The owner of a vacant former industrial site in Elmira’s core this week won an extension to the development charges exemption that’s been in place for eight years.
Blaze Properties now has another four years to get something going on the property, the former home of Procast Foundries, which closed its doors in 2002. The arrangement would see the township waive $56,000 in development charges – fees levied by municipalities to pay for infrastructure costs for new construction – as an incentive to get a new project underway.
The catch is that only commercial development qualifies, not residential. The owner sees demand for a residential project, but none for commercial. The township has resisted converting the land to purely residential use, however.
As director of engineering and planning Dan Kennaley noted at Monday night’s council meeting, a mixed-use project, with storefronts and apartments above, for instance, could be workable. An “important property in the core,” the site should be developed in keeping with the surrounding zoning, which is commercial.
“I think the requirement for ground-floor commercial is a good one,” he said of the township’s position.
But Coun. Mark Bauman appeared to be softening on that approach, noting there’s been no action at the site – and thus no real tax revenues – for eight years since the building was demolished and the property cleared for development.
“I’m wondering if our designation is wrong,” he said of the commercial zoning, adding the township has an incentive to look at other options.
In pushing for the extension of the development charge exemption, Mark Dorfman, a planner representing Blaze Properties, told councillors changing the Official Plan and zoning designations on the land would be the biggest incentive to seeing development there.
“I think there’s a market for residential development at that location.”
Blaze Properties has been trying to develop the 1.36-acre site at 7 Memorial Ave. since 2004. The foundry itself closed its doors in October 2002, with the building subsequently demolished.
In order to make the new exemption official, the township will have to amend the applicable bylaw, which requires a public meeting, with feedback and notification periods. Kennaley estimated it would take another two months to go through the process, which would see the exemption run to Apr. 30, 2016.
