By Pepper Parr
October 28th, 2106
BURLINGTON, ON
The developer of the application for the proposed 26-storey condominium at 374 and 380 Martha St., Adi Development Group, has requested, through its legal counsel, that the City of Burlington participate with Adi in an Ontario Municipal Board-led mediation process in an effort address the city’s issues with the revised development applications in advance of the scheduled hearing on Feb. 21, 2017.
Most recent architectural rendering of the Nautique development planned for the intersection of Martha Street and Lakeshore Road.
The city is prepared to engage with Adi in an OMB-led mediation. The mediation is not binding.
Mediation calls for an open, honest and respectful exchange of views – difficult to see that happening when Adi president Tariq Adi is reported to have said the Mayor’s comments were “laughable”.
Mediation is not normal in Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) hearings. Recall that these hearings were asked for by Adi when the city did not respond to their Official Plan and by law change request that were part of the application they made back in 2015.
When the city and Adi eventually got in front of an OMB officer ADI asked for an adjournment because they had acquired an additional piece of land which they argued at the time would allow them to come back with a revised plan.
Which they did – that revised plan added 48 units to the development proposal – it at the same time lopped two floors off the structure – from 28 down to 26.
Adi is spending a significant amount on advertising and marketing the development – one could venture a guess that they are so far extended on this development that they have to find a way to recover their losses.
Mediation would be interesting – unfortunately those sessions will be behind closed doors – will the city fold on this when the public can’t see what they are negotiating?
The city’s Planning department spend days “negotiating” with Adi – it went nowhere.
Should the OMB officer go along with mediation – what that does is give Adi another tool with which to beat down the city should the mediator find that some of the Adi suggestions had merit but the city found it was more than they wanted to go along with.
Better methinks to have everything done before the OMB hearing which is public.
Councillor Jack Dennison
We know where Councillor Dennis stands on this one. He likes the 19 storeys at Lakeshore and Torrance. The Mayor is prepared to mediate – with a guy that says his position is laughable.
“I support mediation because I believe it gives the city an opportunity to influence a positive outcome for this development. We do not know if mediation will be successful, but it is worth attempting before we proceed to the hearing. I continue to seek a development proposal for this site that is respectful of the surrounding area and streets, and integrates well with the existing and planned context of the area.”
Adi brothers Saud and Tariq
Naïve would have been a more appropriate word.
Adi has been jerking the city around for the past couple of years. They took this to the OMB – let it get resolved at that level.
Salt with Pepper is an opinion column.
This may be part of the ADI stealth strategy to get what they want. No public allowed in the mediation, so no objective eyes and ears and reporting.
This provides another opportunity for ADI to get a better read on the situation at city hall and how the OMB sits on the proposal, sees the city/ADI gap, and what they may reveal about their underlying biases.
It’s a no-lose for ADI – just a strategic chance to learn more. But it’s a pitfall opportunity for city to show a few cards and trip over themselves into a loss.
God, I hope they don’t fold, but I’m not confident from the track record. Residents have shown overwhelmingly, on several occasions during this musical chairs, that they do not want anything anywhere near this towering erectile thrust to have their way with the downtown lady.
This includes Dennison’s nod to the 19 stories – a height he didn’t know at D&I – which is an entirely different structure, context, and site plan.
If ADI is anything near successful, then the pile-on will begin, the downtown and broader city, will never be the same.
Tom:
Very well put and woefully accurately to the point. Well said!!!
Mediation, if successful, is always preferred to the adversarial process of a board hearing. It allows both sides to arrive at a mutually expectable solution rather that have decisions made for them.
In this instance we seem to have two very different ideas regarding height, 8 story at one extreme and 26 at the other. Somewhere there is common ground in the two positions.
At the committee meeting even councilor Meed Ward was asking delegation’s what they thought would be appropriate for this development.
If we are, as some believe, a mature level of government, let’s explore all avenues, including mediation and find a mutually expectable solution for this development.
If we can’t the OMB will find it for us, that’s why they are there.