The legal challenge against a development proposal in the Peaks of Grassi neighbourhood has been postponed until Oct. 16 when a judge will hear from both parties for the first time.
Friends of Peaks of Grassi Inc. filed the lawsuit at the end of September against Lawrence Hill and his partners and associated businesses that own four acres of land in the Canmore neighbourhood.
Hill, Pierre Doyon and Dan Madlung are longtime residents of the neighbourhood and put forward an unsuccessful development application for the land earlier this year.
Recently, they submitted a new application for rezoning of urban reserve land proposing infill development, including five single family detached units, eight duplex units and 14 townhouse units – of which seven are proposed to be Perpetually Affordable Housing.
The lawsuit will ask for an injunction into that process, along with a declaration from the current owners that they hold the land in trust for the community and will sell the land to the plaintiffs for $200,000.
The plaintiffs, Friends of Peaks of Grassi Inc., are a separate group entirely from the Peaks of Grassi Community Association. Last week the Outlook incorrectly reported the two groups were the same.
While different, they do have key positions filled by the same people. A corporate registries search for Friends of Peaks of Grassi found its directors named as Tom Boone, Mark Gruman (also legal counsel for the group), and Ernie Mattern.
Mattern is also listed as vice-president of the Peaks of Grassi Community Association.
Peaks home owner Steve Hrudey is listed as the community association president, but he is also closely involved with the legal challenge by the Friends of Peaks of Grassi group. Hrudey signed an undertaking to personally pay any damages found by the court to be owing by the plaintiffs to the defendants. Boone and Peaks home owner Blanca Cervi also signed identical undertakings to help foot the bill if they lose the court challenge and have to compensate Hill and the other named defendants.
It includes affidavits from three Peaks residents – Christine Scoland, Drew Holloway and Wendy Hibbard. While Scoland and Holloway’s affidavits refer to promises Hill made in the late ‘90s when he headed up Alpine Homes, Hibbard recounts in her statement a dinner she attended in December 2013 at Hill’s home.
“At that time, Lawrence advised that he had been contacted by Chris Ollenberger of Three Sisters Developments, who advised that Three Sisters wished to sell the four acre parcel,” Hibbard wrote. “We all shared how badly we would feel if this land, which had remained undeveloped in the years after the Peaks neighbourhood had been essentially completed, was developed and wondered if we could stop this from happening.”
Hibbard goes on in her statement to say a year later she received an email from Hill reporting that the idea of affected neighbours purchasing the land for “undevelopment” was well received by Ollenberger.
“He was willing to sell the four acre parcel for a surprisingly low price in order that Three Sisters would obtain positive public relations by not supporting development in the Peaks neighbourhood, and was willing to give some time to have the affected neighbours put together the necessary funds to purchase the property in order that it be maintained in its undeveloped state,” wrote Hibbard.
She stated in her affidavit it was in April 2014 that she found out Hill had purchased the land and several months later she was “shocked” to learn about the first development application to rezone. She stated to her knowledge at no time did the defendants attempt to approach the neighbourhood to put together the funds to purchase the land for $200,000.
Hibbard concludes her affidavit with “that to the best of my information and belief, the actions by the defendants to develop the four acre parcel for a huge personal profit show a complete lack of integrity by Hill and the principals of the corporate defendants, as their actions denied the Peaks community the opportunity to purchase the four acre parcel to maintain it in an undeveloped state, and I make this affidavit in support of an application for an interim injunction prohibiting the application to rezone the four acre parcel from proceeding until the trial of this action.”
The first court appearance for the legal injunction into Canmore’s planning and development process and the lawsuit against the owners of the property will be on Oct. 16 in Calgary.
