Tony E. Flemming

The Tribunal held a second Case Management Conference regarding appeals of a zoning by-law amendment passed by the Township.

The parties could not agree on an Issues List.

The Tribunal found that many of the issues proposed by the appellants were outside its jurisdiction, such as alleged irregularities in the passage of the by-law and contractual liability.

The Tribunal adopted the five issues proposed by the Township and scheduled a two-day merit hearing.

The Applicant and the Town sought costs against the Appellant following the dismissal of his appeal regarding a site-specific zoning by-law.

The Tribunal found that the Appellant's conduct was unreasonable, frivolous, and vexatious, noting his lack of direct interest, failure to present evidence, late scoping of issues without notice, and history of unsubstantiated appeals.

The Tribunal awarded costs against the Appellant fixed at $10,000, apportioned between the Applicant and the Town, to deter meritless appeals while not discouraging legitimate public participation.

The applicant, representing local ratepayers, brought an application to interpret a municipal zoning by-law, arguing that a deep water port facility's trans-shipment operations contravened the by-law.

The respondents argued the operations were protected as a legal non-conforming use.

The court interpreted the historical zoning by-laws and applied the framework for pre-existing uses, finding that the general historic use of the property for trans-shipment of bulk commodities had not fundamentally changed.

The court held that the current operations constituted a reasonable expansion of earlier activities and remained protected as a legal non-conforming use.