Developer ordered by judge to tear down unapproved structure in Ontario town

A Woodbridge developer has been ordered to tear down a partially built structure on Kingston Road in Pickering Village that was erected without proper building permits.

First Avenue Properties purchased the land at Church Street in Ajax in 2015 with the intent of building a four-storey mixed-use project on the site, which had been used as an automotive repair and sales facility and needed remediation.

Various site plans were presented to the Town of Ajax and conditional approval was granted to the developer in 2021. A full building permit was not obtained, however.

According to court documents from the Ontario Court of Justice the town became aware the development was exceeding the scope of the conditional permit by October 13 of that year, prompting a visit from a building inspector, who observed construction of “above grade elements.”

“Not only did First Avenue not have a full building permit for above-grade elements, First Avenue had failed to have the below-grade elements inspected.  First Avenue acknowledges these two facts to be true,” court was told.

The town immediately issued an Order to Comply, requiring First Avenue to immediately cease working on all above-grade elements but a visit on October 27 revealed that the company had “disregarded the Order to Comply and continued with the above-grade construction.”

Core slabs were subsequently installed on the second floor to act as a structural support for the walls without, court heard, authorization from the town.

The two sides have been arguing back and forth in the nearly four years since and the partially constructed building – an entire ground floor – has sat unfinished since November 2021 and remains an active construction site.

First Avenue told the court that an order for demolition would unfairly punish it for circumstances beyond its control.

In her ruling Justice Annette Casullo said she “could not disagree more.”

“First Avenue finds itself in these circumstances solely of its own accord.  It failed to comply with the terms it explicitly agreed to,” she said. “First Avenue decided it did not want to remediate the site.  Perhaps remediation was going to be too expensive.  Or perhaps the site was beyond remediation.  There is no evidence as to ‘why’ First Avenue chose not to remediate, and I need not make any finding in this regard.”

First Avenue told the court that instead of demolition, a better course of action is to allow them to continue working toward obtaining the requisite building permit.

Casullo, however, ruled that the developer made a “calculated decision” to build beyond the scope of the permit and “without the benefit of the required inspections.”

“First Avenue’s conduct must not be rewarded.  An order for demolition is the only just and appropriate remedy in the circumstances.”

The Town of Ajax said they view the ruling as an “important affirmation of accountability and the need to uphold the integrity of planning and building regulations|” and said it will continue to monitor the matter – including any possible appeal – in consultation with its legal counsel.