Hamilton City Council held an emergency meeting on Friday to respond to rapid development in ongoing settlement talks with CN rail regarding plans to redevelop the 2.3-hectare Jamesville site into a mixed-income residential community.
CN rail was forced to appeal to the Ontario Land Tribunal in 2022, after last term’s Council approved new zoning for the Jamesville site without requiring noise and dust mitigation measures commonly required for new residential housing near industrial uses.
During the past two-and-a-half years, the City and CN have participated in OLT-assisted confidential settlement talks to reach an agreement and/or understanding permitting the site’s redevelopment.
On Wednesday [January 22], City Council met in closed session for approximately one hour to discuss the status of settlement talks. Council voted unanimously to seek an adjournment of the scheduled ten-day contested OLT hearing, scheduled to begin on February 18, stating the City and CN are close to reaching a deal.
Less than five hours later, a no-notice emergency Council meeting was called in response to developments at the negotiating table for Thursday.
On Thursday morning, the City of Hamilton informed the Ontario Land Tribunal that all sides had agreed to cancel the scheduled contested hearing. The OLT approved the cancellation.
Shortly after 12:00 noon, Mayor Andrea Horwath indicated that a “resolution” to the matter was close.
Thursday afternoon, City Council went into closed session for approximately one hour. They emerged and voted unanimously to “approve the confidential direction given to staff.”
The Mayor, on behalf of Council, stated the City is not prepared to share what the confidential direction is.
If the direction is to approve a settlement, the parties will request the OLT to set a settlement hearing date. The OLT will issue public notice of any hearing dates.
More background on the Jamesville project and OLT hearings here.
Production Details
v. 1.0.0
Published: January 24, 2025
Last updated: January 24, 2025
Author: Joey Coleman
Update Record
v. 1.0.0 original version