Costs ordered against Vaughan OPA appellant

NRU
June 29, 2016

In a June 3 decision, board vice-chair Susan de Avellar Schiller awarded costs of $68,835 to Block 40/47 Developers Group and $16,498 to Country Wide Homes (Pine Valley Estates) against Gillian Evans and David Toyne.

Evans and Toyne had appealed the City of Vaughan’s adoption of an official plan amendment for a block plan integrating multiple proposed subdivisions, several by Block 40/47 and Country Wide, south of Teston Road and straddling Pine Valley Drive.

The board had previously dismissed Evans and Toyne’s appeal in its decision issued December 14, 2015. Evans and Toyne reside on the Upper Cold Creek Farm, adjacent to the southern portion of the lands owned by Country Wide Homes and within the OPA area. They appealed the OPA in its entirety, declining to scope their appeal. However, during the hearing, Evans and Toyne focused only on the issue of buffers between their farm and the adjacent proposed subdivision.

In particular, they said that significant impacts on their farm would require mitigation measures including extensive buffers, the relocation of stormwater management ponds and the redesign of the roadway pattern. In dismissing their appeal, the board found these assertions lacked credibility.

In their submission regarding Block 40/47 and Country Wide’s request for costs, Evans and Toyne claimed that the scope of the costs amounted to a strategic lawsuit against public participation and has led them to withdraw from future proceedings.

Country Wide sought costs of up to $721,422, and Block 40/47 sought up to $834,636 in costs. In their submissions they stated that Evans and Toyne had change established provincial policy and requirements, as well as to advance their own private interest.

The board concluded that Evans and Toyne failed to prepare for the hearing, to substantiate their claims and to act in a timely manner, presented false and misleading evidence and changed their position without notice late in the hearing.

Furthermore, the board found Evans and Toyne’s appeal was used solely as an instrument of leverage to advance their private interest to keep proposed residential uses as far away from their farm as possible. The board decided to award only the costs related to additional consultant fees that were incurred by Block 40/47 and Country Wide in response to the buff er concerns raised by Evans and Toyne. Th ose costs related to expert witnesses concerning hydrology, stormwater management pond and road network design. It awarded $68,835 to Block 40/47 Developers Group and $16,498 to Country Wide Homes.

Solicitors involved in this decision were Michael Melling and Katarzyna Sliwa (Davies Howe) representing Block 40/47 Developers Group, Jane Pepino and Patrick Harrington (Aird & Berlis) representing Country Wide Estates (Pine Valley Estates) Inc., David Bronskill (Goodmans) representing the City of Vaughan and Rodney Northey (Gowling WLG) representing Gillian Evans and David Toyne. [See OMB Case No. PL141138.]