Kate Lyons is a partner at Goodmans. She dedicates her practice to representing both private and public sector clients at the intersection of municipal and environmental law. Her expertise includes a wide range of municipal and environmental approvals, in particular in situations where there are disparate public, private and institutional stakeholders. In both the urban and suburban settings, she has been instrumental in navigating the complex regulatory framework in order to obtain permits and approvals. Kate is well known for her expertise in water resource and natural heritage matters including cases before the Ontario Municipal Board and Local Planning Appeal Tribunal, prosecutions, permitting and transactional work. On behalf of the landowner, she recently appeared before LPAT in a hearing where key issues included the protection of endangered species, wetland and shoreline protection and aboriginal engagement. The plan of subdivision was approved by the Tribunal. She has represented the Town of Oakville in a number of challenging cases. For example, as lead counsel for the Town, she successfully obtained a landmark Ontario Municipal Board approval for a community plan encompassing 7,500 acres which included the preservation of over 1,000 acres of natural heritage land. An article in the Ontario Planning Journal noted that Kate and her Goodmans colleagues “marshalled the [3 levels of government] into a formidable negotiating team”. The Town’s team is described as “the dream team, capable of dealing with everything thrown at it.” Kate continues to represent the Town of Oakville in a number of ongoing matters. Her experience in Brownfield redevelopment includes involvement with the Gooderham & Worts historic Distillery District in Toronto, the Shipyards redevelopment in Collingwood, Toronto Waterfront Revitalization Corporation, and countless projects where industrial land has been successfully transformed for residential and parkland uses. For example, she represents Infrastructure Ontario and Ontario Power Generation in the sale of a significant waterfront site which was formerly home to a coal fired power plant. She is acting for landowners on a number of redevelopment sites throughout the Greater Toronto Area. Kate’s redevelopment experience includes also cost sharing agreements, infrastructure financing and environmental approvals associated with infrastructure requirements. Kate was named the 2018 Toronto “Municipal Lawyer of the Year” by Best Lawyers in Canada. She is recognized as a leading lawyer by The Best Lawyers in Canada for real estate, municipal and environmental law and by The Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory for property development. She has also been recognized as a leading practitioner in the Lexpert Special Editions on Canada’s Leading Infrastructure Lawyers and Energy Lawyers.