A reminder to our supporters that the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal is holding an important case management conference this Thursday, May 9 at 10 am in the Town Community Centre Auditorium on Benny Marotta’s request for approval of his convention centre/hotel proposal at the Rand Estate.
At this hearing, LPAT will be deciding on SORE’s application for party status. LPAT will also be deciding if and when to set Mr. Marotta’s appeal hearing date.
We are very pleased to report that our lawyers have reached agreement with Benny Marotta’s lawyers that they will consent to SORE’s application for party status. This does not mean that LPAT will automatically agree, which is one of the reasons we are asking for your attendance this Thursday. We want to show the Tribunal that this is a matter of great concern to the community and that SORE needs to have a seat at the table.
We also expect that Mr. Marotta’s lawyers will seek to have the Tribunal delay setting a hearing date, given the introduction last week of Bill 108 and that a decision has not yet been rendered in an important court case that will establish procedural rules for LPAT hearings. SORE’s lawyers will be urging the Tribunal to proceed expeditiously and we hope that the Town instructs its lawyers to do the same. We need you there to help the Tribunal understand that the community wants this ill-advised proposal dealt now with rather than having it continue to hang over the Town for months or years.
We thank you for your continued support. We could not be doing this without you.