Southbridge Care Homes has filed its appeal to the Ontario Land Tribunal after Port Hope council denied its heritage permit application for demolition of buildings at 65 Ward St. in June.

Southbridge plans to build a seven-storey, 192 bed facility on the Ward Street property. The plan does not meet building regulations in Port Hope, which limits builds to five storeys, but can move ahead following a Minister’s Zoning Order recently issued from the province, overriding municipal zoning restrictions.

At the June 29 special meeting, Port Hope council denied the demolition permit application with a narrow 4-3 vote.

Deputy Mayor Todd Attridge and councillors Claire Holloway-Wadhwani, Vicky Mink and Adam Pearson voted to deny the application while Mayor Olena Hankivsky and councillors Chris Collins and Les Andrew were in support of the demolition.

As previously reported, Southbridge had the right to appeal within 30 days of receiving notice of council’s decision in accordance with the Ontario Heritage Act.

A spokesperson with the Ontario Land Tribunal told Northumberland 89.7 that Southbridge’s appeal was received on Friday and it’s currently at the intake stage and has not been fully processed at this time.

Once the appeal is fully processed, the tribunal will send out an acknowledgement letter to the parties, which includes their case number and assigned case coordinator.

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