SORE reminds its supporters and all those concerned with the fate of the Rand Estate of the upcoming Special Council Meeting on Monday, April 24, at 5 p.m. at the Community Centre.
The purpose of the special meeting is to consider requests from the Marotta group for permits under the Heritage Act to demolish a number of structures and designed landscape to facilitate a proposed high density subdivision on Randwood.
The Planning Act applications for the proposed subdivision are already the subject of an Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT) hearing next spring. SORE believes it would be inappropriate for Council to provide Heritage Act permits to demolish anything on the Rand Estate ahead of the OLT hearing. If Council denies the permit applications, as mostly recommended by staff in their 850-page report, those permits will then be appealed up to the OLT and dealt with together with the Planning Act applications. The OLT will have the benefit of full expert evidence and will be in the best position, by far, to make a decision on everything in the same hearing, including whether the subdivision should even receive approval as proposed, and what if any designated heritage features should be demolished for whatever receives OLT approval.
A reminder that the SORE concept plan for residential development at the Rand Estate, developed by the leading urban design firm Brook McIlroy, does not require removal of any of the heritage features that the Marotta group seeks Counci permission to demolish.
Any person wishing to provide input to Council on this decision must register to do so by noon tomorrow (Friday). Registration can be made using the delegation form link: notl.com/form/delegation-request.
SORE will be making a delegation to Council on Monday evening. We look forward to seeing you there.
Urban Strategies virtual meeting on April 27
SORE also is providing initial notice of a virtual public meeting next Thursday, April 27, at 6 p.m. The purpose of that meeting will be for Urban Strategies, a consultant hired by the Town, to present its initial findings and thoughts on appropriate land use for the area including the lands that are the subject of the Marotta Rand subdivision proposal.
We will provide further information on this meeting next Tuesday. It is unfortunate from SORE’s perspective that this meeting was scheduled to occur after the Monday special council meeting.