Gordon Prentice at Large - Politics in Newmarket
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- Written by: Gordon Prentice
The Town confirmed on Monday 9 January that it had received notice of an appeal to the OMB by the developer Bob Forrest following its widely applauded decision to reject the proposed redevelopment of the Clock Tower lands in the heart of the heritage conservation district.
I am told the Town is currently processing the appeal
"and will be submitting it to the OMB later this month".
The developer's deadline for triggering an appeal was Thursday 5 January.
The Town says it has 15 days in which to forward the notice of appeal and its response which would take us to the end of next week.
I suspect Forrest's appeal will pick up on the points raised is his intemperate letter to the Mayor and Councillors of 28 November 2016. (Scroll to last item in page 2 and open.) He will no doubt bang on about delays in processing the application. The points he is likely to make can all be easily dealt with.
For its part, the Town says with simplicity and admirable clarity that the application was rejected on 5 December 2016 because:
"the development of the subject lands as proposed would adversely impact the character of the established neighbourhood and adjacent properties within the Heritage Conservation District".
I expect the Staff's proposed response to Forrest's OMB appeal will be formally approved by councillors - and amended if necessary.
In any event, we know the Town's opposition to Forrest's plans is not going to change. Tony Van Trappist admitted as much when he told the Committee of the Whole meeting on 28 November 2016 (after it had rejected the Forrest application) that
"we will be guided by the decision of the majority of this Council."
Van Trappist was, of course, the only member of Council to support the staff's amended version of Forrest's application. The decision to reject the original Forrest application was unanimous.
Forrest's letter, setting out the detailed reasons for his appeal to the OMB, and the Town's response, will be essential reading for anyone seeking Party or Participant status at the OMB Hearing.
All this material should be posted on the Town's website at the same time it is sent down to the OMB in Toronto.
Even if Forrest were to win the OMB Appeal (the chances of which are vanishingly remote) what would he have achieved?
He still won't be able to develop the Clock Tower as proposed because he needs Town owed land which will never in a thousand years be forthcoming.
For me, this is the enduring mystery.
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- Written by: Gordon Prentice
My spies tell me the trial date has now been set for 10 February 2017 at the Small Claims Court in Newmarket.
At long last the end of this ludicrous psycho drama is in sight.
Di Muccio's allegations of abuse of power, targeted malice and intentional infliction of mental suffering are totally absurd and risible. And then there are the claims of injurious falsehoods and breach of confidence and breach of privacy.
It has always been my view that the Courts should never be used to settle old political scores. 
When she is not litigating, former Newmarket councillor, Matilde Di Muccio, is hard at work seeking the PC nomination for Newmarket-Aurora for the next Provincial election in 2018. The last time she went for the nomination she was blocked by the then PC leader, Tim Hudak, who believed she was sub-standard material.
It beats me why she, a PC parliamentary hopeful, still includes on her website an ancient testimonial from Liberal Leader Kathleen Wynne:
"Maddie is an intelligent, passionate and able woman who will be a great addition to Newmarket's Town Hall. Her community experience, her leadership skills and her drive to bring positive change to those around her will make her a strong Town councillor. Her no-nonsense approach to problems will make her a leader."
These days, Di Muccio doesn't think much of Kathleen Wynne who said such nice things about her in the past - before she (Di Muccio) was elected.
Di Muccio sneaked on to Newmarket Council in 2010 with a majority of 37, taking 27.5% of the vote. After four years, the electors in Ward 6 had had enough and kicked her out, her share of the vote dropping to 24.6%.
Anyway... Maddie now insists:
"After 13 years of Dalton McGuinty and Kathleen Wynne it's time for a new direction..."
If Maddie floods the riding association with new paper members and, against all the odds, gets the nomination everything will go south.
That will be the new direction.
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- Written by: Gordon Prentice
Plans to redevelop the Hollingsworth Arena site have disappeared in a puff of smoke. 
FivefortheDrive today tweets that the swashbuckling developer, Sandro Sementilli, has defaulted on his mortgage on 693 Davis Drive, posting an image of the repossession notice at the property.
The developer's San Michael Homes website has vanished into thin air.
A report to Newmarket's Committee of the Whole on 18 October 2016 on Hollingsworth was unexpectedly pulled from the agenda. (See item 4)
The Town's Chief Administrative Officer, Bob Shelton, told councillors there had been changes to the agenda:
“Item 4 regarding San Michael Homes and (the) Hollingsworth property has been withdrawn and will come forward along with the signed letter of intent when that is ready. It should come together.”
Given what we now know, a signed letter of intent isn't going to be coming any time soon.
I blogged about the Hollingsworth saga over a year ago. The presentation and the artwork from the developer's architect Harry Kohn clearly showed two towers. 
But when Mr Sementilli made his unforgettable partnership pitch to councillors on 20 October 2015 he only ever mentioned one tower.
I remarked at the time that, curiously, no-one picked him up on this.
Newmarket's Mayor Tony Van Bynen told the ERA newspaper that
“Yes, this project is not without risk … but we would be doing our residents a disservice if we did not explore these opportunities to the fullest.”
Perhaps we shall all be told in due course how and why it all went pear-shaped.
It would be nice to know.