Niagara-on-the-Lake Local received the following letter addressed to the lord mayor from reader Bob Bader.
Dear Lord Mayor,
Just to set the record straight, the following quote from the Osler firm is a good description of the changes to rights of appeal under the recently passed Bill 185 and explains perhaps why "no appeals" were filed with respect to the Parliament Oak Council decision.
However, I think if you check with the clerk, the Council can revisit and change the decision by a 2/3 majority vote which I would strongly encourage you do so.
"Third-party appeals are no longer allowed. Appeals can only be filed by
- “specified persons,” which Bill 185 expanded the definition of to include the following (provided they made submissions to council before the decision is made):
- NAV Canada, and airport authorities with airport zoning regulations, but only for lands covered by those regulations
- holders of Aggregate Resources Act permits, but only for lands within 300 metres of the licensed area
- holders of certain Environmental Protection Act approvals that are within an area of employment, but only for lands within 300 metres and only on the basis of inconsistency with the land use compatibility policies in the Provincial Policy Statement
- the owners of the land in (ii) and (iii), above
- the registered owners of land that an official plan or re-zoning applies to, provided submissions were made
- the minister and (where applicable) the approval authority
Third-party appeals that had been filed prior to Bill 185, and for which no hearing on the merits had been scheduled before April 10, 2024, are deemed to have been dismissed as of June 6, 2024."
Best regards,
Bob Bader
Niagara-on-the-Lake
