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The owners of a former General Motors auto parts plant are appealing St. Catharines’ order to repair or demolish the site’s buildings, saying a 120-day extension granted late last month is “not reasonable.”
Ontario’s Superior Court of Justice received the notice of appeal on July 14, with numbered company 2390541 Ontario Inc. asking the court to issue several possible rulings.
In the notice of appeal, the company is asking for the property standards orders issued for 282 and 285 Ontario St., which were upheld by the city’s property standards committee on June 25, to be set aside.
Those orders were issued in May, with the city ordering the buildings to either be repaired, replaced or demolished to “ensure public safety.” The orders were made after the city received a number of complaints related to one of the properties.
Among the requirements, the owners are asked to repair, replace or board all openings of the buildings to prevent unauthorized entry and remove or repair damaged and unstable ceiling materials. Alternatively, the city said the owner can seek to demolish the buildings.
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Should the court not agree to rescind the orders, the company asked that the time for compliance be extended to June 30, 2027 — an additional eight months to the Oct. 23 date set by the city committee. The original deadline was June 12.
“The timeline for compliance set out in the Orders, even as extended by the Committee to October 23, 2026, are not reasonable and do not allow the Owner a sufficient opportunity to fully assess the Orders and provide a substantive response,” the company wrote in its notice of appeal.
“Further, the timelines do not maintain the general intent and purpose of the by-law given the complicated nature, extent and sequencing of the required work and, more specifically, given the need to engage competing regulatory agencies.”
Another option provided by the company is for the court to modify the city’s orders “in a manner that this Honourable Court deems just.”
In early June, the owners appealed the orders to the city’s property standards committee. The lawyer representing Celernus, which holds the mortgage for the property but is not the owner, argued at the committee the original timeline was not enough and more time was needed.
According to the notice, the owners retained an engineering consultant to review the orders “with a view to addressing the deficiencies,” but said the original June 12 deadline didn’t give the consultant enough time.
Patrick Maloney asked the committee hearing to be adjourned for 60 days, with the appeal noting it would give them time to obtain an engineering assessment to review the orders and address the compliance requirements.
The committee declined to delay the meeting, but did issue an extension, giving 120 days to meet the order’s requirements.
The Superior Court hearing is expected to be held Aug. 13 at the court house in St. Catharines.
Scott Rosts, manager of corporate communications for the City of St. Catharines, confirmed to Global News the property owners had appealed but did not comment further as the matter is now before the courts.
Action has been taken at the provincial level as well, with St. Catharines NDP MPP Jennie Stevens tabling a motion in June for the province to ensure the site is cleared up.
In a statement to Global News on Wednesday, Stevens criticized the latest move by the former GM site’s owners.
“It’s another ploy to prolong this process and evade responsibility,” she said in an email.
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