SORE is thrilled to report that the court application by the Marotta companies to overturn your elected Council’s decision to proceed with designation of the Rand Estate under the Ontario Heritage Act has been completely rejected.
In a decision released today by the Ontario Superior Court, Madame Justice Walters found against the Marotta group on every ground and dismissed their application with costs payable to both the Town and to SORE.
This is a decisive victory for both the Town and SORE. For the last year, the now clearly spurious attempt by the Marotta group lawyer to hold the Town and SORE hostage to this legal challenge has impaired the ability of the Town to proceed with the prosecution of the Marotta companies for alleged violations of the Heritage Act for last November’s outrageous clear-cutting at the Rand Estate. That prosecution can now proceed and SORE will be watching that closely.
The Conservation Review Board can now also complete its hearing on the review requested by the Marotta group of the Town’s notices of intent to designate the Rand Estate under the Heritage Act. We look forward to that hearing and to the CRB’s recommendations to Town Council.
This decision is a watershed moment for NOTL generally and in particular for the many hundreds of residents appalled by the Marotta Randwood proposals and the decimation of landscape features last November by the Marotta group. It is hopefully the beginning of the end of this unfortunate saga.
[Below is a PDF of the court decision.]
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