The appeal concerning the largest single urban expansion proposal in Hamilton’s history—a plan to house 115,000 new residents on 3,000 acres of land in Upper Stoney Creek—is moving forward at the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT), which will permit dozens of participants to submit written comments.
This was the outcome of Monday’s (September 29) first case management conference regarding the privately initiated urban boundary expansion application. Due to the lack of an agreed-upon issues list, the OLT did not set the length of the planned hearing or the dates for it to begin.
The appeal follows City Council’s unanimous rejection of the application at a special meeting on June 25.
The Elfrida lands are located east of Upper Centennial and south of the south Hamilton hydro corridor, covering an ‘L-shaped’ area.
The Elfrida Land Owners are proposing to build the largest single urban expansion in Hamilton’s history, anticipating 115,000 new residents when the build-out is complete.
The full application package is available on the City website here.
Following Council’s denial, the owners quickly filed an appeal to the Ontario Land Tribunal, joining two other landholder groups from other areas of the city who have also appealed boundary expansion denials to the OLT.
Nearly three dozen individuals logged into Monday’s OLT video conference. Most hearings usually draw a maximum of six people (the OLT member, two lawyers, an expert on each side, and the occasional journalist).
This attendance reflects the importance and high public interest in the issue. Due to the scale of the legal case, the City of Hamilton has hired an outside lawyer, Eric Davis, to argue the City’s defence.
Lawyers Allan Buist, Chris Manning, Joe Hoffman, and Robert Howe represented various Elfrida Land Owners.
The following lawyers confirmed participant status for their clients: Denise Baker for the Twenty Road East Landowners, Ira Kagan and Kristie Stitt for the Upper West Side Landowners, Jasmine Fraser for the Whitechurch Land Owners, Russell Cheesemen for DiCenzo Golf Club Road, Steven Silverberg for Cedar City Developments, and Thomas Lazier. [Editor’s Note: Due to overlapping meetings, this publication needs to await the written decision to determine who Lazier was representing.]
All these developers and landowners are seeking urban boundary expansions elsewhere in the City.
Baker stated her clients “intend to file an urban boundary request” to City Council.
Hamilton lawyer Jack Restivo, who owns lands on Highland Road, was also granted participant status.
OLT Grants Participant Status to All Applicants
The OLT granted participant status to all individuals who filed requests.
Background on Hamilton’s Urban Boundary
For decades, past City Councils intended to eventually add the Elfrida lands to Hamilton’s urban area.
In November 2021, responding to public feedback and sentiment, Council voted 13-3 to freeze Hamilton’s urban boundary.
Following this change in Council position, the City’s planning staff embarked on changing Hamilton’s growth planning to have all population growth occur through intensification.
In November 2022, Premier Doug Ford and then Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Steve Clark overruled Hamilton City Council’s urban boundary freeze, imposing an expansion of development onto agricultural lands outside the existing urban area.
The Conservative Government became engulfed in the Greenbelt scandal during the year that followed.
In October 2023, the Conservatives reversed the imposed boundary expansion amidst devastating reports from Ontario’s Auditor General and Ontario’s Integrity Commissioner (Report 1, Report 2), revealing improper and concerning actions leading to the removal of lands from the Greenbelt.
In 2024, the Conservative Government changed planning rules to permit private interests to make urban boundary applications outside of a comprehensive municipal review.
The Elfrida application was made following this rule change.
OLT Awaits Scoped Issues List
The lawyers representing the City and the Elfrida Land Owners were directed to conduct their own meetings to scope out the issues.
Once they have a draft issues list, they are to contact the Tribunal to schedule a further case management conference.
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Published: October 2, 2025
Last updated: October 2, 2025
Author: Joey Coleman
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