Law Times

Page 12 June 26, 2017 • Law Times www.lawtimesnews.com FOCUS EXPERT AUTHORITY KNOWLEDGE OPINION TRUSTED OBJECTIVE ACCURATE EXPERT WITNESS EVIDENCE Medico/Legal Your case is too important. You deserve the right EXPERT WITNESS. We offer unparallelled expertise for your most catastrophic injury cases. Direct access to hundreds of specialists from all areas of healthcare expertise. A top provider of cost of care reports for your most catastrophically injured clients. More than 2,000 malpractice, personal injury and class action cases. More than 300 lawyer clients assisted. Serving lawyers across Canada. Also, the United States, United Kingdom, Australia and Caribbean. LEARN MORE: CONNECTMLX.COM EXPERTS@CONNECTMLX.COM TOLL FREE: 855-278-9273 Since 2001, we've become a leader in Expert Witness Services in Canada. onnect Medical_LT_June12_17.indd 1 2017-06-06 1:07 PM He agrees that there are legiti- mate concerns about the expense involved in appeals of planning decisions and residents' groups may feel under-resourced. He is concerned, though, about possi- ble restrictions on evidence that can be presented at hearings. "I think it comes down to a balance. People do not want long, expensive hearings. I get that. But you will still want to allow parties to put forward the best evidence they have. The board wants to make decisions based on what is good plan- ning," Bowman says. The support centre that is being created as part of the re- forms is modelled after a similar provincial agency for individu- als who believe they may have a human rights claim. People will be able to seek guidance on the hearing and appeal process and may be able to receive some legal advice. Its effectiveness, though, is hard to predict, sug- gests Hahn. "We don't know right now what the support centre will be like in practice," she says. "On paper, the support centre is a good idea," says Cohen. "But who is going to pay to fund it?" he asks. The existing planning appeal framework is likely to continue in place for several months until the bill goes through the legisla- tive process and becomes law. Some regulations will also need to be enacted during a transition period for appeals that are al- ready in the system, notes Bow- man. As well, even if all of the pro- posed changes are enacted, there will be a lot that remains in place from the current system, he sug- gests. "You can eliminate the OMB and replace it with the Local Plan- ning Appeal Tribunal. But that tribunal will still have a number of the same powers; there will still be hearings," says Bowman. LT the land valuations submitted by a municipality could be millions of dollars more than what the developer's expert believes to be the correct amount, Park says. "It is not an exact science. You will never find a comparable that is exactly on point," he says. Meanwhile, the Ontario Court of Appeal is scheduled to hear a significant park lev y- related case in September in a dispute between a developer and a Toronto-area municipal- ity. Elginbay Corporation is ap- pealing a Divisional Court rul- ing last fall that upheld a Town of Richmond Hill bylaw that sets out the amount of park land that it can require developers to provide. The law is aimed at ensuring there is enough green space at a time when there is a boom in condominium construction in the municipality. A number of neighbouring municipalities joined as inter- veners in support of Richmond Hill at the Divisional Court. In its decision, the three- judge panel found that the On- tario Municipal Board had over- stepped its powers in imposing a cap on the amount of park land that Richmond Hill could re- quire from developers, through its powers in s. 42 of the provin- cial Planning Act. "The other issue is that the OMB expressed some concern that, if the maximum rate under s. 42(3) was applied by the Town, it would operate as a disincen- tive to high-density residential development. That concern is a legitimate one for the OMB to consider given its role in the overall process, especially en- suring that municipal policies do not conf lict with Provincial policies. However, no matter how legitimate that concern may be, it does not operate to al- ter the plain wording of the stat- ute, nor does it serve to provide authority to the OMB to impose conditions where that authority cannot otherwise be found in the plain wording of the statute," the Divisional Court stated in its decision. LT Continued from page 10 Balance advised Law is to ensure park land provided Continued from page 11 Michael Bowman says the Ontario Municipal Board has not tended to tilt in favour of developers. In-class and online programs recognized by Law Societies Executive Education to Navigate the Canadian Legal Landscape Visit Lexpert.ca to find out more A lot of developers are being asked to make payments not really knowing why. Jason Park CALL FOR NOMINATIONS The Lexpert Rising Stars: Leading Lawyers Under 40 Awards honour lawyers working in law firms, in-house departments, government and academia. The Awards presentation is the centrepiece of a gala dinner scheduled for November 16, 2017, at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel in Toronto. Nominations are open from June 12 th to July 14 th . To nominate a colleague and/or access the nomination criteria, please visit us online: lexpert.ca/rising-stars Untitled-1 1 2017-06-22 2:44 PM

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