St. Catharines Mayor Mat Siscoe is using his Strong Mayor powers to move a mayoral bylaw to override a Committee of Adjustment (CoA) denial of a four-tower residential development.
Mayoral bylaws only require one-third Council support to pass.
In February, the CoA denied three of five minor variances needed to permit the four-tower 1,902-unit development. The denied variances were related to parking stall sizes and are truly minor in nature.
Strong Mayor powers permit a veto of bylaws. CoA decisions are not bylaws, so mayors cannot directly veto them.
Siscoe’s mayoral bylaw is novel. I am not aware of any past use of Strong Mayor powers to overturn a CoA decision. [CoAs are independent quasi-judicial bodies. Their decisions are not subject to municipal council review and can only be appealed to the Ontario Land Tribunal]
St. Catharines Council will vote on the bylaw on March 31.