Joan Pinto and her neighbours feel angry, frustrated and betrayed.
More than a year ago, they turned out in droves to a town council meeting to speak out against a proposed townhouse development in their northwest Oakville neighbourhood.
They told councillors that the proposal for a 59-unit townhouse complex at the corner of Westoak Trails Boulevard and Postmaster Drive crammed too many units into the space and required too many exceptions to the town's zoning bylaws.
Councillors and the mayor agreed, speaking out against "overbuild" in the application by Branthaven West Oak Ltd.
Residents were told that the next step was for town planning staff to evaluate the proposal and recommend whether the development should be approved or denied.
But that never happened.
Residents waited and wondered what was happening until a few weeks ago, when a letter was delivered to their mailboxes.
That letter informed them that Branthaven had appealed its proposal to the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT) – the provincial decision-making body previously known as the Land Planning Appeal Tribunal (LPAT), whose ruling will now decide the fate of the application.
The developer was entitled to appeal because the town failed to rule on its application within the 90-day time frame required under planning legislation.
Now, residents have learned, the town is negotiating a possible settlement with the developer.
Branthaven proposal 'flouts the rules,' say residents
According to Pinto, residents left the September 2020 meeting believing that councillors were looking out for their interests.
They've now found themselves invited to a Dec. 13 OLT case conference where the two sides may be talking settlement, despite the significant number of zoning variances required to accommodate the townhouse development.
The Branthaven appeal now calls for 54 townhomes on the 1.17-hectare vacant lot originally intended for a church.
While the property is designated for medium-density residential including townhouses, the application falls short on numerous town standards for lot size and yard setbacks.
In a recent written plea, residents called for council to hold the developer to the same zoning standards that nearby properties adhere to, asking them to "ensure Branthaven builds responsibly and ethically in our neighbourhood and is not allowed to cut corners, crowd, and crush a mature, predominantly low-density community by such proposals that flout the rules and ignore Oakville's original zoning strategy."
'Completely sidelining an unsuspecting group of residents'
During a meeting with councillors, the mayor and town staff last week, residents were told of ongoing discussions with Branthaven. The planning department confirmed to Oakville News that the parties are in settlement negotiations but have not yet reached an agreement.
Pinto says such a deal would result in "completely sidelining an unsuspecting group of residents" who expected to see the planning process unfold in a way that would defend the town's zoning standards.
"Councillors have shown a complete lack of moral responsibility or accountability to the populace they are elected to serve," she added in an email to Oakville News.
But Ward 4 councillor Allan Elgar said the blame lies with the provincial planning process, which allows developers to turn to the Ontario Land Tribunal rather than forcing them to continue to negotiate with the town.
"It is unfortunate that the deadlines for the processing of applications and the willingness of developers to file appeals instead of continuing their discussions with council makes it harder for residents to participate directly in the ongoing process," he said by email. "It forces everyone into litigation which is less transparent and intimidating for residents."
Pinto said she and her neighbours feel abandoned by councillors, who publicly expressed their opposition but "as soon as the spotlights are turned off, out of the public eye, their actions don't represent public interests."
"After everyone on council, including the mayor, strongly opposed Branthaven's outrageous proposal last year, it is unbelievable that almost the same project (they went from 59 to 54 residences) might be sanctioned quietly and through the back door in one fell stroke by the Ontario Land Tribunal," Pinto wrote in an email to Oakville News.
"Residents are left to our own devices and without legal expertise are pretty much stranded."
Residents in Bronte expressed similar concerns last spring when they discovered the town had negotiated increased density on a townhouse development on the former Cudmore nursery property rather than take on the risk and cost of battling the developer in a full hearing before the OLT.
The last minute discovery forced the BVRA and its president Shelley Thornborrow to seek party status to bring their concerns with the development before the OLT, with limited success.
"It's very disheartening because if we just follow the Liveable Oakville plan and the zoning bylaws, there's adequate intensification that could be accommodated," said Thornborrow. "We really need residents to have a stakeholder role in this process."
With only a few weeks to go, Pinto and her neighbours are looking at ways to get their concerns before the OLT, now that they've lost faith that the town is looking out for them.
"No wonder lawns are almost non-existent, driveways are shrinking, cars barely even fit in garages in many new developments in Oakville," says Pinto. "Those in charge have found a way to quietly sanction breaking of all the rules that they sanctimoniously uphold for the cameras."