Dear Friends,
I am happy to write with good news about our community's fight to stop big box development on Eastern Ave. Yesterday Justice Karakatsanis of the Divisional Court denied SmartCentres Inc. leave to appeal the decision of the Ontario Municipal Board.
The ruling upholds the decision of the OMB to refuse an a...pplication to amend the Official Plan and the zoning by-law and denied smart centres application to build a 700,000 sq foot big box development on the toronto film studio lands.After extensive arguments by both parties, Justice Karakatsanis concluded that the decision was policy based and was within the expertise of the Board to interpret and apply the Official Plan policies: "At the conclusion of a lengthy hearing, the OMB was persuaded that the proposal did not constitute good planning and would very likely destabilize the area including the formerly designated industrial lands within the context of Policy 9.18 of the 1994 Official Plan. I am not persuaded that there is some reason to doubt the legal correctness of the Board's original decision on a question of law."
