Key Dates:
July 10: A virtual public open house to be held between 7:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m.
July 18: Cutoff for written comments to be included in the staff report. [Comments to Council will continue to be accepted]
September 8: Cutoff to register to speak at Council the next day.
September 9: City Council Planning Committee Statutory Public Meeting
Ontario Land Tribunal Member Jean-Pierre Blais has ruled that a development application for a 75-unit subdivision on Greenbelt lands is complete, and that City Council must make a decision within 120 days.
Mizrahi Development’s has applied to build 75 homes at 159 and 163 Sulphur Springs Road in Ancaster within both the provincial Greenbelt and the Niagara Escarpment control area, and outside Hamilton’s urban boundary.
The property is approximately 10 hectares, the developer proposes to build 61 townhouses and 14 single detached.
City Council is expected to deny the application. (The City’s Acting Chief Planner writes that because the lands are within the Greenbelt, there will be no right of appeal to the OLT. More below)
Application Initially Deemed Incomplete as City Sought Water Studies
City planning staff deemed developer’s application incomplete, stating they required four more reports and studies before they would process the applications.
The developer appealed to the OLT, seeking the OLT deem the application complete and order the City to process it.
At the OLT, arguments focused upon one of those studies. The City initially wanted a sub-watershed planning report. The City waived this in favour of a sub-catchment study.
There is a significant pond within the lands and due to it being within the Niagara Escarpment, the City wishes to know what impacts development will have on the watershed.
“The Tribunal agrees with the position of the Applicants and finds that the City’s request is unreasonable,” OLT Member Blais wrote about the sub-catchment study.
Blais’ May 26 decision ruled the application complete.
City Council must make a decision within 120 days of the decision.
Quickly following the decision, the City of Hamilton issued notice for the public open house, Council planning committee meeting, and Council ratification vote.
A public open house will be July 10, held online between 7:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m.
The statutory public meeting will be held during the September 9 City Council Planning Committee. Council will vote on ratifying the Planning Committee decision on September 17.
Chief Planner: No Appeal to OLT For Greenbelt Denials
Hamilton’s Acting Director of Planning and Chief Planner Anita Fabac states the developer will not be able to appeal Council’s decision.
“It is important to note Sections 22(7.1) and 22(7.2) of the Planning Act restrict the ability of applicants to appeal Council’s refusal or non-decision of Official Plan Amendment applications proposing urban expansion into the Greenbelt Plan Area to the Ontario Land Tribunal,” Fabac wrote in a January 29, 2025 memo.
“This means that unlike privately initiated urban boundary expansion applications into the whitebelt (meaning lands outside of the urban boundary and outside of the Greenbelt Plan Area), the applicant could not appeal a Council refusal or non-decision on the Official Plan Amendment to the Ontario Land Tribunal.”
City Staff: Plan Conflicts with Greenbelt Act
“The proposed applications constitute an urban boundary expansion into the Greenbelt Plan Area as designated under the Greenbelt Act, 2005 and the proposed uses conflict with the land use policies of the Niagara Escarpment Plan which designates the lands Escarpment Protection and Escarpment Natural, neither of which allow urban development. The Provincial Planning Statement, 2024, states municipal planning decisions must conform or not conflict with Provincial Plans which includes the Niagara Escarpment Plan,” according to the same joint memo signed by the City’s Acting Director and Senior Advisor – Strategic Growth Dave Heyworth and Fabac.
More Information on the City of Hamilton Website
The City of Hamilton has published all proposal application documents on the City website here.
Production Details
v. 1.0.1
Published: June 15, 2025
Last updated: June 15, 2025
Author: Joey Coleman
Update Record
v. 1.0.0 original version
v. 1.0.1 added link to materials on the City website.