A prominent developer was expected to take the matter of its rejected plan for a development on a historic property in Niagara-on-the-Lake to the highest court in Ontario last month — however, the advocacy group involved in the case is sharing that the developer has withdrawn its appeal.
Save Our Rand Estate says that Solmar (Niagara 2) Inc., which failed to get approval for its plans for a 172-unit subdivision on the historic Rand Estate in Old Town, withdrew its appeal to the Ontairo Court of Appeal asking it to review the fairness and legality of the Ontario Land Tribunal’s decision on the matter (without relitigating the decision itself).
In October 2024, following a months-long hearing that pit Solmar against the Town of NOTL, the advocacy group, known as SORE, and Rand Estate neighbours Blair and Brenda McArthur, the Ontario Land Tribunal ruled that Solmar needs to re-evaluate its development plans, as they “do not represent good planning in the public interest.”
In response, Solmar, owned by developer Benny Marotta, filed an appeal asking the tribunal to review its decision, arguing it made key errors in its ruling — in January 2025, the tribunal chair decided that the request for review was unwarranted and the appeal was ultimately dismissed a few months later in April.
At the same time as it filed its appeal with the tribunal, however, Solmar requested a judicial review from the Court of Appeal to have it look over aspects of the tribunal’s decision-making and rule on whether or not it acted reasonably.
Everyone involved would’ve had to wait until April 1 for the first hearing — however, with Solmar withdrawing its appeal, no hearing will be taking place.
“This is just the latest of several instances over the last nine years where Mr. Marotta appealed a tribunal or court decision on Rand he doesn’t like only to withdraw his appeal on the doorstep of the hearing,” said SORE’s online statement from May 1.
SORE said Solmar paid it for the privilege of withdrawing its appeal. It did not confirm how much Solmar paid.
“We understand that Mr. Marotta will be coming back with yet another proposal for development at the Rand Estate,” the group added in its statement.
“We would like to think after withdrawing his appeal of the (tribunal) decision that he has finally agreed to stop fighting and come to the table with a proposal that accepts the major constraints that the (tribunal) has put on this important heritage property. We are not holding our breath.”
