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Joey’s Notepad: How HSR Workers Living in Haldimand Could Contribute to a Strike Action – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

November 3, 2023
Hamilton’s public transit workers will vote this weekend on a “final offer” from the City of Hamilton.
One of the contentious issues is the City’s proposal to remove daytime shuttle buses between the HSR garage and the various starting points for HSR bus operators.
Removing the shuttle means HSR operators who drive the 11-Parkdale will spend up to 90 minutes riding HSR buses from Parkdale Avenue and Queenston Road back to the garage.
Many operators have told me the removal of the shuttles is the defining issue for them.
The profile of Hamilton’s transit workers has changed since the last HSR strike in 1998/99.
At the time, the HSR’s primary garage was at 330 Wentworth Street North, having moved in 1990 from its previous decade’s long home on King Street East at Wentworth Street.
Who could’ve predicted the late 1990s decision to move HSR operations from the lower city Wentworth Street North garage to near the airport would create the conditions for a potential strike?
From its founding in 1874, many HSR workers generally lived close enough to walk to the garage. HSR maintenance, managers, and office workers lived along the streetcar and trolley lines.
23 years ago, in 2000, shortly after the 12-week strike ended, the last HSR bus rolled out of the Wentworth garage. HSR employees could no longer walk or take transit to work.
HSR workers began migrating to Haldimand County. Many now live in Caledonia.
The drive to the HSR garage is quicker, and the cost of housing is lower, than living in Hamilton.
(The concentration of HSR workers in Caledonia posed a challenge for HSR operators during the peak of COVID. School COVID outbreaks in Caledonia strained HSR operations as many bus drivers were required to stay home to care for children or themselves.)
Back to the shuttle bus.
Bus operators who begin in the early morning will park their vehicles at the HSR garage, drive their bus into service, and, for the majority, end their shift in Downtown Hamilton. From there, they need to get back to the garage.
The reverse happens for the late evening shift. They park at the garage and take the shuttle to Downtown to begin their shift. At the end of the night, they drive the bus back to the garage, get in their car and end the night.
Acting City Manager Carlyle Khan wrote in a memo to HSR employees that “since all HSR employees already receive free transit, and the significant increases in service frequency since the shuttle was implemented years ago,” the City does not see the need to continue daytime shuttle services.
Back 25 years ago, the then-Region of Hamilton-Wentworth saved significant sums of money during the strike. Regional Council showed little interest in settling the strike, which lasted 12 weeks during November, December, January, and February.
As I wrote in a February newsletter edition:
In 1998, the Region held the line on HSR wages and benefits, offering three percent on wages, and no concessions on other union demands.
A 12-week strike followed. In the end HSR workers gained little, 20 cents per hour.
Former Hamilton Mayor (1976 – 1980) Jack Macdonald summarized the cost to ATU union members in TheSpec on January 27, 1999:
“Drivers have lost 12 weeks pay at about $800 for a 40-hour week. In return for a $9,600 loss over 12 weeks, they gained about a further 20 cents an hour beyond the three-per-cent offer. In about 28 years, they will recover their loss.”
City Council has stated it will hold the line on the final offer – including the shuttle bus issue.


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Joey’s Notepad: Meeting in the Township Garage – a Ontario closed meeting violation – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

November 23, 2023
“My Office received a complaint about a gathering of council members and one municipal staff member for the Township of Morley (the “Township”) in a Township garage on December 14, 2022,” opens the report of Ombudsman of Ontario Paul Dubé.
Morley is a small rural Ontario municipality, “the Township’s typical staff complement consists of one part-time and two full-time employees.” The Council “is composed of a Reeve and four councillors.”
The Reeve and two of the council members met with the Public Works Superintendent at the Township office.
“They discussed whether the Public Works Superintendent had additional snowplow operators on call to assist with the specific ongoing snowfall, and asked about an ongoing process to recruit back-up snowplow operators in general.”
“Following this discussion, they also contacted and arranged for an additional snowplow operator to plow snow on the same day. These actions materially advanced the Township’s business and decision-making.”
Accordingly, because there was a quorum of council and decisions were made that advanced the business of the municipality, the Township was required to provide notice of the meeting and to conduct the business in public.

source: news-thepublicrecord

created: November 23, 2023

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/


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Joey’s Notepad: My Recollections of the 1998/99 HSR Strike – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

November 7, 2023
It’s been 25 years since the last HSR strike – an unprecedented period of labour peace in the history of Hamilton’s public transit.
HSR strikes had been a relatively routine affair during the 20th century.
The November 1906 strike turned into a riot, with the Mayor reading the Riot Act and the regular army brought in from Toronto to quash the strike.
When HSR workers hit the picket lines in November 1998, everyone expected the strike to last at most two weeks.
Nobody expected, and nobody planned for, what it became – an unprecedented 12-week-long winter strike.
Two years prior, in 1996, HSR workers walked the picket line for six days in the week leading up to the Grey Cup.
The Region quickly gave them a better offer before the big game.
As I wrote a few months ago in February:
With only one week until the big game, Hamilton’s HSR workers went on strike.
Facing the embarrassment of hosting a Grey Cup without bus service, the Region of Hamilton-Wentworth Council quickly caved.
The six-day strike ended just in time for the Grey Cup parade.
The Region gave HSR workers a two-year sweetheart deal.
The union got nearly everything they wanted and a $1000 signing bonus to get buses back on the road. [$1717 inflation-adjusted to today]
The signing bonus was greater than a week’s salary. The top-paid bus operators made around $800 per week at the time.
The 1996 was generous, and I do not recall anyone being surprised.
[I missed two days of school that week. I lived in a foster home near Upper Wellington and Concession Avenue. I attended Glendale Secondary School in East Hamilton. No buses = no way for me to get to school.]
Approaching the 1998 strike deadline, all the adults in my life expected a short strike.
After all, there was no way the Regional Council would allow the strike to continue into December.
There was Christmas shopping to be done, festivities to attend, and nobody thought it possible that seniors would rely upon public transit would be shut-ins at Christmas.
A winter strike was unfathomable.
When the 1998 strike began, I lived in a foster home near Cannon Street East and Sanford Avenue North.
I missed a few days of school each of the first two weeks. None of the adults in my life seemed concerned.
Teachers assigned work that could be done at home for students who relied upon the HSR.
Then, it became evident that Regional Council was not budging.
The final offer was indeed final.
One of my English teachers drove me to and from school each day. Children’s Aid gave me a taxi allowance equal to the cost of a bus pass, I could use that to support getting home from my part-time job on the worse nights of winter.
Otherwise, I walked for hours to get to work and get home.
By mid-January, I was showing up at City Hall to vocally (and loudly, yes, yelling) express my anger at politicians about the strike.
I remember how angry people were at Hamilton Mayor Bob Morrow.
I did not understand that it was actually Regional Chair Terry Cooke who I should express my ire towards.
Eventually, HSR workers were forced to accept the final offer. HSR service resumed, and fares were free for a few weeks.
There were slightly fewer passengers. People had bought cars or kept to their carpools.
I’ve known many HSR operators over the years. Those who lived through the 1998 strike never wanted to walk a picket line again.
During the past twenty-five years, HSR contract negotiations have gone to the wire.
Each time, the union and city were not far apart. The strike deadline motivated the sides to hold an all-nighter and finalize a deal.
Both sides were reluctant to repeat 1998.
In 2015, a deal was announced at 5:01 a.m., with picket lines being set up. [The deal was close enough when the strike deadline passed at 12:01 a.m. that union members continued cleaning and fuelling buses overnight.]
Today feels different.
There are only around 20 or so current HSR employees who walked the bitterly cold picket lines.
Nobody on the management side of the table was around back in 1998.
[Mayor Andrea Horwath was a rookie regional councillor representing the old City of Hamilton Ward 2.]
The two sides feel far apart this time.
Working from home means picket lines will not inconvenience city management.
There is bicycling infrastructure, bike share, and electric scooters. Able-bodied riders along the B-Line corridor will use these alternatives.
The school boards plan to provide some form of school bus transportation for secondary and middle school students who ride the HSR.
Having taken the advice of recently retired City Manager Janette Smith to increase management pay by 10 to 15 percent for each manager and non-unionized employee, Council is being told the City’s fiscal cupboard is bare.
The City’s senior management team now tells Council that taxes must increase 14 percent in 2023 to pay the city’s expenses.
There’s another reason why the City’s final offer feels final – it is the same deal the City’s largest CUPE 5167 ratified.
It does not seem rational for City Hall to give HSR workers a better deal.
Doing so invites labour unrest from CUPE in four years – why would they accept a final offer in 2027 knowing they left money on the table in 2023?
I am preparing for a long strike.
Obviously, I hope a deal is reached. I use public transit.
Not only does a strike personally affect me, I know people will be unable to make ends meet without public transit.
Council set things in motion when they approved the massive managerial pay increase.
HSR union president Eric Tuck summed up the frustration of those who make the HSR work:
“We refuse to be left behind while bureaucrats benefit with record raises and the ability to work from home 2-3 days a week. Our transit workers were on the frontlines during the pandemic, and we don’t have the luxury of working from home.”
Tuck walked the bitterly cold picket line 25 years ago.
He has no illusions about what is at stake.

created: November 7, 2023


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Joey’s Notepad: StatsCan report on Newspapers – profits, sales, circulation – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

November 7, 2023
Statistics Canada’s biannual newspaper industry report was issued last week.
The operating revenue of Canadian newspaper publishers declined to just under $2.0 billion in 2022, down 7.9% from 2020, when the survey was last conducted. While this drop was smaller than that seen in 2020, the industry continued to see falling circulation sales and significant competition for advertising spending.
In 2020, newspaper publishers’ advertising sales, their biggest source of revenue, fell significantly (-37.3%) from 2018, largely because of weakened demand during the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite there having been some recovery in advertising demand, advertising sales grew marginally (+1.3%) from 2020 to 2022, reaching $951.0 million. From 2020 to 2022, print advertising sales declined 9.8% to $613.6 million. Conversely, digital advertising sales grew significantly, increasing 30.4% to $337.4 million.
Newspapers are more dependent upon advertising than they were two years ago.
Advertising accounted for 53.6 percent of sales in 2022, up from 52.4 percent in 2020.
Circulation sales were steady at 33.3 percent, they were 33.6 percent in 2020.
The decrease in flyers – a key reason that Torstar ended the weekly free door-to-door print editions – is evident in the sales data.
“Distribution of flyers and inserts” dropped from 9.7 percent of total sales in 2020  to 7.4 percent in 2022.
The StatsCan figures only account for sales.  It does not include newspapers’ most crucial source of revenue, government subsidies.


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Joey’s Notepad: The City Manager Selection is Complete, Appointment Pending – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

November 23, 2023
The new Hamilton City Manager is selected. Numerous contacts and sources at City Hall stated the city manager selection committee provided Mayor Andrea Horwath with comments on the finalists, and a candidate has been selected.
Candidate confidentiality has been maintained. Some of the finalists who were not selected are known.
Speculation has begun to narrow around one finalist, the Chief Administrative Officer of another municipality.
This candidate worked in the City of Hamilton early in their career. [I’m preparing a draft story to publish if I can confirm the name or when the appointment is announced.]
I briefly spoke with Mayor Andrea Horwath on Tuesday at the end of the Council budget meeting. I asked how the City will appoint the new City Manager. Will it be done as a Mayoral Directive using “Strong Mayor” powers or a Council bylaw resolution?
Mayor Horwath stated the method of appointment is being determined.
There is some debate within Ontario municipal circles if the ‘Strong Mayor’ powers require the CAO appointments to be enacted by Mayoral Directive.
The next Council ratification meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, December 13.
There is a very strong desire among Council members to have the new City Manager in place at the beginning of 2024.
A Mayoral Directive, with unofficial consent from the majority of council, is the likely route to achieve this timeline.
There is always the possibility the selected candidate and City do not reach an agreement on contractual terms.


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Source Doc: ATU-HSR Memorandum of Settlement – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

November 24, 2023
The following is a summary of the memorandum of settlement reached between the City of Hamilton and Amalgamated Transit Union 107 on November 15, 2023.
The text was distributed to union members in PDF format by the ATU 107 executive.
TPR obtained the same document from over a dozen sources. The note at the bottom “For Clarity” appears to be an addition by the union executive.
Between
(hereinafter referred to as the “Employer”) and
(hereinafter referred to as the “Union”)
Effective January 1, 2023, a general wage increase of 3.75% for all classifications. Effective January 1, 2024, a general wage increase of 3.00% for all classifications. Effective January 1, 2025, a general wage increase of 3.00% for all classifications. Effective January 1, 2026, a general wage increase of 3.00% for all classifications.
Signing bonus – $750.00 per employee
For clarity, the signing bonus was negotiated for loss wages during the strike, members receiving full STD, LTD and WSIB benefits during the strike will not receive the signing bonus. If you were accommodated while on any of the benefits above, your signing bonus will be prorated.
Health Care Spending Account
Your benefit program includes a health care spending account over and above the maximums provided by the benefit plan, which provides you and your dependents with financial assistance for eligible extended health and dental expenses.
(For greater clarity, not to be included with the collective agreement, unused portions of the $1000 HCSA may be rolled over for 1 year up to a maximum balance of $2000.) Therefore, the HCSA $1000 for 2023 will be rolled over to 2024 to $2000.
It is understood that the Employer cannot force an Employee to be immunized without their consent. It is further understood that where such immunization is required in order for the Employee to attend work and the Employee refuses immunization or its substitute, they may be placed on unpaid leave with no loss of seniority.
a) Officers of Local 107, members of union committees, when not paid by the eEmployer, shall be allowed reasonable leave of absence from their duties without pay for the purpose of conducting necessary business of the Local Union, provided the request for such leave of absence is made to the city at least twenty-four (24) seventy-two (72) hours in advance, where possible, to permit rearrangement of work assignments.
Each year such stipend shall be subject to any annual percentage increase negotiated by the Parties as applied to employee wages.
19.17 Wind down
Hours of Work Limits
20.02              Irrespective of the date of termination of this contract and any renewals of same, deductions shall be made bi-weekly monthly, the sum to be remitted within eight (8) fifteen (15) days of the end of the respective pay periods month to the Secretary of the Union. The said sums shall be accepted by the Union as the regular dues and assessments of those Employees who are members of the Union. The Union will save the Employer harmless from any and all claims.
ARTICLE 36 – EQUIPMENT MAINTENANCE UNIFORM
36.021The City (HSR) Employer agrees to make available during the continuance of this agreement, eight (8) eleven (11) clean suits of coveralls every two (2) weeks to all hourly/salary rated full-time mMaintenance, foremen and stockroom Employees. sSuch coveralls to shall remain the property of the City (HSR).
In lieu of the above, all applicable Employees may be supplied with eight (8) eleven (11) clean sets of work shirts and pants every two (2) weeks provided they are available under the rental and cleaning contract of the supplier firm.
37.07 MAINTENANCE/ADMINISTRATIVE
A tool allowance will be paid on the twenty-fourth (24th) pay each year to each eligible employee provided they have worked at least nine (9) months in their group in the previous twelve (12) months. This allowance will be pro-rated over nine (9) months for any employee who has worked less than nine (9) months in the previous twelve (12) months.
(a)           The twelve (12) month period for tool allowance will be a calendar year.
An Employee shall be granted five (5) regularly scheduled consecutive work days bereavement leave, without loss of pay or benefits, on the death of:
An Employee shall be granted three (3) regularly scheduled consecutive work days bereavement leave, without loss of  pay or benefits, on the death of a
Such bereavement leave shall be taken at the time of that bereavement or at the time the Employee received notification of such bereavement. Proof of bereavement may be required by the Director of Labour Relations Director, Employee Health and Labour Relations or designate. The definition of immediate family shall be deemed to apply equally to Employees engaged in a common-law relationship that are deemed to be spouses pursuant to the Family Law Reform Act, as amended.
Where the burial occurs outside the Province, reasonable traveling time up to five (5) working days without pay may be granted at the discretion of the Employee’s Department Head.
In order to receive the paid leave provided for in this Clause, absence must result in loss of time and pay from a regular shift and the Employee must have worked the day before or the day after, provided that an Employee granted leave without pay for compassionate purposes within fourteen (14) calendar days prior to death shall not lose benefits under this Clause.
For Clarity

created: November 24, 2023


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Affordable Units Confirmed in new 14-Storey Building at 186 Hunter Street East – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

December 7, 2023
The Ontario Land Tribunal approved the zoning for a 14-storey, 227-unit building for 186 Hunter Street East during a settlement hearing on Wednesday.
Twenty-five (25) percent of the units in the building will be affordable.
The City of Hamilton and the developer – LiUNA’s Wellington Hamilton Non-Profit Housing Inc. – held mediation talks during the summer and agreed to increase the height of the building in exchange for tower stepbacks above the eighth and twelfth floors.
The building will include 45 underground vehicle parking spaces and 123 long-term bicycle parking spaces.
The developer will give the City of Hamilton $80,000 towards the City’s “active transportation measures.”
The affordable units, “no less than 25 percent,” will have rent set at “30 percent of household income for the 60th percentile of incomes in the area.”
Hamilton’s 60th income percentile in 2021 was $92,600 per year. A rent of $2,315 per month meets this criteria.
The units must remain affordable rentals for at least 20 years.
The original proposal, submitted on September 23, 2021, was for a 12-storey building with 102 units. At one point during negotiations, after the developer filed their OLT non-decision appeal in
The OLT written decision was issued on January 30.

created: December 7, 2023


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Hamilton Farmers Market Board Ends Friday Evening Hours – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

December 5, 2023
The Hamilton Farmers Market is ending its Friday evening hours despite support from hot food vendors and an increasing number of customers each week.
In a 3-1 vote, the Market Board decided to close at 5:00 p.m. on Fridays, beginning after Christmas.
The Market resumed evening hours in September, after voting in July to end COVID hours that had been in effect since March 2020.
Door counting devices at the Market show increasing traffic since the reopening. Hot food vendors are reporting increased sales. Vendors were not required to remain past 5:00 p.m.
The Hamilton Farmer’s Market hours are set by its Board of Directors, a Board that a 2020 consultants report accurately described as dysfunctional and recommended disbanding the Board.
The Board presently has no citizen members, following the resignations of citizen members during various incidents during the past three years.
Market hours have been an ongoing debate for years. Citizens are asking for both more hours and the City to enforce contracts to ensure vendors are open.
There have been years of debate about the Market hours.
The Market’s hot food vendors are requesting the Market be open in the early evening.
A faction of dry and product vendors have sought fewer open hours.
Surveys show the top complaint from customers is that vendors are not open during posted hours.
One of the problems cited by the 2020 report was vendor representatives serving their own personal interests to the detriment of the Market’s viability.
The Market Board’s vote to end evening hours included an amendment to restart the Market hours debate in March.

created: December 5, 2023


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Hamilton Library to Add Study Rooms to Sherwood Branch, Makerspace to Concession Branch – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

December 15, 2023
The Hamilton Public Library Board approved $700,000 to renovate the Sherwood library branch and $200,000 for the Concession branch at its December meeting.
The Sherwood renovation will enhance program rooms, improve sound buffering on the main floor, and add five dedicated study rooms on the second floor.
The renovations are expected to take 14 weeks to complete and will commence after March Break.
Following the Sherwood renovations, the expected eight-week renovation of the Concession branch will begin to add a Markerspace and “changes to layout to allow for a more suitable teen area.”

created: December 15, 2023


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Hamilton Library to Open Exhibit Space at Pier 8 Discovery Centre – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

December 15, 2023
The Hamilton Public Library plans to open a small exhibit space at Pier 8 Discovery Centre in 2024.
During their December meeting, the Library’s Board approved $234,000 in capital funds and two years of operating funds of $74,000.
The Discovery Centre is being converted into a sales centre for the 1645 residential unit Pier 8 development.
The library exhibit space will be separate from the sales centre.
Opened by Parks Canada as a public museum, the facility was poorly attended.
Eventually, Parks Canada left, and the building was transferred to the City of Hamilton along with the Pier 8 lands. The Discovery Centre was given to the Hamilton Waterfront Trust. The Trust leased it out to a controversial nightclub that failed.
The Hamilton Public Library is hiring a consultant to conceptualize an indigenous-focused library space on Pier 8.
City Council approved the vision to add a Library to Pier 8 at its November 22, 2023 meeting.
Council is expected to receive final plans for the library branch in the second quarter of 2026.
CORRECTION: the original article stated a 2023, it is clearly a 2024 opening. Apology for the error.


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Joey’s Live Notepad (Short Updates) for December 6, 2023 – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

December 6, 2023
Joey’s Live Notepad is my effort to move off the platform formerly known as Twitter. I’ll post short notes, updates, and links throughout the day.
City Council GIC adjourned at 3:04 p.m.
More to come in the end-of-the-week summary.
City staff recommend the City transact four surplus City properties to non-profit housing providers, including potential use for social housing.
Two proposed sites are under-utilized parking lots in Downtown Stoney Creek: 5 Lake Avenue South and 13 Lake Avenue South.
Ward 5 Councillor Matt Francis says there needs to be public consultation before Council makes decisions that affect communities.
A debate followed, which became testy at times.
Francis won a vote to amend, 8-7, to open a public comment period.
Council directed staff to continue work towards transacting the properties.
The vote goes to Council’s ratification meeting next Wednesday. Ward 6 Clr Tom Jackson was absent, he often votes with Francis.
See the 1:00pm section below for an update on 186 Hunter Street East, affordability definitions released.
The City of Hamilton’s livestream of Council meetings crashed again today.
The City told the Office of the Ontario Ombudsman – when the City claimed it streamed a meeting that it had not – that it never continues meetings without a livestream.
“The City has adopted a robust procedure to address technical issues with a livestream. A designated staff person is responsible for periodically checking the livestream, and their contact information is included on the agenda so the public can contact them in case there is an issue. As soon as staff becomes aware of a problem with the stream, the meeting is to be recessed so the issue can be addressed. If the issue cannot be fixed within fifteen minutes, the meeting is adjourned.” – Ontario Ombudsman report, September 2022.
The City announced it will continue meeting with a live stream, promising to post the video later.
Hamilton City Council declined a delegation request from an individual who wrote they seek Council to pass a motion “to demand a permanent ceasefire, return of all hostages from both sides and a resumption of dialogue between the representatives of Israel and Gaza” and “Recognition of International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People in line with the United Nations.”
Ward 8 Councillor John-Paul Danko moved the denial, stating that international relations is the jurisdiction of the federal government.
Hamilton City Council is permissive towards delegations, welcoming both Hamiltonians and people from outside Hamilton to speak to them on nearly any issue.
The OLT settlement hearing for 186 Hunter Street was slightly delayed this morning.
The City and developer stated they had some minor details to finalize before submitting their agreement for approval.
The hearing resumed at 1:00 p.m.
TPR has requested a copy of the OLT documents from the Tribunal.
Past TPR coverage here: 186 Hunter Street on TPR.
2:30pm Updates
TPR does not yet have the public filings. During oral submissions, the developer’s planner, Matt Johnston of UrbanSolutions, stated that “not less” than 25 percent of the units will be “affordable units” for at least 20 years.
Affordable is defined as 30 percent of household income at the 60th percentile of incomes for the Hamilton area.
The Ontario Land Tribunal’s first order in the non-decision appeal at 499 Mohawk Road East is now public.
The developer is seeking to build “1,995 dwelling units in the following forms: two 25-storey multiple dwellings, one 20-storey multiple dwelling, two five-storey multiple dwellings, one 13-storey multiple dwelling, two eight-storey multiple dwellings and seven three-storey townhouse dwellings. A total of 1,945 dwelling units would be in the proposed multiple dwelling buildings, with 50 units in the proposed townhouses.”
The site was formerly a commercial plaza anchored by a Wal-Mart, previously a Zellers.
Fifteen members of the public were granted participant status, meaning they can make written submissions to the Tribunal.
The City and developer need to meet to discuss issues and the potential for mediation. (Council Planning Committee discussed its position in closed session yesterday.)
A second OLT case management conference was already scheduled for Tuesday, March 19, 2024.
The developers’ information site for the project is here.
The City of Hamilton did not stream the morning session of the Planning Committee on Tuesday.
As of 1:00 p.m. on Wednesday, the City has not posted its video recording.
I’ve begun the process leading to a Freedom of Information Request if needed.
Ontario’s Auditor General released its 2023 annual report this morning.
“Most Ontario government ads last year were partisan: auditor general” – The Canadian Press
“Hospitals plagued by staff shortages and ER closures under Ford government, auditor general finds” – Toronto Star
“Ford government promised dedicated parking for Ontario Place private spa: Auditor General” – Global News
Hamilton’s new Integrity Commissioner introduced himself to City Council this morning.
Boghosian, one of Ontario’s best-regarded municipal lawyers, emphasized that he and his law firm are accessible and responsive.
Council and citizen committee members can seek the IC’s advice on conflict of interest and ethics.
Boghosian’s CV is available in a City of Sudbury report.
Hamilton City Council uses a WebEx group chat to organize their speakers list.
[Other municipalities use their meeting management software, but Hamilton’s motto seems to be ‘Why do what works?’
The use of a group chat causes frustration and confusion.
Today, the laptop connected to the Council Chamber display monitor wasn’t plugged in. The laptop is moved between meeting rooms. The City has not purchased extra power adapters.
[I own four adapters for my laptop. Two remain at home, and one in each of my carrying bags – I am terrible about remembering cords]
The Ontario Court of Appeal says the Landlord and Tenant Board committed “an error of law” when it did not adequately consider evidence that an ‘own use’ eviction was questionable after the owner’s family member only lived in a unit for about 25 days before leaving and the unit going back on the rental market for a higher monthly price.
The case is a judicial review, meaning the ONCA is sending it back to the LTB to conduct a new hearing.
“[71]      Had the Board approached the first issue correctly, it would have considered the relevant circumstances both before and after serving the s. 49 Termination Notice. In addition to the two evidentiary considerations noted above, the Board would have had to consider that: prior to closing, the Vendor Landlords and/or their lawyer knew title to the Property was to be taken in the name of a corporation and a corporation cannot personally occupy residential premises; the Residence remained vacant for five months after closing; it was then occupied for only about 25 days by one of the Original Purchasers’ sons; and, thereafter, the Residence was rented out for a higher price than that which the Tenants had paid.”
The Advocacy Centre for Tenants Ontario, a specialized legal aid clinic, assisted the tenants at the Court of Appeal.
From the ONCA summary, this appears to be a good case for the tenant to win a declaration of bad faith eviction. However, even if they win at the LTB, the fine for bad faith evictions is so small, it’s just a cost of doing business.

created: December 6, 2023


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Joey’s Live Notepad (Short Updates) for December 7, 2023 – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

December 7, 2023
Joey’s Live Notepad is my effort to move off the platform formerly known as Twitter. I’ll post short notes, updates, and links throughout the day.
It’s the first Thursday of December. Three meetings at City Hall today: Audit, Finance, and Administration at 9:30 a.m., Emergency and Community Services at 1:30 p.m., and Committee of Adjustment at 9:00 a.m.
EC&S adjourned at 3:00 p.m.
Councillors on the Emergency and Community Services Committee discussed the challenges of bringing the City’s public recreation facilities up to current Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) design standards.
(Note: I am not using the term “compliance” because facilities comply with standards. Standards are based upon when the facility was built or renovated.)
On September 21, Council asked staff to provide a report on accessibility in lower-city recreation centres.
$18-million (in current dollars) is the estimated cost to bring four arenas and six recreation centres up to current standards.
Staff are working on a “Recreation Master Plan Implementation Strategy” which will be brought to Council in 2024. It will include a new ten-year capital plan.
Councillors asked staff to bring back a report in January regarding what it would cost, and how to finance, upgrades in 2024.
AF&A adjourned at 12:11 p.m.
Ward 8 Councillor John-Paul Danko successfully raised a point-of-order that Council’s Audit, Finance, and Administration Committee cannot change the composition of a standing committee due to the new Municipal Act Strong Mayor Powers.
Instead of approving the staff recommendation to change the composition of the Board of Health, Council is recommending the Mayor change the composition.
The AF&A vote to recommend the changes passed 8-0.
The members of AF&A are: Kroetsch (Chair), Beattie, Clark, Hwang, Spadafora, Tadeson, Alex Wilson, and Maureen Wilson.
Ward 8 Councillor John-Paul Danko continued arguing with Kojo Damptey during this morning’s Audit, Finance, and Administration meeting.
At issue: changing Hamilton’s Board of Health to make it semi-autonomous with six City Council members, six community representatives, and one education representative.
Damptey delegated in support of the change. Danko opposes the change, saying that Council is elected and accountable to the public.
Two weeks ago, Danko challenged Damptey at the Governance Committee in a display which brought widespread criticism against Danko. [I was in Windsor on a professional development study tour and was not present at this meeting.]
Today, Danko challenged Damptey’s use of a McMaster University presentation template and his role as a sessional instructor.
Danko used questions implying that Damptey was presenting his views as those of McMaster University. Damptey responded that he was speaking as a sessional instructor.
Ward 1 Councillor Maureen Wilson chimed in a few minutes later, noting that many academics have presented to Council without being challenged for using institutional branding.
Hamilton Medical Officer of Health Dr. Elizabeth Richardson is recommending Council adopt the semi-autonomous model. Council would retain final approval over budget and the appointment of the Medical Officers of Health.


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Marnie Cluckie is Hamilton’s new City Manager – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

December 4, 2023
Hamilton’s new City Manager is Marnie Cluckie, the current Chief Administrative Officer of the Town of Niagara-on-the-Lake for three years.
Hamilton Mayor Andrea Horwath says Cluckie stood out during the selection process.
“Through the rigorous process of interviews, she just rose above everyone,” Mayor Horwath said. “She’s an energetic person; she has a lot of integrity. She has a very good work ethic.”
Mayor Horwath says the City of Hamilton received many applicants from a range of candidates.
“There were some [from] really large municipalities,  people with and some without CAO experience, some with political experience,” Mayor Horwath said. “Far and wide, she [Cluckie] was absolutely the one.”
Mayor Horwath says Cluckie’s experiences and knowledge will meet the scale of the work in Hamilton.
Niagara-on-the-Lake (pop. 19,088) is a lower-tier municipality with approximately 100 full-time and 30 contract employees with limited responsibilities for local services.
The City of Hamilton has approximately 9,000 employees and is a single-tier municipality responsible for all municipal roles, including emergency response, public health, and transit.
Cluckie worked for the City of Hamilton for a decade between 2003 and 2013. She worked as a manager of the municipal service centres, recreation, and facilities.
Her LinkedIn profile states she holds undergraduate degrees from the University of Waterloo and graduate degrees from the University of Texas at Dallas.
The 2022-26 Council has set three priority areas: Sustainable Economic and Ecological Development, Safe & Thriving Neighbourhoods, and Working of City Hall and Transparency in Municipal Government.
“Cluckie really understands the important relationship between Council and the City Manager, and understands that to drive the will of Council, she needs to motivate the staff. And I think she’s clearly skilled in that regard,” said Mayor Horwath.
Cluckie’s record of municipal work includes implementing online portals for service reports and management. Hamilton City Council hopes to implement online reporting, common in other municipalities for over a decade, by the end of 2024.
Niagara-on-the-Lake held a Special Council meeting Monday morning to receive Cluckie’s resignation.
Hamilton City Council held a Special Council meeting later Monday morning to confirm Cluckie as the new City Manager.
Cluckie will begin in Hamilton on January 15, 2024.
Both municipalities are expected to issue formal statements later on Monday.
The following are the official statements issued by Mayor Andrea Horwath’s office:
“On behalf of Council, I am excited to welcome Marnie Cluckie as our new City Manager. I want someone in this role who knows Hamilton and is passionate about its success. I want someone who understands the positive role government can play in people’s lives and who is effective and experienced in inspiring operational excellence and innovation on behalf of Council and residents. Marnie brings all of that and more to this role, and I’m looking forward to working with her.”
“I am honoured to accept the City Manager role with the City of Hamilton at this important time. There are many talented people who work for the city, and I look forward to supporting them to accelerate, enhance and advance their work on behalf of the Mayor, Council and Hamilton residents.”
The release by Town of Niagara-on-the-Lake Lord Mayor Gary Zalepa can be read here.

created: December 4, 2023


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CHART: Property Tax Increases Among Ontario Municipalities – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

January 23, 2024
The following chart is solely the property tax levy increase. Hamilton is artificially decreasing its levy increase by borrowing and draining reserve funds.
Approved
Notes: Blended total increases were verified with the upper-tier municipalities via email.
Proposed
Notes: All upper-tier increases are approved. Haldimand figure provided by the City of Hamilton.
Multi-year Budgeting
The City of London uses multi-year budgeting, its Council is debating a new four-year budget for 2024 to 2027. Their four-year draft budget was released on December 12.
Brantford is also changing to multi-year budgeting, they are projecting a 4.99% increase, exclusive of policing.

created: January 23, 2024


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City Budget Lists A $1.5-million One-Time Expense as Part of HSR Strike Deal – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

January 13, 2024
The deal that ended the one-week HSR strike in November was the same as the “Final Offer” HSR workers rejected and went on strike against – with one exemption.
HSR employees were given a one-time $1000 addition to their annual healthcare spending account for use in 2024.
A note in Appendix E of the City’s 2024 budget states the City is using reserve funds to “phase-in employer benefit impacts with excess surplus funding in reserve ($1.5M for ATU CBA in 2024).”
The City’s 2024 budget will increase spending by over 14 percent.
City staff are recommending draining the City’s reserve accounts and increasing the City’s debt per capita by 21.1 percent to lower this year’s tax increase to a more politically marketable 7.9 percent.
Nearly 7 percent of the City’s budget will be funded by draining reserves or adding debt to the City’s books. That 7 percent will be added to next year’s projected 7 percent increase.

created: January 13, 2024


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City Looks to Build a New HSR WebApp: Despite Budget Crisis – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

January 23, 2024
The City of Hamilton is looking to hire a firm to create a “Transit Trip Planning and Customer Experience WebAPP.”
Hamilton City Hall is prepared to spend an undisclosed amount on the project due to ongoing problems with the City’s multi-million dollar website project.
The HSR website cannot display schedule information using online formats.
HSR schedules are posted as PDF files. Due to issues with the City website’s design, the schedules cannot be sorted by route number.
Instead, they are listed in order of the first digit of the route number: 1, 10, 11, 12, 16, 18, 2, 20, 21, … 3, 33, … 4, 41.
The new HSR app – which few people will use because third-party apps such as Transit and Google Maps already provide trip planning – is one of many new non-mandatory projects city staff hope to fund with a planned 14+% city-budget increase.


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City of Hamilton Reviewing City Hall Security Following Attack on Edmonton City Hall – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

January 28, 2024
The City of Hamilton is reviewing its safety and security protocols following the attack at Edmonton City Hall earlier this week.
Over a dozen City of Hamilton staff met on Thursday to discuss how to respond to an attack within City Hall.
On Tuesday, a man stormed into Edmonton’s City Hall, firing an assault rifle and throwing a Molotov cocktail.
Nobody was injured. A 28-year-old man has been charged.
Edmonton City Council was in session at the time.
On Thursday, staff from each of the seven floors of Hamilton City Hall met with the City’s security consultants and facility managers to discuss Hamilton’s procedures for instituting a lockdown.
The security consultants met with staff in their work areas and took notes.
In early 2023, the City allocated $292,000 to install security barriers and measures to protect staff at municipal service counters.
Mayor Andrea Horwath’s Deputy Chief of Staff Siri Agrell says Mayor is “deeply concerned by the terrifying incident in Edmonton” and reached out to Edmonton’s mayor this week.
“City Hall is a vital element of an open democracy and should be accessible and welcoming to all, while prioritizing the safety and security of everyone in the building.”
“The Mayor has confidence in City staff and corporate security to make the appropriate recommendations if any changes are required in the interest of public safety.”
In May of last year, a man entered City Hall and jumped over a first-floor lobby desk, and he threatened to kill city employees.
He then picked up a pole and swung it, damaging a pillar inside the building. Security detained him.
Following the incident, a private security agency was contracted to have four security guards patrolling the City Hall lobby whenever the building was open.
The City’s small business enterprise centre’s gate has been closed since the incident.
The interior windows between the public lobby and the mayor’s and councillor’s offices were covered with semi-transparent frosted film.
In 2023, bollards were installed around the perimeter of the City Hall forecourt to mitigate the risk of vehicle attacks against gatherings in the public space.

created: January 28, 2024


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City “Using a Backward-Looking Approach” to Development, Says Lawyer for 2900 King East Developer – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

January 15, 2024
The City is “using a backwards-looking approach” to development, says lawyer Denise Baker in her opening arguments at the Ontario Land Tribunal on behalf of a developer seeking zoning permissions for two tall buildings at a major intersection on the East Hamilton / Stoney Creek border.
Camaro Group wants to upzone the property they own, 2900 King Street East, on the southeast corner of King Street East and Centennial Parkway South, to permit the development of two towers (20-storey and 18-storey) connected by a six-storey podium with 564 units.
They appealed to the OLT on November 23, 2002, after city staff expressed they could not recommend approval of the proposal.
Today was the first day of the scheduled ten-day hearing in front of the Tribunal Member Tee Fung Ng.
Ng asked lawyers for the developer and city to present their opening arguments.
Baker told OLT Member Tee Fung Ng that she’ll show during the hearing the development proposal meets the requirements of Ontario’s Growth Plan.
She will argue that both King Street and Centennial Parkway are appropriate streets for higher-density housing, and that having ground-level retail is good land use planning at the intersection.
“This is a site on the periphery of a residential neighbourhood that is well suited for high-density development,” Baker stated. “You will hear evidence from the applicant’s witnesses that there are no adverse impacts associated with the proposed development.”
Baker repeatedly emphasized that Hamilton City Council voted to freeze the city’s urban boundary.
In doing so, Baker argues, the City cannot turn around and argue against higher densities at this location.
OLT Member Ng turned to lawyer Brian Duxbury for the City. Duxbury said the City until later in the hearing to make its statement.
In pre-hearing submissions, the City says the proposal is incompatible with “the scale and character of existing residential neighbourhoods,” does not conform with City design requirements, such as lacking the use of an angular plane and not stepping back from the public right-of-way, and other technical concerns.
Ward 5 Councillor Matt Francis opposes this development because it is not on the LRT corridor, is close to the downtown Stoney Creek core, and “will set a precedent in downtown Stoney Creek.”
The hearing is being conducted by video conference and is scheduled to end on Friday, January 26.

created: January 15, 2024


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City Wins Security for Costs in Legal Case Involving Waterdown Garden Supplies Property – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

January 17, 2024
Waterdown Garden Supplies Ltd. and Gary McHale must pay into the Superior Court a total of $376,976 to be held in trust for security of costs if they wish to continue their legal action against the City of Hamilton.
WGS and McHale are seeking $70 million in damages, claiming city staff conspired with slain Mobster Pat Musitano to allow the dumping of contaminated soil on a Flamborough property.
TheSpec has extensively covered the stunning story, which includes a City of Hamilton manager admitting to having lunch with Pat Musitano. Read their coverage for more.
In the rare security of costs ruling, Superior Court Justice John Krawchenko expressed concerns about how the WGS is funding its litigation.
The “parties have made arrangements to fund this litigation through a scheme incorporating suspension of debt, forfeiture of shares, granting of shares all in exchange for a percentage of damages received. Key to this is the insulation of funding, by keeping it in the hands of non parties.”
The Justice ruled this raises concerns about the ability of the City to recover its legal costs in the event the City succeeds against the claims, writing some “evidence supports a finding that although there appears to be sufficient assets to cover costs, the plaintiffs have arranged their affairs to protect the assets and to shelter them in the hands of non parties in order to make it difficult to enforce a costs award.”

created: January 17, 2024


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City’s Largest Union Fails to Get National Day for Truth and Reconciliation as a Paid Holiday – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

January 17, 2024
CUPE 5167, the City’s largest union, went to arbitration to argue its 4000+ members are entitled to have the federal National Day for Truth and Reconciliation as a paid holiday each year on September 30.
[The Hamilton Police Services Board granted NDTR as a holiday to all police officers and employees]
In late December ruling, Ontario arbitrator Mark Wright ruled the union’s collective agreement does not grant them new federal holidays.
Hamilton’s’ collective agreement gives city employees all provincial holidays. It does not grant the federal holiday on Remembrance Day.
The agreement states: “New Year’s Day, Family Day, Good Friday, Easter Monday, Victoria Day, Canada Day, Civic Holiday, Labour Day, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day and Boxing Day and such other holidays as may be proclaimed or declared by law.  [emphasis added]”
The union argued the emphasized section captured NDTR because the federal holiday was proclaimed by law.
The city argued the clause must be read in its entirety, reflecting only provincial holidays, due to the exclusion of Remembrance Day, a federal holiday, and inclusion of Family Day, a provincial holiday.
Wright determined he had to adopt the City’s position against granting the new holiday because “to the extent that I find the phrase is ambiguous and lacks specificity, that finding hurts the Union’s position because the case law is clear: if a union asserts its members are entitled to a monetary benefit, it must do so based on clear, unequivocal language.”
(TPR is watching a labour negotiation in another municipality where NDTR is a key issue. If NDTR is granted in that negotiation, it may establish “pattern bargaining” that eventually leads all Ontario municipalities to give NDTR as a holiday for employees.)


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Hamilton City Clerk Publishes Personal Information of 36 Budget Delegates – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

January 16, 2024
EDITORIAL NOTE: TPR withheld publishing this article until the personal information was removed from the City website.
Hamilton’s Acting City Clerk published the home addresses, personal emails, and phone numbers of 36 delegates speaking at Tuesday’s Council budget hearing.
TPR emailed the City Clerk on the evening of January 15, notifying them of the privacy beach.
The City Clerk responded, stating there was no privacy breach and that TPR was incorrect in making the complaint.
The City Clerk is the City’s chief privacy officer.
Hamilton Mayor Andrea Horwath’s Office learned the City Clerk had dismissed the complaint, and quickly directed the City Clerk to address the breach.
Only then was the private information removed from the City website.
The City of Hamilton does not follow privacy-by-design processes.
People wishing to delegate to City Council must use a web form to submit their request. The form requires them to provide personal information.
The web form generates an email to the Office of the City Clerk.
Instead of removing personal information, the Office of the City Clerk improperly used a ‘black highlight’ over the text of delegates’ home addresses, personal emails, and phone numbers.
Anyone who downloads the agenda can copy and paste the underlying private information.
Professional PDF software programs offer redaction features that remove text and replace it with black bars. The City does not use this software.
Hamilton is the only large municipality in Ontario that does not follow privacy by design practices.
This is the latest privacy breach by the Office of the City Clerk.
During the 2022 municipal election, the City Clerk breached the privacy of hundreds of voters who registered for advance voting.
On October 13, 2022, the City Clerk sent a mass email to advance voters after mailing advance ballots too late for the voters to return before voting day. The email addresses of the voters was revealed in the “to” line of the email. The email addresses of many people who requested mail ballots were identifiable, adding to the privacy breach.
Following the election privacy breach, the City issued an unsigned statement of regret.
The City’s auditor briefly reviewed the incident and concluded, “While the privacy breach is regrettable … ultimately, how people were voting was not exposed in this privacy breach.”
“That being said, there is room from a process improvement perspective to better manage
privacy risks in the future,” the City auditor wrote.
The City did not implement improvements.
The City auditor will review the latest breach.
The City Clerk is not apologizing for the latest breach.
The Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act requires the City of Hamilton to notify the 36 individuals.

created: January 16, 2024


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Hamilton’s City Manager Says She Feared Reprisals for Speaking Truth as a Junior Staffer – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

January 15, 2024
Hamilton’s new City Manager Marnie Cluckie says she feared reprisals for speaking the truth and conducting herself ethically during the early stages of her municipal career.
“In the early stages of my career … one of the barriers was fear of personal consequence, fear of that reprisal,” Cluckie told an audience of municipal administrators in mid-December, only days after being announced as Hamilton’s new City Manager.
“It did hinder my approach.”
Her first ten years in municipal government were with the City of Hamilton.
“Speaking truth is vital,” she said. “We can’t kid ourselves, it does come with some inherent challenges as well.”
Cluckie said staff who speak and provide truthful statements can experience “fear of retaliation, backlash,” concerns about their “job security,” and “political pressures.”
Her comments came during a talk to the Ontario Municipal Administrators Association on the topic of ‘adapting to change’.
Cluckie says it is a challenging time for municipal leaders who are “seeing increased expectations from citizens and councillors,” “labour supply issues in the workforce,” post-pandemic increases in workloads, and “on top of that” a lack of civility including “abusive interactions” fueled by social media, from both citizens and elected officials.
Municipal leaders require “an adaptive leadership style that embraces change, helps maintain transparency, and strategically navigate that intricate balance between political nuances and governance imperatives in our municipal context.”
She says staff need support in these situations.
As she climbed the management ranks, Cluckie said gained experience helped her better handle ethical issues.
Senior staff must be transparent with the public and elected officials while mindful of “political sensitivity.”
“There’s this finesse you have around balancing that transparency,” she said.
Cluckie says the role of a City Manager is often about “bringing order to chaos.”
“Someone gave me a mug recently that calls me the chaos coordinator with a definition, and that really resonates for me as a CAO.”
Cluckie’s first day at Hamilton City Hall was Monday.


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OLT Rules in Favour of Hamilton in Dundas Development Charge Dispute – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

January 30, 2024
Ontario Conservative Premier Doug Ford’s 2022 Bill 23, the More Homes Built Faster Act, significantly cut the development charges municipalities can collect.
Following Bill 23, municipal parkland dedication fees are capped at no more than ten percent of property value for parkland dedication fees when developments are being constructed on five hectares or less.
Effort Trust sought to have the post-Bill 23 parkland dedication rate applied to its 64 residential condo unit development at 71 Main Street in Dundas.
The 71 Main Street, Dundas, development is a nine-storey, 64-unit condo building.
Bill 23 came into force on November 28, 2022. The final building permit for above-ground construction was issued on December 6, 2022. Construction began when the City issued a shoring permit on May 10, 2022.
Development charges are calculated upon the issuing of a building permit. Large projects, such as this project, receive multiple building permits. Effort Trust argued the final building permit should be the date for development charges; the City argued the shoring permit date should be used.
The pre-Bill 23 charge was $836,416, post-Bill 23, the charge is capped at $190,000, a difference of $646,416.
In a 57-paragraph ruling issued on Monday, OLT Member Daniel Best ruled in favour of the City’s interpretation.
“Building permits are required for any work that leads towards the eventual erection of the building structure, rather than only the construction phase where the building structure is erected,” the OLT writes. “As it has been determined that the first building permit was issued on May 10, 2022, for the proposed project on the subject Property, the Bill 23 changes do not apply.”
The developer already paid the $836,416 fee, under protest. The City gets to retain the full fee.

created: January 30, 2024


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Upper West Side Landowners Appeal to OLT in Urban Boundary Application Dispute – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

January 28, 2024
Hamilton’s predominant greenfield developers are taking the City of Hamilton to the Ontario Land Tribunal to force the City Council to hear their application to expand Hamilton’s urban boundary to permit the development of lands bordered by Twenty Road West, Dickenson Road, Upper James Street and Lancaster Road.
In a letter dated December 19, 2023, City of Hamilton Manager of Sustainable Communities Dave Heyworth stated a secondary plan and urban boundary application filed by the developer group was incomplete.
The City says the package lacks the required studies and professional reports, including details to complete the water and wastewater servicing master plan, karst assessment report, and a Stage 2 archaeological assessment.
The Upper West Side Landowners application seeks a Council hearing for their privately created Secondary Plan that will extend Hamilton’s urban boundary in the area from Twenty Road West to Dickerson Road.
City Council is expected to deny the urban boundary expansion. At this future point, the landowners can then appeal to the OLT to have the OLT impose a boundary expansion.
City staff’s decision that the application is incomplete prevents the developers from setting the Council hearing in motion.
The Upper West Side Landowners were given their urban boundary expansion by the Provincial Progressive Conservative government of Premier Doug Ford on November 4, 2022, when Ford gave developers across the GTHA most of what they were asking for. In Hamilton, this included overturning the Urban Hamilton Official Plan’s urban boundaries.
Ford’s decisions because of the Greenbelt scandal. In October of 2023, Ford reversed all his decisions as the corruption of the Greenbelt scandal engulfed his government.
The reversal left the Upper West Side Landowners back where they were in 2022.
Ford did not reverse his 2019 decision to change Ontario’s Planning Act to allow private interests to apply for urban boundary expansion of up to 40 acres per application.
Only municipalities could initiate urban boundaries before the 2019 More Homes More Choice Act.
The Upper West Side Landowners, which includes Spallaci and Sons Limited, Oxford Road Developments,  the Parente Group, and Liv Communities, among its membership, have been lobbying for decades to have their lands placed within the urban boundary.
Some information is available on their website at: https://upperwestsidehamilton.ca/
The Motion for Complete Application is presently being processed by the OLT. No hearing dates have been set.


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Woodland Park Washroom Fire: $500,000 in Damage and The Political Fallout – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

January 17, 2024
On January 2nd, a fire that began in the makeshift structure quickly spread and destroyed the washroom building at Woodland Park on Barton Street East between Wentworth Street North and Sanford Avenue North.
Hamilton Fire responded within seconds – HFD Station 6 is at the park – and rescued two people inside the washroom building.
Images of the intense fire were posted to social media platforms.
The following day, Ward 3 Councillor Nrinder Nann posted “My office raised concerns about the structure against the washroom facility since Fall with encampment protocol and response staff due to safety concerns expressed by residents. The structure has been out of compliance with the encampment protocol and my office was informed that enforcement had been transferred to Hamilton Police Services (HPS) in October.”
Clr Nann said on January 17, there will be a public update regarding the cost of repairing the washrooms at the January 24 Council meeting.
The fire has resulted in political fallout, with all sides of the encampment debate pointing to the state of encampments as a failure, be that a failure to create sanctioned encampment sites, failure to enforce the present encampment protocol, or failure by allowing any encampments.
In the end, the present status quo will prevail.


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Can Mayor Horwath Use “Strong Mayor” Veto to Implement Affordable Housing in Stoney Creek – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

February 22, 2024
Mayor Andrea Horwath is publicly calling on eight members of Hamilton City Council who voted against an affordable housing proposal to reconsider their opposition before next Wednesday’s Council ratification meeting.
A proposal to convert two municipal parking lots, with 57 spaces, into 67 affordable housing units was defeated in an eight-to-eight tie vote at the General Issues Committee yesterday. [The final vote will be Wednesday, February 28, at the Council ratification meeting.]
Ward 5 Councillor Matt Francis opposed the proposal in his ward, arguing that free municipal parking is critical municipal infrastructure for Downtown Stoney Creek’s businesses and seniors.
“The main objection was not to affordable housing. I think we heard that here with the delegates today,” Francis stated. “It was about saving the parking lot, especially in an increasingly busy downtown core.”
Councillors Tom Jackson (Ward 6), Esther Pauls (Ward 7), Brad Clark (Ward 9), Jeff Beattie (Ward 10), Mark Tadeson (Ward 11), Mike Spadafora (Ward 14), and Ted McMeekin (Ward 15). The eight supported Francis due to concerns about losing parking in suburban communities.
Section 284.11 of the Municipal Act states the head of council can override bylaw decisions that “could potentially interfere with a prescribed provincial priority.”
Ontario Regulation 580/22 declares “building 1.5 million new residential units by December 31, 2031” as a prescribed provincial priority.
Declaring the Stoney Creek parking lots as ‘surplus’ requires an enacting bylaw, and involves building new residential units.
Therefore, the Mayor can exercise veto power to override council opposition to this project.
Obviously, the Mayor wants to avoid the controversy surrounding using veto powers.  During the coming days, Mayor Horwath will try to convince one opposing councillor to change their position or be absent from the Feb. 28 vote.
Using a mayoral veto will have significant political ramifications. It will cement growing divisions among the sixteen members of Council.
Presently, an opposition block of six has formed against the annual budgets. These six (Francis, Jackson, Clark, Beattie, Tadeson, and Spadafora) all voted against the Stoney Creek proposal.
If these six become a formal opposition bloc, Mayor Horwath cannot create a reliable governing coalition.
Councillors Cameron Kroetsch (Ward 2) and Alex Wilson (Ward 13) will not be reliable votes for the mayor. McMeekin’s votes have differed from the mayor numerous times. Pauls tends to decide her votes issue by issue.
A divided council will fail to govern Hamilton effectively, and in the past, Hamiltonians have held mayors responsible for council dysfunction.
In this circumstance, the mayoral veto can only be exercised following a council decision. The Mayor has two days following a council decision to issue a veto.
In this instance, if Council remains deadlocked and the Stoney Creek projects are defeated at the Wednesday, February 28 meeting, the Mayor must declare her veto by the end of business on Friday, March 1.
The City Clerk must publicly post the veto notice by the next business day.
Following a veto, Council can override the veto with a two-thirds majority vote within 21 days of the Clerk’s notice.
In a recent academic paper, University of British Columbia Law Professor Alexandra Flynn argues that using strong mayor powers to veto a council decision undermines local democracy.
Flynn describes the creation of strong mayor powers to implement ‘provincial priorities’ as “overreach” by the Province that undermines majority rule at the municipal level and is “incompatible with the principle of democracy.”
Flynn argues that municipal councils should challenge this overreach by resisting the use of strong mayor powers. Majority council rule “legitimizes the claim that municipalities are democratic governments, not mere administrative units.”
“Bill 39 does not mandate that the mayor exercise strong mayor powers in relation to provincial priorities. Instead, it is the mayor’s individual decision. To date, the notion of a code of good governance that includes a commitment to democracy has been endorsed in municipalities across the province,” Flynn noted when she wrote the article.
Other municipal experts have written against strong mayor powers, including Western prof Zack Taylor.

created: February 22, 2024


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Council Fails to Make Quorum – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

February 12, 2024
Hamilton City Council’s Grants Sub-Committee failed to make quorum on Monday with three of six members showing up for the meeting.
Ward 1 Clr Maureen Wilson, Ward 3 Clr Nrinder Nann, and Ward 5 Councilor Matt Francis were absent.
Clr Nann was in Toronto for a meeting with the federal Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing.
Ward 2 Clr Cameron Kroetsch, Ward 6 Clr Tom Jackson, and Ward 11 Clr Mark Tadeson were present.
The Committee was expected to approve a consultation process to “develop a further equitable City Enrichment Fund process” to increase funding allocations for equity-deserve/seeking groups.
The City’s Enrichment Fund provides a variety of grants to community groups and charities. In recent years, Councils have increased funding to the program, allowed for total funding for applications of $15,000 or less, and streamlined applications to reduce administrative burdens in applying for funds.
CEF applications have increased by 28 percent this year (2024), compared to last (2023). There are 430 applicants this year, there were 337 last.  Applications for 2024 were submitted in December.
Councillors were also expected to approve an increase of $134,710 to this year’s funding amount.
Today’s agenda items will be placed on the Council Audit, Finance, and Administration agenda for Thursday, February 22.

created: February 12, 2024


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Hamilton Integrity Commissioner Rules Clr Pauls Can Vote on HPS Budget – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

February 13, 2024
New City of Hamilton Integrity Commissioner David Boghosian has ruled Ward 7 Councillor Esther Pauls can vote on the Hamilton Police Service budget as a member of the Hamilton Police Services Board.
In a seven-page ruling, Boghosian writes the overall police budget has no material impact on the compensation given to individual police officers because salaries and benefits are set by collective agreements.
Pauls son, John Pauls, is an Inspector with the Hamilton Police Service.
Boghosian writes Pauls does have a conflict when the Board is considering collective agreements and must not participate in any meetings discussing them.
Boghosian notes a recent Ontario Superior Court decision requires him to reconsider what constitutes conflict of interest in situations where an elected official’s child is employed by the body they are elected to.
“Since the previous IC’s decision was released, a decision of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice was released which essentially arrived at the opposite conclusion to that reached by the previous Integrity Commissioner in a highly analogous fact situation. In London District Catholic School Board, Application 2023 ONSC 1693 (CanLII), Justice Nicholson of the Superior Court held that school board trustees were not in a conflict of interest under the [Municipal Conflict of Interest Act] in considering and voting on the School Board’s annual budget, notwithstanding that these trustees had children who were teachers employed by the Board (and whose remuneration, as in the case of HPS members, was set by a collective agreement).”
Boghosian writes:
“The HPSB budget has no impact whatsoever on any aspect of the remuneration paid to any officer, including an Inspector. The amounts set out in the collective agreements are legally binding and enforceable against the HPS in the event of a default in payment. Those amounts must be honoured regardless of the budget. Officers, even senior officers, have no right to any discretionary remuneration that is not provided for in the respective collective agreements.”
Boghosian writes:
“Councillor Pauls does have a disqualifying interest with respect to anything to do with the three HPS collective agreements such that she must declare a disqualifying interest in respect of deliberations concerning any of them. Although only the [Senior Officers’ Collective Agreement] directly affects Councillor Pauls’ son, negotiation of the other two agreements could impact on the negotiation of the new [Senior Officers’ Collective Agreement] such that a reasonable prospect of a conflict arises.
Boghosian’s decision includes a note of caution that Pauls’ could have a disqualifying pecuniary conflict of interest regarding votes to decrease the HPS budget.
“Councillor Pauls should either declare a conflict or at least consult further with the Integrity Commissioner with respect to any motion to reduce the amount of the HPS budget compared to the previous year.”
Boghosian’s full letter can be read in PDF format here. (157kb)

created: February 13, 2024


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Hamilton Police Board To Hold Closed Meeting to Discuss Budget – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

February 12, 2024
Hamilton Police Board Administrator Kristen Stevenson is planning to violate the Police Services Act open meeting laws.
Stevenson announced on Monday that the Hamilton Police Services Board budget meeting scheduled for Tuesday will be closed to the public and media due to a lack of any available public meeting rooms in Hamilton.
The meeting will be held in Room 264 at Hamilton City Hall, which has a 10 seat public gallery. Stevenson’s statement states the gallery will be closed.
Section 35 of the Police Services Act requires that Police Board meetings are open to the public.
Hamilton Police and City of Hamilton security will be present at City Hall to block access to the public meeting.
This will be the first time any Police Board in Ontario holds a closed meeting to pass their budget.
Stevenson says the Police Board will provide a livestream on its website. The Board does not stream to YouTube.
The Police Board is meeting Tuesday for its first line-by-line review of the 2024 Hamilton Police service budget.
The line-by-line review was requested by Hamilton City Council in a 12-3 bvote.
Police Board members Ward 2 Councillor Cameron Kroetsch and Council civilian appointee Dr. Anjali Menezes are proposing a series of motions that, if passed, will remove approximately $5-million from the budget.
Kroestch and Menezes will also move to use 60 percent of the police budget reserves, $2,612,630.11, to lower the 2024 tax levy for the police budget.
“Once Council sent the budget back in a vote of 12-3, Dr. Menezes and I submitted dozens of detailed questions about the 2024 budget to the Chief. He responded and provided greater clarity on individual budget line items and general expenses. In our view, there are many potential areas for savings and while we can’t direct the Chief on specific operational decisions, the budget is ultimately the Board’s responsibility. We’ve made recommendations to increase the overall fiscal accountability of the budget, which is our duty as members of the Board,” wrote Kroetsch in a statement on Monday.


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Hamilton’s Ontario Land Tribunal Decisions and Hearings Round-up for January 2024 – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

February 7, 2024
TPR endeavours to track all Hamilton cases being adjudicated by the Ontario Land Tribunal. There are dozens of Hamilton files in front of the land-use tribunal, including days in which the OLT holds four or five simultaneous hearings.
Here’s an update on recent hearings, decisions, pending decisions, and upcoming cases.
Lawyers for CN, the Jamesville developer, CityHousing Hamilton, and the City of Hamilton updated the OLT on December 20, saying they’ve made little progress on defining the outstanding issues while at the same time expressing optimism they may reach a deal before May 21st when the contest appeal hearing is scheduled to begin.
There are ongoing confidential mediation talks.
The City will keep $646,416 in parkland dedication charges paid by the developer of a nine-storey, 64-unit condo building at 71 Main Street in Dundas.
Construction on the building began before the Ontario Progressive Conservative government enacted Bill 23 on November 28, 2022. The final construction permit was issued on December 6, 2022.
Bill 23 capped the amount of development charges municipalities can collect. The developer appealed to the OLT, arguing development charges should be calculated on the date of the final permit; the City successfully argued charges are applied on the date of the first building permit.
The pre-Bill 23 developer charges were $836,416; post-Bill 23, they became $190,000.
A bit more on TPR here.
The developer seeking to “relocate” the marshlands at 140 Garner Road East to build a business park on the 35.27-hectare property is being granted more time to prepare their case.
In a case management conference held in December, Ontario Land Tribunal Vice-Chair Hugh Wilkins and Member Aaron Sauve granted developer ONE Properties Limited Partnership additional time for a consult to complete a report on how to ‘relocate’ the Garner Road marsh the developer wants to build five warehouses and parking on.
The Hamilton Conservation Authority rejected the development. The developer appealed to the OLT. In 2022, the OLT granted Party status to Environmental Defence, which is represented by lawyer Phil Pothen.
With Environmental Defence as a Party, the developer needs to make a stronger case than they would against the Conservation Authority.
A 15-day contested hearing is now scheduled to begin on Monday, February 24, 2025.
The City and LIV Developments Ltd. have agreed to zoning for 219 residential units, 84 in stacked townhouses and 135 units within an eight-storey condo mid-rise.
The OLT approved the settlement on December 1st.
The OLT approved a settlement for the 2.5-hectare property with some frontage onto Lake Ontario.
City staff supported the Losani Homes and Marz Homes proposal to build 38 homes on the site.
Last Council term’s Ward 10 Councillor Maria Pearson opposed the project, citing traffic and that the developer was charging other properties if they wished to connect to a new sanitary sewer to be constructed to facilitate the new homes.
The developers appealed for non-decision in December 2022.
This term of Council approved the settlement.
As TPR reported on December 7, the City and LiUNA’s Wellington Hamilton Non-Profit Housing Inc. reached a settlement to permit a 14-storey, 227-unit building.
The deal requires that “no less than 25 percent” will have rent set at “30 percent of household income for the 60th percentile of incomes in the area.”
The OLT’s written approval decision was issued on January 30.
The Ontario Land Tribunal will conduct a 10-day contested hearing beginning on Monday, September 16, 2024, to decide if three 14-storey buildings will be allowed to be constructed on the rear portion of the former Delta Secondary School property at 1284 Main Street East.
New Horizon Development Group wants to build 975 new residential units on the site, with a mix of the three residential buildings, stacked townhouses, and units in the original Delta Secondary School building. The developer is appealing against heritage designations for the post-World War II extension wings.
Thirteen nearby residents were granted participant status, allowing them to submit written correspondence to be considered by the Tribunal. Residents must file their statements on or before July 23.
The City and New Horizon Group have recently met for mediation talks.
More on TPR.
Metroland reporter Richard Leitner covered December’s eight-day contested OLT hearing on the Fengate LiUNA proposal to build four buildings on the Lake Ontario property at the end of Winona Road.
The developer proposes two 12-storey mid-rises and two tall buildings of 22 and 26 storeys. The development includes townhouses along the lake. In total, there are 1,160 units proposed.
Leitner’s report does an excellent job of summarizing the arguments and positions advanced before the Tribunal. I will not take away from his work. I encourage you to read at this link.
This was a non-decision appeal hearing; the developer appealed in mid-2022.
The OLT decision is pending.
The most controversial hearing of January was a rare Site Plan appeal by developers Sergio Manchia and Frank Spallacci for one of their Ancaster properties, which was involved in the Doug Ford government’s development and Greenbelt scandals.
Manchia is a key local figure in the Greenbelt and Urban Boundary expansion reports by Ontario’s Integrity Commissioner. The IC reported Manchia purchased four tickets to the “stag-and-doe” party for Premier Doug Ford’s daughter. Further, Manchia and Premier Ford met in September 2021.
Following this, when Premier Ford’s government overturned Hamilton’s urban boundary freeze, the Province imposed higher densities along Ancaster’s Wilson Street.
With these provincial changes in hand, in August 2023, the City was forced to concede at the OLT and allow the approval of an eight-storey mixed-use development containing 118 residential units.
On October 23, Premier Ford reversed the urban boundary expansion his government imposed on Hamilton and announced a new review of provincial changes to Urban Hamilton Official Plan.
The review includes the changes made to allow the Wilson Street development.
If the developers can secure their building permits, the zoning changes cannot be reversed.
A decision is pending.
The City says two tall towers southwest corner of King Street and Centennial Parkway are incompatible with “the scale and character of existing residential neighbourhoods” and do not conform with the City’s tall building design guidelines.
The lawyer for the landowner says the City is “using a backwards-looking approach” to development.
In pre-hearing submissions, the City says the proposal is incompatible with “the scale and character of existing residential neighbourhoods,” does not conform with City design requirements, such as lacking the use of an angular plane and not stepping back from the public right-of-way, and other technical concerns.
Ward 5 Councillor Matt Francis opposes this development because it is not on the LRT corridor, is close to the downtown Stoney Creek core, and “will set a precedent in downtown Stoney Creek.”
The OLT heard arguments from both sides over two weeks. A written decision is pending.
TPR story from the opening arguments on January 15.
DiCenzo Construction Company is taking the City to the OLT for a non-decision appeal seeking zoning to permit the construction of two tall buildings of thirty (30) and thirty-nine (39) storeys on this downtown property, which borders Hamilton’s tallest building.
City planning staff recommended denying the application due to non-conformity with the Downtown Secondary Plan. Among the reasons for denial, City staff noted the height is greater than the escarpment, the building will cast a slight shadow on Prince’s Square at 50 Main Street, and the podium is larger than permitted.
Before Council could formally deny the application, the developer appealed to the OLT for non-decision.
The first case management conference was held on January 12. Contested hearing dates are set for October 7 to 11, and October 16 and 17.
The City and developer will submit arguments regarding height, built form/design, sun shadowing, wind, visual, and noise impacts, unit types (family housing), infrastructure servicing, and climate resilience.
No persons sought participant status.
The commercial property owner on the northeast corner of King Street East and Sherman Avenue is seeking greater compensation for his property.
Metrolinx is expropriating the land to expand the public right-of-way to accommodate the planned Sherman Avenue B-Line LRT stop.
Owner Jetmir Imeri has the property listed for sale at $1.9-million.
He is seeking $1.65 million for the land expropriation, based upon an appraised market value assessment, plus $100,000 “for punitive damages resulting from the conduct of the Respondent with respect to the proposed Expropriation of the Property,” and legal costs.
A planned January 11 Case Management Conference hearing for the appeal was cancelled “due to a scheduling conflict.”
The case will go directly to a contested hearing. The date of this hearing has not yet been set.

created: February 7, 2024


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LIVESTREAM: Hamilton Police Services Board Meeting for February 13, 2024 – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

February 13, 2024
TPR is providing an unedited livestream of today’s Hamilton Police Services Board meeting.
The Hamilton Police Services Board is meeting at noon today to conduct its first line-by-line review of the proposed 2024 Hamilton Police budget.
The meeting was forced by a 12-3 vote of City Council instructing the Board to review the budget.
Yesterday, Monday, Hamilton Police Services Board Administrator Kristen Stevenson announced the public meeting will be closed to the public and media. The Board claims there are no available meeting facilities in Hamilton.
TPR arrived at City Hall three hours in advance of the meeting and have set up livestreaming gear.
Section 35 of the Police Services Act states all meetings of the Police Services Board shall be open to the public. There is no authority in law for the Hamilton Police Service to remove TPR from the public meeting room.
Police Board members Ward 2 Councillor Cameron Kroetsch and Council civilian appointee Dr. Anjali Menezes are proposing a series of motions that, if passed, will remove approximately $5-million from the budget.
Kroestch and Menezes will also move to use 60 percent of the police budget reserves, $2,612,630.11, to lower the 2024 tax levy for the police budget.
“Once Council sent the budget back in a vote of 12-3, Dr. Menezes and I submitted dozens of detailed questions about the 2024 budget to the Chief. He responded and provided greater clarity on individual budget line items and general expenses. In our view, there are many potential areas for savings and while we can’t direct the Chief on specific operational decisions, the budget is ultimately the Board’s responsibility. We’ve made recommendations to increase the overall fiscal accountability of the budget, which is our duty as members of the Board,” wrote Kroetsch in a statement on Monday.


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Neighbour Opposes Affordable Seniors Housing in Binbrook – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

February 8, 2024
Todd and Laura Barlow say they want to protect their property values. They are appealing to the Ontario Land Tribunal to stop the construction of new seniors’ rental housing at 2800 Library Lane in Binbrook.
On November 22, 2023, City Council unanimously approved the construction of a new three-storey 105-unit seniors’ rental apartment building that will include 52 affordable units on land the City transferred to the Township of Glanbrook Non-Profit Housing Corporation.
Ward 11 Councillor Mark Tadeson gave his full support to the project.
“Just for the record, I just want to say that I fully fully fully support this for seniors. It’s nonprofit. It’s considerate. It’s comparable. It’s complimentary. It definitely fills the need that our whole city should embrace,” Tadeson stated.
The City also provided a $1.7-million loan to enable the project as part of the City’s affordable housing strategy.
The non-profit housing corporation operates a 31-unit affordable seniors building on the property. The 105 units will be in addition.
“First and foremost, the intrinsic damage to our property value from the proposed rezoning is our greatest concern,” the Barlows write. “In addition to the pure financial impact to our property value, we will loose all the enjoyment of our property outdoor space, which will be equally damaging to us.”
The Barlows wrote they bought their home with the expectation that no development would occur behind them.
“We specifically purchased our home at this lot location with a significant premium and the
knowledge that we would live with our property adjoined to a restricted agriculturally zoned property. The premium paid and the intrinsic value of this zoning was a key factor in our purchase decision 16 years ago.”
The Barlows raised concerns regarding waste management, height, shadows, lighting, and parking.
Following Council approval on November 22, the Barlows filed an appeal to the OLT on January 2, 2024.
Their appeal letter states:
“The proposed land use and subsequent zoning change is not consistent with surrounding land use and will have significant negative impacts to local land use and community. A zoning change from Restricted Agriculture to a multi unit high density residential is drastic deviation from current single and 2 storey residential use. Please see written objection to council for further details and objections.”
The zoning change is to Residential Multiple “RM4-322” Zone, which is not high density as the Barlows write.
The OLT has set a contested one-day hearing for April 24, 2024.
Often, when appeals go directly to a one-day hearing – without any case management conference – the OLT orally dismisses the appeal after allowing the parties to make their argument.

created: February 8, 2024


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OLT Sets 10-Day Hearing in September for Delta Secondary Redevelopment – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

February 3, 2024
The Ontario Land Tribunal will conduct a 10-day contested hearing beginning on Monday, September 16, 2024, to decide if three 14-storey buildings will be allowed to be constructed on the rear portion of the former Delta Secondary School property at 1284 Main Street East.
New Horizon Development Group wants to build 975 new residential units on the site, with a mix of the three residential buildings, stacked townhouses, and units in the original Delta Secondary School building. The developer is appealing against heritage designations for the post-World War II extension wings.
Hamilton’s Design Review Panel supported intensification on the property but expressed concerns regarding lower-than-guideline separations between the three buildings, narrow laneways, and a lack of greenspace amenities.
City planning staff indicated they would not recommend approval of the proposal to City Council.
Thirteen nearby residents were granted participant status, allowing them to submit written correspondence to be considered by the Tribunal. Residents must file their statements on or before July 23.
City planning staff and representatives for New Horizon have held mediation talks to find common ground on issues and narrow the length of the contested hearing.
The remaining unresolved issues include natural heritage (trees), unit mix for the development, building sizes, tower separation and design, shadow and wind impacts, the heritage designation of the Delta Secondary building, and the visual impact of the development.

created: February 3, 2024


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OLT Will Hear 117 Jackson Street East Appeal in October 2024 – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

February 7, 2024
DiCenzo Construction Company is taking the City to the OLT for a non-decision appeal seeking zoning to permit the construction of two tall buildings of 30 and 39 storeys on this downtown property, which borders Hamilton’s tallest building.
City planning staff recommended denying the application due to non-conformity with the Downtown Secondary Plan. Among the reasons for denial, City staff noted the height is greater than the escarpment, the building will cast a slight shadow on Prince’s Square at 50 Main Street, and the podium is larger than permitted.
Before Council could formally deny the application, the developer appealed to the OLT for non-decision.
The first case management conference was held on January 12. Contested hearing dates are set for October 7 to 11, and October 16 and 17.
The City and developer will submit arguments regarding height, built form/design, sun shadowing, wind, visual, and noise impacts, unit types (family housing), infrastructure servicing, and climate resilience.
No persons sought participant status.
Both sides stated they are open to OLT assisted mediation talks.


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Ward 12 Clr Craig Cassar’s Creative Blocking of Self-Storage in Ancaster Meadowlands – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

February 9, 2024
Ward 12 Councillor Craig Cassar consistently upholds his environmental principles.
Cassar is also one of the most thoughtful and prepared members of Hamilton City Council.
His procedural manoeuvring to block the opening of a self-storage facility in the Ancaster Meadowlands near the former Hamilton-Ancaster boundary is a case study of how removing one line from a bylaw creates a poison pill situation.
The owners of 1225 Old Golf Links Road in Ancaster applied for planning amendments to permit the construction of a five-story self-storage facility on a property that borders a Hydro One power transmission line corridor.
City planning staff recommended approval for the project, and prepared the enacting bylaw for Council approval.
Clr Cassar moved approval of a bylaw changing the zoning to what the developer requested, with one key amendment – removing the permission to operate a self-storage facility.
In effect, Council denied the application.
The developer has appealed to the Ontario Land Tribunal.
“I’m supportive of the [Official Plan] Amendment and the Zoning Bylaw Amendment, but not the site-specific designation for storage,” stated Ward 12 Clr Craig Cassar during the Council Planning Committee meeting on November 14, 2023.
“I don’t think that’s an appropriate use and something that we want to be building,”
“In 2019, this Council declared a climate emergency … a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions can not be accomplished by business as usual.”
“Consumerism continues to accelerate the consumption of the planet’s resources,” Cassar continued. “Encouraging more storage just encourages more consumerism and sends a signal that the city is not really serious about the climate emergency.”
Ward 10 Clr Jeff Beattie supported Cassar’s amendment with reservation.
“I’m going to support the ward councillor, I believe that he would know what’s best for the community he represents. But I’m not necessarily sharing the narrative against storage facilities in general,” Beattie stated. He said he’s used self-storage and felt a bit “awkward” and “a little hypocritical” voting against that use.
The amendment passed unanimously at the Planning Committee meeting on November 14, 2023.
It passed 15-1 at Council ratification on November 22, 2023, with Ward 14 Clr Mike Spadafora opposed.
Ontario’s Municipal Property Assessment Corporation noted in 2023 that self-storage facilities support intensification because they allow people to live in condo units while storing things such as seasonal sports equipment:
“There are a number of factors contributing to the self-storage boom, such as smaller dwellings—particularly condominiums—providing less space to store personal possessions,” says Greg Martino, MPAC Vice-President and Chief Valuation and Standards Officer. “The pandemic may have also added to this trend, with more people working from home, looking to store items that have accumulated in their living spaces, downsizing or undergoing renovations.”
The self-storage increase is consistent with data released by MPAC in 2022, showing Ontario condominiums are 35% smaller on average than they were 25 years ago.
Increasing housing costs are also raising the demand for self-storage facilities.
The developer, Ancaster Space Station Inc., owned by Steve Grzenda, has appealed City Council’s decision to remove self-storage as a permitted use.
They argue that self-storage at the site is good planning and “supports more compact housing types by providing opportunities for off-site storage.”
No hearing dates have yet been set.

created: February 9, 2024