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Court says attempt to stop land deal has no legal merit. Pickering developer Silvio DeGasperis and two companies associated with him acted in bad faith by using false environmental concerns so they could develop on their Greenbelt-designated land, the Superior Court has ruled.
The court found the two companies allied with Mr. DeGasperis, Hollinger Farms No. 1 Inc. and Altona Farms Inc., acted in bad faith by arguing plans for Seaton were flawed and done without adequate consultation. It said they used a false cloak of environmental concerns so they could develop on Mr. DeGasperis`s land, located on the Greenbelt. The court called it "a vexatious and ergregious example of abuse of the process," and ruled the companies pay $702,000 of the $761,000 in legal costs to the Ontario Ministry of the Environment and the Ontario Realty Corp.
"Their sole motive for bringing the application was to frustrate, disrupt and delay the land exchange as a further step in their ongoing war with the the Province in their attempts to harass and intimidate the Province into permitting development on their lands adjoining the Seaton Lands," the judges wrote.
When the provincial government introduced the Greenbelt plan in 2003, 400 hectares of Mr. DeGasperis`s land-which he planned on developing-in the Duffins-Rouge Agricultural Preserve, become prohibited from development. The land is located next to the Seaton Lands.
At the sametime, developers and the Province swapped land on the Oak Ridges Moraine for land in Seaton, which would allow for development in Seaton but protect the Moraine. Since then, Mr. DeGasperis has launched a number of legal challenges against the provincial plan for Seaton, arguing that his lands are better suited for development. He said the legal battle has cost him nearly $5 million.
The Superior Court`s decision to order the $702,00 payment for legal fees is possibly the largest such judgement ever awarded to a government in Canada, according to Infrastructure Minister David Caplan......
The above article was taken from the "durhamregion.com" newspaper, by Kristen Calis.
The court found the two companies allied with Mr. DeGasperis, Hollinger Farms No. 1 Inc. and Altona Farms Inc., acted in bad faith by arguing plans for Seaton were flawed and done without adequate consultation. It said they used a false cloak of environmental concerns so they could develop on Mr. DeGasperis`s land, located on the Greenbelt. The court called it "a vexatious and ergregious example of abuse of the process," and ruled the companies pay $702,000 of the $761,000 in legal costs to the Ontario Ministry of the Environment and the Ontario Realty Corp.
"Their sole motive for bringing the application was to frustrate, disrupt and delay the land exchange as a further step in their ongoing war with the the Province in their attempts to harass and intimidate the Province into permitting development on their lands adjoining the Seaton Lands," the judges wrote.
When the provincial government introduced the Greenbelt plan in 2003, 400 hectares of Mr. DeGasperis`s land-which he planned on developing-in the Duffins-Rouge Agricultural Preserve, become prohibited from development. The land is located next to the Seaton Lands.
At the sametime, developers and the Province swapped land on the Oak Ridges Moraine for land in Seaton, which would allow for development in Seaton but protect the Moraine. Since then, Mr. DeGasperis has launched a number of legal challenges against the provincial plan for Seaton, arguing that his lands are better suited for development. He said the legal battle has cost him nearly $5 million.
The Superior Court`s decision to order the $702,00 payment for legal fees is possibly the largest such judgement ever awarded to a government in Canada, according to Infrastructure Minister David Caplan......
The above article was taken from the "durhamregion.com" newspaper, by Kristen Calis.