The Humbertown Fight Continues - a note from Councillor Gloria Lindsay Luby

Although we were successful in defeating the Humbertown application at Etobicoke Community Council and at Toronto City Council, the developer has appealed this decision to the Ontario Municipal Board.  The City will be sending a lawyer to fight the application as will the Humber Valley Village Residents Association.  The Ontario Municipal Board is a Provincial body, and we will continue to argue the application does not fit with the existing neighbourhood as it is too big, too tall, and too dense.

If you signed the register at the Etobicoke York Community Council meeting, you may have received notice from the developer's lawyers, Aird and Berlis, regarding this matter for the pre-hearing date at the OMB for September 5th.  The Province requires the appellants to send out these notices so the cost will not be borne by the City, Province, or the OMB.

The details of the notice are as follows: OMB Pre-Hearing Conference on Thursday, September 5, 2013 at 10:00 a.m.  The OMB office is located at 655 Bay St., 16th Floor.

On September 5th, the parties to the hearing will identify themselves and agree on a hearing duration and a hearing date as well as the terms of a Procedural Order. People who intend to speak as interested residents at the actual hearing are welcome to attend, but they do not have to. 

There are two types of status that individuals and organizations can seek at an OMB hearing. The first type is that of a Party. A Party is by far the more onerous status as Party status requires the individual or group to be present for the entire duration of the hearing which could be a month long.

Parties are able to call witnesses, cross examine another party's witnesses and present legal arguments at the close of the hearing.  Parties are also potentially subject to an award of costs against them if they say they have an issue or a witness on a given topic but then do not call any evidence on that issue, thereby causing the proponent to expend costs for no reason. 

The other form of status at the hearing is that of Participant. A Participant is a much less onerous form of participation at the hearing. A Participant will be eligible to attend the hearing whenever they want to observe what is going on but they are not permitted to ask the witnesses any questions or to make closing argument. They are permitted to give their own testimony and to raise their own concerns with the proposal as a witness themselves. There will likely be a special block of time set aside for Participants to present their evidence to the Board possibly even in the evening to accommodate their schedules. Participants will be asked to swear an oath or affirm on their conscience before testifying and they will be subject to cross-examination after they testify. However, they are not required to be at the hearing the entire time and they are not expected or permitted to call witnesses other than themselves and they are not subject to any potential cost award being sought ag

ainst them. 

If someone is seeking Party status then they or their legal representative has to attend at the OMB on Sept 5th. If someone does not intend to be a Party but would like to address the Board at the hearing as a Participant then they do not have to attend the pre-hearing on the 5th. 

To be a participant in this process, I will let you know in advance of the start of the actual hearing and when it is scheduled so you can know when to attend and present your own evidence to the board.  I will encourage as many of you as possible to take this step.

I want to thank the entire community for your hard work and support to stand up against this development since they first proposed it in 2011.  Although the Ontario Municipal Board is a Provincial body, I will monitor the hearings daily and will try to update you when matters progress.  I will also continue to work with and provide support to the Humber Valley Village Residents Association and I urge you to do the same.

Yours truly,

Gloria Lindsay Luby,

Toronto City Councillor,

Etobicoke Centre – Ward 4.