Residents got another glimpse Tuesday of how messy and uncertain the legal battle over plans to build the Kingsway Entertainment District has become.
Ian Wood, the city manager in charge of overseeing the city's big projects, gave city councillors an update on the project, informing them that opponent Tom Fortin has made his latest move to stop the project.
Fortin has filed a lengthy appeal – 1,500 pages, councillors were told – to Ontario Superior Court in an attempt to quash the planning approvals for the KED, arguing the city showed bias when it made the decision.
Wood said the city expected to receive its copy of the appeal sometime this week. In addition to the court action, a separate appeal at the Local Planning Appeals
Tribunal is scheduled to begin in May 2020. Fortin is also one of the parties involved in the LPAT appeal.
Fortin's arguments include a reference to a letter Mayor Brian Bigger sent to Premier Doug Ford in July 2018, asking the premier to intervene to speed up the LPAT process. Ironically, multiple sources have told Sudbury.com one of the reasons why the LPAT hearing was delayed until May 2020 – more than two years after city council approved the project – was to ensure the province couldn't be accused of improperly accelerating the process.
Around that time, the government was dealing with the fallout over accusations Ford had tried to appoint a family friend as the head of the Ontario Provincial Police, the sources said, and was eager to distance itself from any appearance of intervening in a legal process.
Under the LPAT legislation, decisions are supposed to be made within 10 months of an appeal. The clock was stopped last year while an upper court ruled on the legality of the LPAT's rules of procedure. While that ruling came in May of this year, the LPAT recently said the timeline for a decision wouldn't start again until the May 5, 2020 hearing, because of “scheduling” issues.
On Tuesday, councillors were told legal costs to fight the appeals were mounting, and outside lawyers would have to be used to deal with the Superior Court application.
*Deputy city solicitor Kelly Gravelle said the city's legal costs would likely be at least $500,000 – likely more – when all is said and done. As far as timelines, Gravelle said even favourable decisions for the city wouldn't necessarily be the end of the process.
“We now have the LPAT and the Superior Court of Justice matter,” she said. “Both of those decisions in those matters are appealable. So I can't give timelines per se, because I can't dictate what the LPAT or Superior Court of Justice will do.
“We're not likely to get anything definitive from the LPAT in May. We're really controlled by the LPAT and the Superior Court's timelines.”
Roads director David Shelsted, who is in charge of overseeing the construction of the KED, said some engineering work is being done, prepping the storm water management pond on the side and getting reading for road improvements.
Ward 1 Coun. Mark Signoretti and Ward 4 Coun. Geoff McCausland – both vocal opponents – wondered why any work is being done at the site, considering the precarious state with the legal appeals.
“There's no timeline for completion at all,” McCausland said. “These appeals could go on for years … Every day, this plan seems to make less and less sense.”
McCausland asked Ward 11 Coun. Bill Leduc – a vocal KED supporter – whether allegations in Fortin's legal appeal are true.
Fortin alleged Leduc told him that if Fortin kept fighting the project in Superior Court, it would cost him more than $1 million.
“I'm not going to respond to that,” an irritated Leduc replied. “I'm not going to give Mr. Fortin any leverage on this issue. At this point in time, I remain silent.”
Signoretti then asked Wood whether Gateway Casinos is still interested in the KED, considering its lease at Sudbury Downs expires next year when no new casino will be ready.
“You can't construct a building by May 2020,” Signoretti said. “Do we have any details on that?”
Wood said it's up to Gateway to comment on that publicly.
“But they have communicated to us full support for the project,” he said. “They are an active partner moving forward, both in the legal and the planning situations.”
The next city council update on the KED is scheduled for February 2020.
* An earlier version of this story incorrectly identified the city's deputy solicitor. Sudbury.com apologizes for the error.
