Meeting Date: July 31, 2018
Time: 9:30 a.m.
Email: tlab@toronto.ca
Location: 40 Orchard View Blvd., Toronto, Ontario, M4B 1R9, Suite 253
Room: TLAB Hearing Room One & Two
Chair: Ian Lord
Contact: Hsing Yi Chao
Phone: 416-392-4697
None declared
Correspondence received from City Clerks will be dealt with in the next meeting. There is an Information Report from the Planning and Growth Committee regarding decisions on already built/illegal construction. Committee of Adjustment will be reviewing COA and TLAB decisions. Normal approach is to ignore the status of the building, and to consider it through the four tests as if it was not already built.
Member Yao raised a related matter, which is to ask how members may search prior decisions to see what others have decided. Secretary of the TLAB Hsing Yi Chao has compiled a combined document of all decisions that she updates and can share with members and public on request. A conversation ensued as to whether and how to inform the public that this document is available, with the members agreeing that such a document should be made available. Secretary Chao will investigate and report on what is possible.
Council has approved the added position of a Vice Chair for TLAB, with compensation set at $15,000 per annum. By mid-August, he hopes to have a document circulated for consideration at September meeting. September will also be revisions to Rules and procedural by-law. A subsequent October meeting will be for public deputations. Goal to have the Rules, by-law, and Vice-Chair role enacted by early next year.
Member Yao wished to discuss the impact of Vice Chair position. Russ Brownell representing Court Services, Planning and Liaison, clarified that Council has approved the role, now it is up to staff to change wording of by-laws and procedures to support the change. Member McPherson asked whether the increase in membership from seven to 10 happens at the same time. It is up to public appointments office to implement the additional membership change. Mr. Brownell will return in September with an update on the change.
Member Yao disagree with increasing the panel to 10 members, as it would not lead to faster decisions and would lead to fewer hearings per member. Chair Lord clarified that both the recommendation to add a Vice Chair and to increase the membership to 10 members were recommendations from the Chair’s Annual Report, which was circulated to all members for comment before it was issued. The justification for new members was the decrease in workload and to maintain the pay and lifestyle of members as a part-time role, and not the “full time job” as it is now. Member Makuch agreed he could see Council’s perspective that they don’t wish for part-time appointees to feel overworked.
Member McPherson pointed out that the panel was not up to its full capacity until recently due to member resignations and therefore the case load was divided among fewer members. She suggested that perhaps there could be a back-up person who would fill in when members were absent. Member Lombardi posited that the City should be thrilled to have their membership, as he was told informally by a member of public appointments that the quality of the candidates applying was not very good. If they cannot receive an increase in remuneration, then they should at least get little things. He gave examples of having parking covered, or of having coffee made when they come in rather than needing to purchase.
Hsing Yi Chao, Secretary of the Toronto Local Appeal Body, presented an administrative update on the status of TLAB hearings. To Date we have 160 hearings scheduled or to be scheduled, representing 246 files since January 1, 2018. Since May 3, number is 377 and 569 respectively. These numbers are different because many hearings have multiple files, such as for a consent plus minor variance files.
The average number of hearings per month is in the mid-twenties. On average, it takes the Committee of Adjustment 14 days to complete files and send them to TLAB. It takes an average of five days to issue a Notice of Hearing, and the average time between the issuance of the Notice of Hearing to the hearing date is 112 days. From the hearing to the decision is an average of 16 days, with an average total time to dispense of the matter is 169. Staff try to assign hearings equally between members, however with vacations and other factors even distribution is not possible.
The Notice of Hearing – Form 2 has been updated to include revised wording regarding the filing of late documents. The revisions were discussed by the members, but a decision on the wording will be deferred until revisions of the Rules of Practice and Procedure.
Court Services administrative staff to provide an update to the Toronto Local Appeal Body on:
July 31, 2018 – Administrative Update
The Toronto Local Appeal Body consulted with external legal counsel and received advice on the revisions of the Toronto Local Appeal Body’s Rules of Practice and Procedures.
The Toronto Local Appeal Body recessed at 11:11 a.m. to meet in closed session as this item relates to the receipt of advice that is subject to solicitor-client privilege, including communications necessary for that purpose.
| Session Date | Session Type | Start Time | End Time | Public or Closed Session |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 31, 2018 | Morning | 9:33 a.m. | 10:56 a.m. | Public |
| July 31, 2018 | Recess | 10:56 a.m. | 11:11 a.m. | |
| July 31, 2018 | Morning | 11:11 a.m. | 11:12 a.m. | Public |
| July 31, 2018 | Morning | 11:12 a.m. | 12:30 p.m. | Closed |
| July 31, 2018 | Recess | 12:30 p.m. | 1:15 p.m. | |
| July 31, 2018 | Afternoon | 1:15 p.m. | 4:13 p.m. | Closed |
| July 31, 2018 | Afternoon | 4:13 p.m. | 4:15 p.m. | Public |
Members were present for some or all of the time period indicated.
| Date and Time |
Quorum | Panel Members |
|---|---|---|
| July 31, 2018
9:33 to 10:56 a.m. (Public Session) |
Present | Present: Ian Lord (Chair), Gillian Burton, Stanley Makuch, Laurie McPherson,Ted Yao, Dino Lombardi
Absent: Sabnavis Gopikrishna |
| July 31, 2018
11:11 to 11:12 a.m. (Public Session) |
Present | Present: Ian Lord (Chair), Gillian Burton, Stanley Makuch, Laurie McPherson,Ted Yao, Dino Lombardi
Absent: Sabnavis Gopikrishna |
| July 31, 2018
11:12 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. (Closed Session) |
Present | Present: Ian Lord (Chair), Gillian Burton, Stanley Makuch, Laurie McPherson,Ted Yao, Dino Lombardi
Absent: Sabnavis Gopikrishna |
| July 31, 2018
1:15 to 4:13 p.m. (Closed Session) |
Present | Present: Ian Lord (Chair), Gillian Burton, Stanley Makuch, Laurie McPherson,Ted Yao, Dino Lombardi
Absent: Sabnavis Gopikrishna |
| July 31, 2018
4:13 to 4:15 p.m. (Public Session) |
Present | Present: Ian Lord (Chair), Gillian Burton, Stanley Makuch, Laurie McPherson,Ted Yao, Dino Lombardi
Absent: Sabnavis Gopikrishna |