At the end of last week, the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT) released its eagerly awaited decision on the proposed Marotta Rand Estate subdivision. Our supporters will recall that the Marotta company took the matter out of the hands of Council and appealed directly to the OLT. The decision can be found below.
The OLT decision is a complete win for SORE and for the Town.
The Tribunal did exactly what both the Town and SORE requested it to do- refuse to approve the application in its current form and require Benny Marotta to go back to the drawing board to come up with something appropriate for this important heritage property if he still wants to proceed with residential development on the site. If he does not advise the Tribunal he is willing to abide by their decision within two months, his application will be denied in its entirety by the OLT.
Mr. Marotta sought approval for a 196 unit subdivision on the back half of the Rand Estate using an access street he proposed on the narrow 200 John St E panhandle abutting the main Randwood house. The proposed subdivision would have obliterated the majority of the remaining heritage attributes on the property involved as a consequence.
The Tribunal concluded that the Marotta application in its current form and the effects it would have on the many important heritage attributes of the Estate “do not represent good planning in the public interest”. This was obvious to both the former Town heritage planner, Ms. Horne, and to SORE. It was also clear to Council, which directed the Town lawyers last December to oppose the application.
Among the key aspects of the OLT decision are the following:
- A street using the 200 John panhandle will not be approved due to heritage, traffic safety, mature tree and bat habitat impacts. The Tribunal held that the Marotta companies have to find an alternative access solution. Accepting the evidence of the SORE experts, the Tribunal held that that alternative will “in all likelihood involve a shared access to John St through 144/176 John- the portion of the Rand Estate fronting John Street.
- The Rand pool garden complex and the Bath Pavilion, which even the Marotta experts agreed were designed by the renowned Dunington-Grubb landscape design team, are to be maintained in place and rehabilitated in accordance with the recommendations of Ms. Horne.
- The Estate’s Axial Walkway and Mound Garden are to be rehabilitated and maintained in their original location to join with a rehabilitated Whistle Stop along the Heritage Trail in accordance with the original Dunington-Grubb landscape design.
- The Carriage House is to be retained in situ and accommodated by a suitable lot design.
- The remaining mature trees on the site are part of the Estate’s cultural heritage landscape and are to be preserved.
- A wetland on 200 John cannot be relocated to the corner of John and Charlotte as proposed by the Marotta companies and must be maintained in place.
- The Tribunal also expressed serious reservations about the Marotta plan to use the gates at 588 Charlotte as an emergency access and noted that it was foreseeable that the emergency access would have to be co-located with the main access using the front half of the Rand Estate.
With respect to the provision of sewer and water and related services to the site, the Tribunal held that further study is required to demonstrate the feasibility of servicing the subdivision. SORE believes this will include consideration of the Town’s appetite to backstop the proposed privately owned sewage pumping station on the site.
Although there is no policy requiring comprehensive planning for the entire Rand Estate, the Tribunal found that “a rare opportunity” exists here to plan the entire Rand Estate properly and with due regard for its important cultural heritage attributes, rather than piecemealing its development as Benny Marotta has been attempting to do. The Tribunal found that the separate companies established by Mr. Marotta to hold the front and the back half of the Rand Estate are “a convenient fiction”.
The Tribunal also held that it is appropriate for the Marotta companies to cost share a study on necessary improvements to the intersection of John St E and Queen’s Parade.
In summary, this decision is a clear and convincing win for both the Town and for SORE. The Tribunal has directed that the cultural heritage attributes on the property be preserved and rehabilitated. No more mature trees can be clear cut. The developable area of the back half of the Rand Estate has been significantly reduced by virtue of the OLT decision.
Both the Town and SORE presented to the Tribunal concept plans of what residential development could look like on the back half of the Rand Estate having appropriate regard for the heritage attributes of the site as well as the natural environmental constraints. The Tribunal commented favourably on the SORE concept. Should Mr. Marotta want to get approval for a redesigned Rand subdivision, the OLT decision makes clear that it is going to have to look an awful lot like the SORE concept.
It’s regrettable that Mr. Marotta found it necessary to drag both the Town and SORE through a lengthy hearing only to arrive at a conclusion that has long been evident to any reasonable observer. Given the Tribunal’s conclusion that the remaining mature trees on the Estate are part of its cultural heritage value and protected, it’s also deeply regrettable that the Marotta companies got away with clear cutting a significant portion of the Rand Estate immediately after the 2018 municipal election.
This decision is also a useful reminder to our Council, staff and all those who love NOTL that respecting our Town’s built and cultural heritage, our Official Plan and the Provincial Policy Statement under the Planning Act should always be our collective priority. The Town does not need to, and should never, roll over in the face of litigious, deep-pocketed developers whose modus operandi is outspending municipalities.