Today, November 1, 2018 there was an Ontario Municipal Board pre-hearing regarding the application for a ten storey building at 3033, 3047, 3055 and 3053 Binbrook Road (Behind Shoppers Drug Mart). For the history on this file please continue to the end of this post.
The OMB pre-hearing acts as an opportunity to establish how many people wish to become involved at the hearing and also to schedule the hearing. The hearing for this case has been scheduled for August 12, 2019 and is expected to last five days. The location of the hearing will likely be 50 Main Street East in Hamilton but a request by the Councillor was made to move it to either the Stoney Creek or Glanbrook Municipal Service Centre to allow for easy access for the residents, to date no decision has been made.
All hearings are open to the public so anyone can attend and listen, however as a resident there are two ways to become involved at an OMB hearing, you can register as either a ‘party’ or a ‘participant’. At this point it is too late to register as a ‘party’, but if you wish to still register as a ‘participant’ and give a statement at the hearing you are still able to do so. As a ‘participant’ you do not have the opportunity to give rebuttal but you are able to give a statement as to why you are opposed or in favour of this application. If you have emailed the OMB about this before you will still need to register again for this hearing.
You can register as a participant at the beginning of the August 12th hearing, however if you are interested in being a participant you are encouraged to do so in the next 48 hours as to give all parties involved a clear understanding of how much time will be needed to hear everyone’s testimonies.
For all those who are interested please email the people below in the next 48 hours. If you choose at any time after the 48 hours not to participate you can always send a follow up email pulling your application.
1. Brett Harrington – Binbrook resident who has party status at the hearing. Email: bharrington@iagto.ca
2. Tina Kapelos – lawyer representing the City’s interests Email: tkapelos@ritchieketcheson.com
3. Steven A. Zakem – lawyer representing the applicant’s interest Email: szakem@airdberlis.com
4. Graham Frank – Tribunal staff representative Email: Graham.Frank@ontario.ca
Please include in the subject line of your email the OMB Case Number: #PL170981
Binbrook resident Brett Harrington attended the meeting this morning has registered as a party which means he can call on expert witnesses and cross-examine all expert witnesses for either side. Brett is having a meeting at the Glanbrook Municipal Centre (4280 Binbrook Road) on November 15th at 7pm in the Council Chambers to discuss next steps.
History:
In early 2018 the application for a proposed ten storey building at 3033, 3047, 3055 and 3053 Binbrook Road (behind Shoppers Drug Mart) was brought to the Ontario Municipal Board (now known at the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal or LPAT).
This application was brought to the OMB because City Staff, along with the Councillor would have recommended denial to the application if it had been brought to Hamilton City Council. To avoid a denial decision, the developer decided instead to take this application directly to the OMB under the category of ‘no decision’.
Following this, an OMB pre-hearing was held on April 19th, 2018. At the April 19th pre-hearing regarding the proposal for a ten storey building in Binbrook, it was determined that another pre-hearing would take place on November 1, 2018 at 10am. The pre-hearing was rescheduled to give the applicant the opportunity to have settlement discussions with City staff and allow for those wishing to be seek party or participant status during the proceedings find time to organize their statements and decide which status they would most like to seek.
Since this decision in April, settlement discussions have happened between the city’s hired legal staff and the applicant’s staff and an agreement was not reached, as the city is still not supportive. As a result the second pre – hearing proceeded on November 1, 2018.
At the November 1st prehearing a hearing date was set for August 12, 2019, the location will likely be 50 Main Street East but a request by the councillor was made to move it to either Stoney Creek or Glanbrook Municipal Centres for easy access for the residents, to date no decision has been made. Binbrook resident Brett Harrington was in attendance at this pre-hearing and asked for and received party status for the August 12 hearing.
For more information on Party & Participant Status please click here:
Comments