Stockwoods lawyers Brian Gover and Justin Safayeni successfully represented the appellant in a case dealing with the limits of municipal power under the Planning Act to enact interim control by-laws, which are designed to allow municipalities to deal with urgent situations without following most of the procedural protections involved in a normal by-law process. The appellant is a developer that was adversely impacted by interim control measures put in place by a municipality. The appellant sought to quash the by-laws and pursued relief against the Township for alleged misfeasance and negligence as well. The Court of Appeal unanimously allowed the appeal. In so doing, the Court held that interim control by-laws cannot restrict the subdivision of land, and that more than one interim control by-law cannot simultaneously apply to the same piece of land. This is the first appellate decision to squarely address these issues. The by-laws in question were quashed and the matter returned to the lower court for a trial on whether the torts can be made out. You can read the full decision here.
