Decision of the Court of Appeal given September 11, 2018 – Benoit et al c. Ville de Sutton
Published on September 19, 2018Press Release
The Court of Appeal of Quebec rendered judgement on September 11 in the matter of the action of 24 citizens regarding the 2015 amendment to the town’s urban planning regulations. The Court of Appeal concluded that the Ville de Sutton had not followed the procedures of the Act respecting land use planning and development when amending its zoning (254) and subdivision (256) by-laws. As a result, the judgement quashed and annulled zoning by-law RZ 254 and its amendments as well as subdivision by-law RL 256 and its amendments.
The Sutton municipal council made an initial reading of this judgement and concluded that it was not appropriate to file an appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada. Thus, the Ville de Sutton will abide by the judgement. The town will therefore apply its former by-laws, namely zoning by-law 115-2 and subdivision by-law 116-1.
The town estimates that the legal proceedings have resulted, thus far, in direct expenses approaching $200,000.
In the coming weeks, the impact of this judgement will be studied more closely, and the council will address consequent measures to be taken. Thereafter, the council will inform its citizens of the adjustments that it deems appropriate to put forward as necessary, notably the modifications imposed by the MRC’s watercourse management plan.
The summary of the judgement by the Court of Appeal may be found at the following address: Benoit et al. c. Ville de Sutton