| In the latest installment of Benny Marotta’s legal assaults on the Town over the historic Rand Estate, Mr. Marotta has now instructed his lawyers to challenge orders issued by the Town under its Property Standards By-Law. |
| By way of background, our supporters will recall that SORE was instrumental in persuading the previous Council to issue notices of intention to designate all four properties comprising the Rand Estate under the Heritage Act. |
| Mr. Marotta appealed those notices to the Conservation Review Board (CRB) and then later brought a legal challenge to the courts. After losing the court challenge, Mr. Marotta withdrew his CRB appeal but only with respect to 144 and 176 John Street East. The CRB hearing of the Marotta appeal of the Town’s notice of intent to designate 200 John and 588 Charlotte remains scheduled for December of this year as we’ve earlier reported. |
| Benny Marotta’s companies are already being prosecuted by the Town for the outrageous clear cutting of a large portion of the Rand Estate right after the last municipal election. SORE has over the past couple of years urged the Town not to permit the remaining heritage assets on the Rand Estate to be further “demolished by neglect”. |
| In August of this year, the Town finally moved under its Property Standards By-Law to issue Orders requiring the Marotta companies to take a number of steps to safeguard the remaining heritage attributes on 144 and 176 John Street East. Mr. Marotta’s companies have now, regrettably, appealed those Orders. The Orders and the appeals filed by the Marotta companies can be found on the SORE website. |
| The appeals will be heard by the Town’s Property Standards Committee next Tuesday, Oct 12, at 5 pm. The appeals will be conducted electronically via livestream. |
| Written or video comments on the appeal must by forwarded to Natalie Thomson the Secretary of the Committee, prior to Monday October 11 at 4:30 pm. Her email is natalie.thomson@notl.com. |
| If you wish to participate in the hearing and make an oral presentation, you must register with Ms. Thomson by next Monday (Thanksgiving Day), again by 4:30 pm. |
| SORE will be participating in this appeal. We encourage our supporters and concerned residents to do the same and at a minimum submit written comments by next Monday telling the Property Standards Committee what you think of Benny Marotta’s latest attempt to delay the Town’s efforts to protect the Rand Estate. |
| As always, we thank you for your continued support. |
|
Leave a Reply
Want to join the discussion?Feel free to contribute!