April 2022 Newsletter

A quick update, neighbour, on the progress of our Friends of Olde Berlin Town campaign in pursuit of a compatible, inclusive development of 22 Weber St W that permits existing neighbours to thrive and the heritage district to endure.
 The Neighbourhood Meeting and Heritage Kitchener review of the Heritage Impact Assessment were held in early March.  The parties (Applicant, City, Region and Friends of Olde Berlin Town) then re-convened before the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT) at the April 4th Case Management Conference (CMC).

At the CMC, the OLT noted that a recent Divisional Court decision (City of Toronto v. 445 Adelaide St West Inc) found that the Tribunal did not have jurisdiction to deal with a land use planning matter when a heritage permit application had not been filed. The Applicant stated its intention to file a Heritage Permit Application by the end of April 2022 to ensure the OLT would have jurisdiction to decide the case. The City of Kitchener would then have 90 days to deal with the Heritage Permit Application. The Applicant stated that, should the City refuse the Heritage Permit Application, it would appeal the City’s decision and ask the Tribunal to combine the heritage permit appeal with the current OLT case.

To accommodate the Heritage Permit Application process, the OLT deferred the start of the hearing to March 13, 2023.
 Assuming the Applicant does submit their Heritage Permit Application by April 30th, we expect the Heritage Permit Application could be reviewed at Heritage Kitchener on June 7th and decided by Council on either June 20th or August 22nd.  Even though the OLT will still make the ultimate decision, the OLT is obligated to consider all the comments and discussions held at the municipal level.  The community will thus have another opportunity to make its views heard. We will communicate the confirmed meeting dates as soon as possible.

The next CMC will be held at 10am, September 30, 2022. The OLT may consider a request to consolidate the two appeals, acceptance of additional participant- and party-status requests, and the Draft Procedural Order (the plan and schedule of the process to determine the outcome). You can watch the CMC meeting here.  (Again, the actual hearing is scheduled to begin March 13, 2023.)

How can you get involved?

  1. Sign our petition and encourage others to sign, too.  As Official Plan amendment applications are subject to regional review, everyone throughout the Region of Waterloo is welcome to sign.
  2. Request participant status at the Tribunal.  Details here.  
  3. Contribute to our campaign.  We continue to need your support to pay our lawyer and expert witnesses to uphold our communally-approved land-use legislation and Heritage District Plan.  Every contribution counts, regardless of size. 
  4. Get ready to make your voice heard at Heritage Kitchener and at Council.
  5. Volunteer with us.

Further information is available at our campaign website, www.obtfriends.ca.  Please be in touch with any questions to obtfriends@gmail.com.

Please share this message widely.  We are succeeding together.

Friends of Olde Berlin Town supports compatible, inclusive development that permits existing neighbours to thrive and the heritage district to endure.