On March 24, 2020, the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal (LPAT) advised that it was cancelling all hearing events scheduled before July 1, 2020 and would not be scheduling any new hearing events, including in-person, written or teleconference hearings, while the Government of Ontario’s Order in Emergency (O.Reg. 73/20) is in effect.
On April 2, 2020, the LPAT announced that it would consider, on a case by case basis, the exercise of its discretion to schedule a hearing event by teleconference or written submission to allow a settlement of the proceeding to be presented to the Tribunal, and is prepared to conduct settlement hearings beginning the week of April 6, 2020.
For parties seeking to present a settlement to the Tribunal, the LPAT has prepared a Settlement Request Form that is to be completed and filed with the Tribunal, together with supporting documents. However, the LPAT has indicated that it is unlikely that a settlement hearing will be scheduled before a first hearing event, to ensure proper notice to all potential interested stakeholders.
The LPAT has also advised that it will consider lifting the suspension of the Order to enable the Tribunal to conduct other hearing events in writing or by teleconference “in the near future”.
Davies Howe LLP will continue to monitor changes to LPAT’s hearing process and procedures during this time and will provide further updates as circumstances change.
