OMB Decision Sets Precedent For Managing Costs And Interest Against Unreasonable Claimants

Shergar Developments v. Windsor (City)

The recent decision of the Ontario Municipal Board (the "Board") in Shergar Developments v. Windsor (City) ("Shergar") provides new support for expropriating authorities looking to control costs from claimants who delay their claims or advance unreasonable positions in land acquisition cases.¹ In Shergar, the Board made an unprecedented award of costs to the expropriating authority, the City of Windsor, and significantly reduced the claimant's entitlement to statutory interest.

The decision is timely in an era when land acquisition is an increasingly expensive and complex proposition. Changes to land use planning in Ontario will increasingly necessitate that public infrastructure such as schools, rights-of-ways, and transit stations will need to be built within existing urban boundaries rather than on greenfield sites. In addition to skyrocketing land costs, long construction timelines in urban areas will also increase claims