Ontario Land Tribunal
Tribunal ontarien de l’aménagement du territoire
ISSUE DATE:
May 19, 2026
CASE NO(S).:
OLT-26-000162
PROCEEDING COMMENCED UNDER subsection 22(7) of the Planning Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. P.13, as amended.
Applicant and Appellant:
590379 Ontario Inc.
Subject:
Request to amend the Official Plan – Failure to adopt the requested amendment
Description:
To permit two (2) existing housekeeping units and attached sundecks
Reference Number:
OPA-58
Property Address:
1294 Windermere Rd
Municipality/UT:
Muskoka Lakes/Muskoka
OLT Case No.:
OLT-26-000162
OLT Lead Case No.:
OLT-26-000162
OLT Case Name:
590379 Ontario Inc. v. Muskoka Lakes (Township)
PROCEEDING COMMENCED UNDER subsection 34(11) of the Planning Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. P.13, as amended.
Applicant and Appellant:
590379 Ontario Inc.
Subject:
Application to amend the Zoning By-law – Refusal or neglect to make a decision
Description:
To permit two (2) existing housekeeping units and attached sundecks
Reference Number:
ZBA-20/24
Property Address:
1294 Windermere Rd
Municipality/UT:
Muskoka Lakes/Muskoka
OLT Case No.:
OLT-26-000161
OLT Lead Case No.:
OLT-26-000162
Heard:
May 12, 2026, by Video Hearing
APPEARANCES:
Parties
Counsel
590379 Ontario Inc. ("Appellant")
Leo F. Longo
Township of Muskoka Lakes ("Township")
Edward Veldboom
MEMORANDUM OF ORAL DECISION DELIVERED BY N. Rodgers ON May 12, 2026, AND ORDER OF THE TRIBUNAL
INTRODUCTION
1This Decision arises from the first Case Management Conference ("CMC") for the above-noted matter. The Appellant has appealed under s. 22(7) and 34(11) of the Planning Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. P.13, as amended ("Act"), for the non-decision of the Township regarding an Official Plan Amendment ("OPA") and Zoning By-law Amendment ("ZBA") (together, "Applications") concerning lands municipally known as 1294 Windermere Road, in the Township ("Subject Property").
2The Subject Property is a private commercial seasonal resort with accommodation and housekeeping units along a portion of the shoreline of Three Mile Lake. The Subject Property is located on the north side of Windermere Road, is irregular in shape comprising of approximately 3.9 hectares ("ha") with roughly 139.8 metres ("m") of frontage on Three Mile Lake. Access to the Subject Property is from Windermere Road, a year-round municipally maintained road.
3In April 2024, the Applications were submitted for the purposes of recognizing two existing as built housekeeping units and attached sundecks on the Subject Property.
4The proposed OPA seeks relief from section 5.13 of the Township Official Plan ("OP"), in order to permit a high-water mark setback of 5.4 m whereas 20 m is the minimum required setback for the West Building Sundeck. The requested ZBA seeks to establish site specific provisions consisting of relief from section 4.2 of Zoning By-Law 2014-14 for Waterfront Commercial 1 (WC1) Zone for the front yard setback for both the West Building and West Building Sundeck, and to permit a total gross floor area of approximately 696 square metres.
5In April 2024, the Applications were submitted for the purposes of recognizing two existing as built housekeeping units and attached sundecks on the Subject Property. The Appellant, through its planning consultant, made two resubmissions of the Applications, in September 2024 and February 2025. The Applications were deemed complete on February 27, 2025. The Appellant filed its appeal to the Tribunal on February 13, 2026.
6The Affidavit of Service, affirmed on April 1, 2026, meets the requirements of the Tribunal and is marked as Exhibit 1. No further notice will be required.
7There were no requests for Party status. There was one request for Participant status filed by the Three Mile Lake Association ("Association"). Christine Condy, the President of the Association was present at the CMC. Ms. Condy confirmed that the Association is an incorporated entity and agreed to provide a copy of the Articles of Incorporation to the Tribunal. There were no objections to the Participant status request by the Parties.
8The Tribunal was advised that the Association has a long standing interest and participates regularly on land use planning matters affecting the lake and shoreline related development proposals. The Association’s interest in this matter relates to the potential cumulative environmental and land use planning impacts related to the Applications.
9Based on the reasons stated in paragraphs [8], the Tribunal grants Participant status to the Association to assist the Tribunal in resolving the issues raised in the appeal in a fair, just, and expeditious manner.
10The Parties were informed that Tribunal-led mediation is available to them should the need arise.
NEXT STEPS
11The Applicant’s counsel informed the Tribunal that in addition to the Applications, the Township has raised an issue related to the ownership of a municipal road allowance on the Subject Property. The resolution of this matter is under discussion between the Parties. It understood that this issue will not be the subject of this appeal, but it is a housekeeping item that both Parties wish to address and clarify before finalizing an Issues List ("IL") and proceeding to a merit hearing.
12The Parties filed with the Tribunal a draft Procedural Order ("PO"), however, Township Counsel advised that he awaits final instructions from Township Council in the coming days.
13With the assistance and on the consent of the Parties, the Tribunal concluded that a second CMC would be effective for the purposes of finalizing a PO, scoped IL and consider potential merit hearing dates. The Tribunal set the date of Friday, July 10, 2026, for the second CMC.
14The Tribunal directed that the PO and scoped IL be submitted to the Case Coordinator by Monday, June 29, 2026, for consideration at the second CMC.
15The Tribunal inquired as to whether there were any other matters to be addressed which might assist in the fair, just, and expeditious resolution of this matter. The Parties indicated there were none. The Tribunal thanks all Counsel and the Association for their assistance in this matter.
16A second CMC is scheduled for Friday, July 10, 2026, at 10 a.m. by Video Hearing.
17Parties 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/765631861
Access code: 765-631-861
18Parties 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
19Persons 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) 497-9391 or (Toll Free) 1-888-455-1389. The access code is: 765-631-861.
20Individuals 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 event may be directed to the Tribunal’s Case Coordinator.
21As 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
22THE TRIBUNAL ORDERS the directions contained above in this Decision.
"N. Rodgers"
N. RODGERS
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.