The Town has published a Notice of Complete Application for the subdivision proposed by the Marotta Group for the back half of the Rand Estate. There will no longer be a LPAT hearing in July on whether the application is complete. The Town has now accepted the application as complete with the filing of a report the Town had requested.
We now know that the Marotta Group is seeking amendments to the Town’s Official Plan and zoning by-law to permit the construction of 191 residences (125 single family and 66 semi-detached) on the Rand Estate. This is a significant increase from the concept plan originally shown to the community at an overflow meeting attended by over 800 angry residents in early 2018.
These applications will now go through the Planning Act process, culminating, presumably, in a decision by your elected Council. That decision may in turn be appealed to the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal (LPAT).
The first step will be an electronic Open House on Tuesday, June 15, at 5 p.m. That will be followed by an electronic Public Meeting on Wednesday, July 14, at 5 p.m. Please mark both in your calendars!
To gain access to the Open House and Public Meeting you must register IN ADVANCE with the Town. The details are below:
- For the Open House: email Mark Iamarino at mark.iamarino@notl.com or call him at 905 468 6423.
- For the Public Meeting: email Peter Todd at peter.todd@notl.com or call him at 905 468 3061 X 228.
We recommend you register now so that your place is secured and you do not forget.
Written comments on the proposal are to be submitted to Peter Todd (see above) referencing the Town’s file numbers:
- OPA-02-2020
- ZBA-11-2020
- 26T-18-20-01.
You do not need to submit written comments yet. Comments may be made following the Open House and Public Meeting.
The application materials are posted on the Town’s website at notl.com/content/public-notices-under-planning-act. We will be endeavouring to publish them also on the SORE website.
While we knew this was coming, it is nonetheless distressing to see Benny Marotta thumbing his nose at the community by proceeding with this application at all, let alone significantly increasing the number of residences shown in his companies’ original concept plan. It goes without saying that we consider this proposal ill-conceived and wildly inappropriate for this iconic estate, an essential part of the Town’s cultural heritage. We will be engaging the full suite of experts retained by SORE to review and comment on the application in detail.
As always, we thank you for your continued support and encouragement. We will be in further communication on this matter in due course.