Tara Piurko

At a Case Management Conference for appeals concerning Official Plan Amendments 861 and 862, the Ontario Land Tribunal ordered the appeals to be heard together.

The Tribunal scheduled a jurisdictional motion brought by the City of Toronto to dismiss certain school board appeals.

Additionally, the Tribunal granted party status to the Confederation of Residents and Ratepayers Associations in Toronto and a local resident, and provisionally granted participant status to 103 individuals and entities, conditional on the outcome of the City's jurisdictional motion.

The Ontario Land Tribunal held a third Case Management Conference regarding 14 active appeals to the City of Toronto's Official Plan Amendment 777 (Sheppard East Secondary Plan).

The City requested the scheduling of a fourth CMC and a three-week merit hearing for March 2027.

The Tribunal established procedural deadlines and scheduled the fourth CMC for September 2026, but declined to schedule the merit hearing at this stage due to ongoing mediation, pending City Council instructions, and the lack of finalized issues lists and procedural orders.

The Claimant brought a motion for directions seeking an order compelling the Respondents to produce various documents related to municipal infrastructure construction and an order to amend its Statement of Claim.

The Claimant sought damages for injurious affection due to construction impacts on its business.

The Tribunal granted the motion, finding the requested documents were relevant, necessary, and in the exclusive control of the Respondents, who had failed to produce them despite repeated requests.

The Tribunal ordered production within 30 days and permitted the amendment of the Statement of Claim.

The Ontario Land Tribunal held a first Case Management Conference regarding appeals by several school boards and a private corporation against the City of Toronto's Official Plan Amendment No. 862 and related zoning by-laws.

The instruments aim to facilitate mid-rise intensification along certain Avenues.

The appellants appealed because their lands were excluded from the redesignation.

The City indicated its intention to bring a jurisdictional motion to dismiss appeals concerning lands outside the scope of the instruments.

The Tribunal deferred several party and participant status requests until the second CMC or after the jurisdictional motion is decided, and scheduled a second CMC to coordinate with anticipated appeals of a related Official Plan Amendment (OPA 861).

At a Case Management Conference, the Ontario Land Tribunal approved the Procedural Order and scheduled a five-day Hearing on the Merits for the remaining appeals of the City of Toronto's Official Plan Amendment 778.

One appellant withdrew its appeal, and another anticipated a resolution with the City.

The Tribunal held a first Case Management Conference regarding appeals by the Toronto Catholic District School Board against the City of Toronto's approval of Official Plan and Zoning By-law Amendments for two adjacent mixed-use developments.

The Tribunal ordered the appeals to be heard together, granted participant status to a local resident, scheduled a five-day merit hearing, and approved the Procedural Order to govern the proceedings.

This was the second Case Management Conference regarding multiple appeals of the City of Toronto's Official Plan Amendment 777 (Sheppard East Secondary Plan).

The Tribunal granted added party status to Lencroft Holdings Inc., allowing it to shelter under an existing appeal.

The Tribunal also granted requests to adjourn two specific appeals while those appellants pursue site-specific applications.

Procedural dates were established for the exchange of materials ahead of Tribunal-led mediation and a third Case Management Conference.

Peterborough Action for Tiny Homes (PATH) appealed the City's refusal of a Temporary Use By-law application to permit 24 transitional housing sleeping cabins on a property adjacent to an existing heavy industrial facility.

The central issue was whether the cabins should be classified as 'dwellings' or 'noise sensitive institutional purpose buildings' under provincial noise guidelines (NPC-300) for the purpose of determining land use compatibility.

The Tribunal found the cabins constituted dwellings, requiring more stringent noise mitigation.

Because the proposal introduced a sensitive land use immediately adjacent to a Class II industrial facility without adequate mitigation mechanisms, the Tribunal held it was inconsistent with the Provincial Policy Statement and did not conform to the City Official Plan.

The appeal was dismissed.

The Tribunal convened a third Case Management Conference regarding appeals against a City of Toronto Official Plan Amendment pertaining to the Avenues Policy Framework.

The parties requested additional time to engage in without prejudice communications to refine the issues and finalize the draft Procedural Order and Issues List.

The Tribunal scheduled a fourth Case Management Conference and imposed a deadline for the submission of the draft Procedural Order and Issues List.

The Ontario Land Tribunal held a second Case Management Conference regarding appeals of the City of Toronto's Official Plan Amendment 778 (Avenues Policy Framework).

The Tribunal granted participant status to the Swansea Area Ratepayers Association and Group.

On consent, the Tribunal confirmed that the unappealed portions of OPA 778 came into force and effect on March 14, 2025, pursuant to s. 17(27) of the Planning Act.

A third Case Management Conference was scheduled.

The Tribunal held a first Case Management Conference regarding appeals of the City of Toronto's Official Plan Amendment 778, which updates the Avenues Policy Framework.

The Tribunal granted party status to 430 Royal York GP Inc. to scope the appeals concerning its property.

A second Case Management Conference was scheduled to consider a participant status request, receive status updates, and potentially hear scoping motions.

This was the first Case Management Conference regarding multiple appeals of the City of Toronto's Official Plan Amendment 777 (Sheppard East Secondary Plan).

The Tribunal granted Added Party status to the Toronto Lands Corporation, finding it is a public body that meets the statutory requirements under the Planning Act.

The Tribunal also granted Participant status to the Sheppard Avenue East Community Group on consent.

The Tribunal directed the parties to consider mediation and set a schedule for finalizing the Issues List ahead of the next Case Management Conference.

The applicant appealed the Committee of Adjustment's refusal of a minor variance application to permit a 14-storey mixed-use building, an increase from a previously approved 11-storey building.

The subject property is located within a Protected Major Transit Station Area near the Lawrence subway station.

The Tribunal found that the proposed variances to height, gross floor area, and setbacks met the four tests under section 45(1) of the Planning Act.

The Tribunal held that the proposal represented an appropriate optimization of density in a strategic growth area, consistent with provincial and municipal policies.

The appeal was allowed in part and the variances were authorized subject to conditions.

The Ontario Land Tribunal held a Case Management Conference regarding an appeal by Peterborough Action for Tiny Homes against the City of Peterborough's refusal of a zoning by-law amendment for a transitional housing development.

The Tribunal granted party status to Toromont Industries Ltd. and participant status to several others on consent.

A Procedural Order was approved, and a 10-day merit hearing was scheduled to commence in June 2025.

The requesting party sought an order compelling the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC) to disclose documents relating to third-party properties not under appeal.

Three third-party property owners objected to the disclosure without confidentiality protections.

The Assessment Review Board granted the disclosure request pursuant to section 53(5) of the Assessment Act, ordering that the documents be produced subject to MPAC's standard confidentiality agreement and that certain documents filed with the Board remain confidential and not form part of the public record.

At a Case Management Conference for appeals concerning a proposed 42-storey mixed-use building, the Ontario Land Tribunal granted party status to the Toronto Catholic District School Board and The Governing Council of the Salvation Army in Canada on consent.

The Tribunal also adjourned the site plan appeal pending the determination of the zoning by-law amendment appeal and scheduled a four-day merit hearing.

The appellant appealed the City of Vaughan's adoption of an Official Plan Amendment and Zoning By-law Amendments that would permit a multi-phased high-rise mixed-use development.

Following a successful Tribunal-assisted mediation, the parties reached a settlement.

The Tribunal accepted uncontested expert planning evidence that the revised applications are consistent with provincial policies and represent good land use planning.

The Tribunal approved the amendments in principle, withholding its final order until the City amends its noise by-law to provide a site-specific exemption for the appellant's nearby distribution facility.

The applicants sought leave to appeal decisions of the Assessment Review Board that applied issue estoppel to dismiss their property tax assessment appeals.

The applicants attempted to re-open the 2016 valuation of their land based on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on their profitability.

The Divisional Court dismissed the motions for leave to appeal, holding that subsequent market changes to business results do not constitute a change in the 'state and condition' of the land and are not a valid basis to re-open an assessment.

The Ontario Land Tribunal held a second Case Management Conference regarding an expropriation compensation claim.

The parties reported progress in settlement negotiations and indicated a likelihood of undertaking mediation.

The Tribunal scheduled a third Case Management Conference and directed the parties to advise if they wish to utilize the Tribunal's mediation facilities.

The Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC) brought a motion to dismiss the appellants' property assessment appeals for the 2021 to 2023 taxation years based on issue estoppel.

The appellants argued that the value of the subject property, a shopping mall, should be reduced due to the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on its 'state and condition'.

The Assessment Review Board rejected the 'state and condition' paradigm, adopting previous jurisprudence that the Assessment Act provides for a single valuation day (January 1, 2016) for the taxation years in question.

The Board found that the issue of the property's current value as of January 1, 2016, had already been finally decided between the same parties in a previous settlement for the 2017 to 2019 taxation years.

The Board exercised its discretion to apply issue estoppel and dismissed the appeals.