Item - 2022.PH34.18

The Planning and Housing Committee recommends that:

1.  City Council direct the City Solicitor in consultation with the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning create an internal protocol for providing periodic councillor briefings throughout the Ontario Land Tribunals Process.

2.  City Council direct the City Solicitor and Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning to report back on the resources required to establish a Ward Councillor Ontario Land Tribunal liaison to direct the efficient flow of information about Ontario Land Tribunal appeals.

3.  City Council direct the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning in consultation with the City Solicitor to advise City Council when an application may be appropriate for dispute resolution in the event of an appeal and that it would be appropriate to invoke one or more of subsections 17(26.1) and (37.4), 22(8.3), 34(20.3) and 34(11.0.0.3) of the Planning Act.

4.  City Council request the Province to amend the Ontario Land Tribunal Act and/or Rules of Practice of Procedure of the Ontario Land Tribunal to allow new requests for party status at settlement hearings, notwithstanding a failure to participate in pre-hearing events, and to provide that previous grants of participant status by the Tribunal be without prejudice to the right of the participant to upgrade their status to party status in the event of a settlement between the City and the appellant.

5.  City Council request that the Ontario Land Tribunal issue a Practice Direction to require that the hearing of an appeal that has been resolved between the applicant and the City occur no earlier than one month after City Council has voted on it.  The Practice Direction could include an obligation on the applicant to give notice that a settlement hearing will be taking place, and that the municipality's issues have been resolved. 

6.  City Council request that the Province re-enact the Local Planning Appeal Support Centre Act, 2017 or equivalent legislation to create a provincially funded support centre to establish and administer a cost-effective and efficient system for providing support services to eligible persons respecting matters governed by the Planning Act that are under the jurisdiction of the Ontario Land Tribunal.

7.  City Council direct the City Solicitor and Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning and City Clerk to report back on the increase in resources required to implement any of the recommendations in the report (May 19, 2022) from the City Solicitor and as result of changes to the Planning Act made through Bill 109.

Planning and Housing Committee requested that the City Solicitor report on the negotiation process for development applications which have been appealed to the Ontario Land Tribunal ("OLT").  The City Solicitor provided an analysis of the obligation on City Staff and City Council to maintain confidentiality in the negotiation process once litigation has begun in a report to Planning and Housing Committee dated March 11, 2022.  Planning and Housing Committee referred the item to the City Solicitor and the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning, to report back to the May 31, 2022 meeting of the Planning and Housing Committee with further examination and to offer advice on any policy, regulation or legislative changes which would improve the process in terms of Council's desire to consult with the public and Council's authority to manage the development review process.

The Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning and the City Clerk have been consulted in the preparation of this report.