The Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT) has denied the request of developer Milski Inc. to have the City of Thorold and Councillor Tim O’Hare pay for their costs incurred during the tribunal hearings concerning the development at 16 Ormond St. S.
As ThoroldToday reported, the developers behind Milski Inc., Shane Webber and Italo Marandola, are building a 40-unit apartment complex at the former site of Riganelli's Bakery.
Local residents, led by O’Hare, felt that the project did not fit their neighbourhood, and after the city’s Committee of Adjustment decided to delay a decision on the project, Webber and Marandola took their case to the OLT.
After a three-day hearing, the tribunal decided in favour of the development, prompting Marandola and Webber to file a motion for costs against the city and O’Hare.
In a written statement, Marandola tells ThoroldToday that “While we knew that the OLT rarely awards costs in these matters, we chose to pursue this motion anyways to hold this City Council accountable for their recklessness.”
In the motion, Marandola and Webber's lawyer, Robert Di Lallo, lays out several arguments for why they should be reimbursed.
Their first argument is that the city is responsible for the Committee of Adjustment’s initial decision to delay the zoning application, which the committee did to further review and study the project’s parking requirements.
But tribunal adjudicator Anthony Cornacchia does not agree with the developers.
“There is no evidence before the Tribunal that the Committee’s decision was unreasonable, frivolous, vexatious or made in bad faith,” he writes, in his ruling. “The Committee is an independent decision maker and the City cannot be held responsible for the Committee’s decision.”
The developers also argue that the city and O’Hare "put forward a frivolous and vexatious case.”
“Both the City’s lawyers, and Councillor Tim O’Hare – acting to protect his own backyard – repeatedly put forward meritless arguments in their own self-interest,” writes Marandola to ThoroldToday.
While Cornacchia agrees that the developers made a stronger case in favour of the development, “The fact that the City lost the appeal is not a basis for awarding costs and does not mean that the City’s case was frivolous.”
As for Marandola and Webber’s claims that the proceedings were delayed because of late material filings, Cornacchia “has little sympathy for this argument," and he says that Di Lallo's conduct "did not assist in expediting the hearing."
According to Cornacchia, Di Lallo "routinely went over the allotted time for his cross-examinations and needed to be reminded on several occasions that he had made his point regarding the testimony of the witnesses."
As for the developers' final argument that O’Hare should be financially on the hook because he “delayed the hearing by presenting his case,” Cornacchia actually commends O’Hare for participating in the process.
"He made significant efforts to understand the Tribunal proceedings, was well prepared, cooperated and presented his case professionally and did not extend the hearing unduly," writes Cornacchia.
In conclusion, the OLT finds that “that the application for costs is denied and no costs are awarded.”
Despite the outcome, Marandola hopes to have made his point.
“The public deserves to know about the incompetence of this City Council,” he writes to ThoroldToday. “They continuously make decisions for their own personal agendas, even when it means wasting taxpayer money and jeopardizing the future infrastructure of our city.”
O’Hare declined to comment for this story.
