video Hearing to commence on Monday, October 26, 2026, at 10 a.m. It is noted that the Tribunal will not be sitting on Wednesday, November 11, 2026.
14Parties are asked to log in to 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/660145013;
Access Code: 660-145-013
15Parties 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.
16Persons 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: +1-647-497-9373 or (Toll Free) 1-888-299-1889. The Access Code is as indicated above.
17Individuals 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 having carriage of this case.
18The Parties were also directed to provide the revised PO, including the Issues List, for consideration on or before Wednesday, April 15, 2026.
ORDER
19The Tribunal Orders that:
a) Participant status is granted to Katie Dobbie, Jeff Hunter, Leslee Urquhart, and Carrie Thomas;
b) OLT matters OLT-25-000756 and OLT-25-000757 are consolidated;
c) A 14-day Merit Hearing is scheduled as outlined in paragraph [13];
d) The revised Procedural Order, including Issues List, is to be provided to the Tribunal for consideration by Wednesday, April 15, 2026.
20The Member is not seized but may be available for case management, should the Tribunal’s calendar permit.
“S. Bobka”
S. BOBKA 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.