The Conservation Review Board (CRB) has advised the Town, Benny Marotta’s companies and SORE that it is ready to schedule a hearing.
Mr. Marotta’s companies appealed the Town’s decision in August of 2018 to designate the Rand Estate under the Heritage Act to the CRB. Our supporters will recall that SORE was awarded party status by the CRB almost a year ago over the opposition of Mr. Marotta’s then-lawyer. Mr. Marotta then decided to instead challenge the Town’s heritage designation by-laws in court.
The CRB has deferred scheduling a hearing for most of this year to allow that court challenge to proceed, but has now apparently decided it is tired of waiting. A prehearing telephone conference has been scheduled for next Monday, December 2, at 10 am, for the Board to hear submissions by lawyers for the Town, Mr. Marotta and SORE on scheduling a hearing some time in the next three months.
SORE welcomes this initiative by the CRB and assumes that the Town will take a similar position. It will benefit all parties, SORE believes, to have the benefit of the input of the CRB on the heritage assets of the Rand Estate. We assume Mr. Marotta’s lawyers will oppose the CRB scheduling a hearing, as they have been reluctant to date to move forward with that tribunal even though they initiated that process.
SORE supporters and interested residents are encouraged to join the CRB prehearing conference by telephone to support SORE. Many dozen of you did so last December. The dial in details are provided below:
Call 416-212-8013 or Toll Free 1-866-633-1033. When prompted, enter conference ID: 1 8 4 6 9 1 4, followed by #.