Services

Our Legal Services

At Overland LLP, we are dedicated to providing you with legal services of exceptional quality. Our team of legal professionals are driven and experienced, providing your team with strategic advice, as well as navigating the development and land use planning regime.

To help serve you to the best of our ability, we’re proud to offer legal services to assist with the following matters:

  • Official Plan and Zoning By-Law Amendment Applications

  • Site Plan Approvals and Plans of Subdivision

  • Community Benefits Charges and Parkland Dedication

  • Ontario Land Tribunal and other Administrative Proceedings 

  • Neighbourhood Planning Disputes and Cost Sharing Arrangements

  • Development and Education Development Charges

  • Municipal Tax Assessment

  • Ontario Heritage Act Approvals and Agreements

  • Expropriation

Development Applications

From the due diligence and concept development stages, through the preparation and submission of development applications, our team of legal professionals will assist you and your consulting team in preparing complete and thorough applications under the Planning Act.

In particular, we will assist you and your consulting team by:

  • Working together to identify and avoid potential legal and other pitfalls

  • Reducing the risk of long-term costly and time-consuming mistakes

  • Providing pre-submission advice and application review

  • Preparing you and your team for the next important development application

 

Public Advocacy and Appeals

Following the submission of your development application, Overland LLP can act as your public persona in pursuing approvals and your trusted advisor behind the scenes, providing legal and strategic advice at key moments during the process. We work with municipal staff and legal counsel to help navigate the approvals process, while also negotiating with your neighbours, the municipality, and other interested parties on your behalf to secure approvals.

In our public role, we will advocate for you in numerous venues, such as:

  • Municipal councils and committees of council

  • Committees of Adjustment, the OLT (the Ontario Land Tribunal, formerly the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal and the Ontario Municipal Board) and the TLAB (Toronto Local Appeal Body) in land use planning, development, and heritage matters

  • The Assessment Review Board in municipal property tax cases

  • In Hearings of Necessity, Boards of Negotiation, and the OLT in expropriation matters

  • In OLT-led mediation or in private mediation

  • In various levels of Court and other administrative tribunals in contested matters

Planning Instruments and Agreements

In addition to strategic advice behind the scenes, we’re also proud to provide the fundamental services necessary for implementing development approvals. From assisting in the preparation of planning instruments such as Official Plan Amendments and Zoning By-law Amendments, to negotiating and drafting municipal and development agreements related to matters that include:

  • Community Benefits

  • Cost Sharing

  • Heritage Easements

  • Site Plan Approval

  • Encroachments

  • Rental Housing Replacement

 

Heritage Matters

With Overland LLP, we have a dedicated team of legal professionals who represent clients where properties either are or have the potential to be listed or designated under the Ontario Heritage Act. We understand the central role that heritage plays within the development approval and appeals processes.

We can help you to:

  • Develop strategies for heritage properties

  • Gather input from heritage professionals, architects, and planners

  • Navigate legal jargon and make informed long-term decisions

Advice to School Boards and Municipalities

In addition to work we do for landowners and developers, our team of dedicated lawyers and legal professionals at Overland LLP have extensive experience working for school boards and municipalities. Many years of combined experience allows us to understand their development-related interests and assist them with their planning objectives. 

We also represent school boards and municipalities in matters of

  • Development charges

  • Education development charges

  • Municipal property tax assessment

  • School site acquisitions

 

Expropriation

Our team of legal professionals at Overland LLP are committed to providing advice to both expropriating authorities, such as municipalities, school boards, and other public agencies, and to landowners whose land is subject to expropriation.

We work with you and other land use professionals, such as planners and appraisers, to:

  • Ascertain property values

  • Determine valid costs and claims

  • Negotiate between the interested parties

  • Provide you with a procedural roadmap, to help better arrange your affairs with respect to land that is subject to expropriation