I’m writing this as a blog post because while I observed Tuesday’s first case management video conference, I was doing so ‘in one ear’ while seated in Divisional Court covering a judicial review application hearing. A full news story will be published when the OLT issues the CMC Order.
The first case management conference (CMC) for the White Church Road Urban Boundary Expansion application appeal followed the procedural structure established by the earlier Elfrida Landowners and Twenty Road West Upper West Side Landowners appeals.
The White Church appeal is one of two that resulted from City Council’s unanimous June 25, 2025, denials of privately-initiated urban boundary expansion (UBE) applications. The other denial on this date was the Elfrida application. The Upper West Side appeal, a non-decision appeal, was filed in December 2023.
There were 19 individuals logged into the video conference.
Party status was confirmed for the landowner appellants. There are two separate White Church area landowners groups. One group of four landowners is represented by Patrick Harrington (Aird & Berlis LLP) and Jasmine Fraser (Aird & Berlis LLP); the second group of three landowners is represented by Michael Nemanic and Malvika Bhanot of Michael Nemanic Law.
The City of Hamilton was represented by in-house counsel Patrick MacDonald.
Joe Hoffman of Goodmans LLP attended for the Elfrida Landowners. Legal counsel representing the Elfrida Landowners acknowledged as observers with special notification provisions.
Observers included Kim Peters, Manager of Environmental Planning and Policy for the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority, and Megan DeVries, Manager of Consultations for the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation, and MCFN Consultation Assistant Payton Mitchell.
All individuals requesting to submit written comments were granted Participant status.
There were no other media outlets covering the hearing.
The City and White Church area landowners were instructed to complete an issues list and begin discussing scheduling. The Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT) will issue a procedural order in the coming weeks formalizing direction given during this CMC.
The full White Church urban boundary application is available on the City of Hamilton website.
The White Church Urban appeal is one of three UBE application denials being contested at the OLT.
The Upper West Side UBE appeal is scheduled for an eight-week hearing beginning on April 13, 2026. The OLT continues to deal with procedural disputes between these landowners and the City of Hamilton.
The Elfrida Landowners OLT appeal is following a similar timeline and procedure as the White Church appeals. The first Elfrida case management conference was held on September 29, with the Tribunal issuing identifical direction to the parties. The OLT indicated the eventual contested Elfrida hearing will be scheduled for dates in 2027.
No date has yet been set for the second CMC.
OLT Information
White Church Road Case Number: OLT-25-000613
Status: Pre-Merit stage
Production Details
v. 1.0.0
Published: October 12, 2025
Last updated: October 12, 2025
Author: Joey Coleman
Update Record
v. 1.0.0 original version