The OMB has turned down my request to review the decision of the Glenway adjudicator, Susan Schiller, on 18 November 2014, allowing development on the former golf course lands, on the grounds that I was not a Party or Participant at the OMB Hearing.
I argued that the Board:
(a) heard misleading evidence from a party or witness which was discovered only after the hearing and which could have affected the result and
(b) should consider evidence which was not available at the time of the hearing but that is credible and could have affected the result.
The Associate Chair of the OMB, Wilson Lee, says:
"I have concluded that the Request is an attempt to reargue the issues raised in the hearing and addressed in the Decision."
He goes on:
“The Request refers to a number of reports on Town-initiated studies which assisted in the finalisation of its Secondary Plan and the adoption of this plan. The release of the reports and the adoption of the plan occurred after the issuance of the Decision (27 March 2014) and while settlement discussions were underway.”
“At paragraph 62 of the Decision, the Board determined that there was no requirement for completion of any Town-led, Town-wide study to precede its consideration of the appeals.”
(Paragraph 62 reads: The Board attached no weight to the suggestion that a Town-led, Town-wide study must precede consideration of the Marianneville development proposals.)
I appreciate that the Board “strives for finality in its decisions” and cannot allow things to drag on indefinitely. But I remain absolutely convinced that the entire dynamic of the OMB Hearing would have been fundamentally different if the participants – including the Adjudicator – had known in March 2014 what they know now.
You can read the OMB letter by clicking on Documents in the panel above left, navigating to Glenway. Open “OMB Review letter 13Feb15” A copy of my request for a review is in the same Glenway folder.
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