Jan 2026 update

Mizrahi Developments wants to expand Hamilton’s urban boundary by approximately 10 hectares into the Greenbelt to build 75 low density houses. City Council has already denied this application but the developers have appealed the denial to the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT).

However, the Planning Act DOES NOT PERMIT APPEALS OF GREENBELT REFUSALS, so this case has no merit and should be dismissed. Please:

1. Send comments about the legality of this appeal to the OLT by Friday, Jan 30, 2026.

2. Contact the office of the Rob Flack, the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing (and your own MPP) to ask his government uphold its own laws (Section 22(7.1) and (7.2) of the Planning Act, 2004) which do not allow appeals of Greenbelt denials to the OLT. Calls are much more effective than emails.

Talking Points for comments

• ​The Tribunal should dismiss this case on the basis the appeal has no merit.

• The City’s denial cannot be appealed to the OLT as per Section 22(7.1) and (7.2) of the Planning Act, 2004, which states that there is no appeal in respect of a refusal or failure to approve or adopt Official Plan amendments that propose to “alter all or any part of the boundary of an area of settlement in a municipality if, as a result of the alteration, any land in the Greenbelt Area, within the meaning of the Greenbelt Act, 2005, would be included in the area of settlement.”

• By appealing the City of Hamilton's denial of their application to remove this parcel from the Greenbelt, the applicant for 159-163 Sulphur Springs Road is contravening the Greenbelt Act, the Greenbelt Plan, the Niagara Escarpment Plan, the Provincial Planning Statement, and the City of Hamilton’s Official Plan.​

• The Province of Ontario committed, in 2023, to preserving the integrity of the agricultural and ecological functions of the Greenbelt for the long term.

Instructions to send comments to the Ontario Land Tribunal

Follow instructions below to send your comments to the OLT against this proposal by Friday, Jan 30, 2026. If you previously sent comments against this proposal to the City of Hamilton Planning Committee and clerk in Sept 2025, you may reuse those.

• Information/studies/maps/plans about this application are here

• OLT Case Status Page here

Fill out the Participant Request Form using instructions below:

• Fill in OLT Case file number: OLT-25-000847

• Date of Hearing or Case Management Conference (CMC): Feb 10, 2026

• Fill in your name and email

• Representative: leave blank

• Type your statement in the box on the form. Don’t exceed the size of the box

• Save your completed Participant Request Form by using the ‘save’ button on the form page. It will save to your ‘downloads’ folder

• Write an email to the OLT Case Manager, Ms. Kayla Ansell, asking to be granted Participant Status for the case

• Include the OLT case number in the subject line

• Attach your completed Participant Request Form to your email

• Send your email and the attached Participant Request Form to the four contacts listed below by Jan 30, 2026

• Watch your email inbox for a reply from the OLT that will include a link to the first CMC on February 10, 2026

• Log in to the CMC on Feb 10 to observe. Online link is above. It is at this CMC that you will be either approved or denied as a Participant so it is important that you attend if possible.

Send the Form to these contacts

• Kayla.Ansell@ontario.ca

• roberto.aburto@dentons.com

• alice.mihailescu@dentons.com

• Patrick.MacDonald@hamilton.ca

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Time line

• Feb 10, 2026, first scheduled Case Management Conference (CMC)

• Late 2025, City’s denial appealed to the OLT

• September 17, 2025, application denied by Hamilton City Council at the Statutory Public Meeting

• December 19, 2024, the Planning Division received an Official Plan Amendment application to expand Hamilton’s urban boundary into the Greenbelt Area and Niagara Escarpment Plan Area by approximately 10 hectares to allow the development of 75 low density dwellings on a condominium road at 159 and 163 Sulphur Springs Road.

• July 10, 2025, virtual open house information meeting held by City Planning Staff

• Video of open house meeting is HERE

• Staff slide deck presentation is HERE

• Read more and view all the material submitted by the developers so far HERE

• Developers appealed the City’s denial of their application to expand Hamilton’s urban boundary into the Greenbelt to the OLT