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HomeMy WebLinkAboutEcon Dev Adv Comm - 2004-07-28ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES July 28, 2004 11:00 am - 1:00 p.m. Conestoga Room - City Hall Attendance: Staff: Lawrence Bingeman Bob Denton Henrik Noesgaard Hans Pottkamper Patricia Bacon Janice Given Janette MacDonald Gord Stewart Regrets: Scott Baird Peter Cook Absent: Edward Brooker Howie Budd Jane Jantzi Mark Paleczny Glen Woolner Rob Browning Hans Gross Michelle Schurter Kathy Weiss Peter Benninger Shawky Fahel Manfred Conrad 1. Approval of Minutes of June 23/04 Minutes There was insufficient attendance to constitute a quorum. 2. Update - New Grand River W. Employment Lands Business Case Summary of Business Case (presented by Hans Gross) The business case outlines an opportunity to expedite development on industrial land adjacent to the Grand River West Business Park. The two subject areas are owned by Rockway Holdings, and Witzel/Kearns. The Business Case presents a plan to extend the existing roadway (Shirley Ave) through the land owned by Witzel/Kearns. This will serve two purposes: 1. accelerating development of the Witzel/Kearns land, and 2. opening up the Rockway Holdings land to future development. The City estimates recovery of its costs over a 3 year period. The City will apply a frontage fee which will be paid by the developer of the lot at the time of building permit application. The land owners have asked the City to consider absorbing f~e carrying costs of the financing required to service the land. The frontage fees result in a charge of $26,000 - $29,000 per acre depending on whether or not the City recovers the carrying costs. The current price of serviced industrial land charged by the City is $125,000 per acre. Since the City cannot fund this project out of existing capital budget spending, it is proposed that the capital cost of approximately $600,000 be taken from the Economic Investment Fund. Discussion The approach is not a significant deviation from historical City industrial land development practises. For example, the City worked with Huron Woods on the west side to develop land in a similar fashion. The City should explore options to ensure the land owners price and market the land so that it is sold in a timely manner. The land owners have already sold 2 lots and thus are ready to move quickly to bring the land to market (next year). With respect to carrying costs, the committee suggested that the land owner has been presented with a significant opportunity to service their land, making it more marketable, at no cost to themselves. The difference in the price of the land will not be significant should the City include carrying costs (approximately $3,000 extra per acre). The future development of the Rockway Holdings land was discussed, and staff suggested that Rockway Holdings will likely elect to service the land themselves. It was questioned if Witzel/Kearns would opt to do the same in the event that the Business Case was not approved by Council. t was felt that the developer will likely defer servicing of the land until in a financial position to do so. Although it was not possible to present a motion due to insufficient attendance, all in attendance did vote on the following: Is the committee in favour of the approach presented in the Business Case? The committee was unanimously in favour provided the City recovers carrying costs. Draft Provincial Policy Statement and 'Places to Grow' Provincial discussion paper- discussion and EDAC response Summary of Policy Papers (presented by Janice Given) The Province has brought forward two papers and asked for municipal feedback in a very limited timeframe. The Planning Division is seeking feedback from advisory committees and the public to help formulate their response. The focus of the presentation and discussion was the Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe (GGH), as it potentially has the greatest impact on Kitchener. · Projected growth from 2002-2031-growth in GGH is almost 4 million people · Estimated 2 million additional jobs · GGH generates nearly 2/3 of Ontario's GDP EDAC Minutes July 28, 2004 Potential implications include the consumption of agricultural land, gridlock, a decline in air quality, lack of affordable housing, and infrastructure costs. The objectives of the planning reform include r~w economic growth, more iveable communities, enhanced transportation choices, clean and safe water, and improvements to our environment. Kitchener has been identified as a'Future Growth Area' based on the following criteria: · available infrastructure or ability to provide it · strong, dynamic local economies · proximity and access to transportation networks and trade corridors · availability or accessibility of employment and a range of choices for affordable housing This means that it is anticipated that Kitchener can absorb more growth than its' initial plans project. The Planning Division is specifically looking for feedback on potential implications of this designation. In terms of Economic Development, the paper proposes promoting economic activity in the GGH through the following: · removing disincentives, establish urban economic development tools to attract investment, including tax increment financing, brownfield redevelopment incentives, and economic development corporations · improving transportation for goods and people · improving key infrastructure · ensuring diversity of employment lands · partner with urban centres to develop economic strategies · work with business on cluster development initiatives · implement Ontario's commercialization strategy to link public research institutions The paper seeks to identify how and when to grow, what infrastructure will be required, and what should be protected. Specifically, infrastructure will need to be examined in the context of moving people, and moving goods. To move people, it is proposed that the GGH expand higher order transit systems, establish interregional transit services- interconnected across the GGH, strengthen GO rail, and build HOV lanes. To move goods within and outside the GGH, it will be necessary to develop a strategic goods movement network, and identify future economic corridors (ex. GTA to Guelph/KVV). The paper proposes directing growth away from certain places and systems - ex. Niagara Escarpment, Oak Ridges Moraine, greenlands, water resources, agricultural land, mineral resources and cultural and archaeological heritage. The second paper on Provincial Planning Reform proposes the following changes/recommendations: · Urban Boundaries EDAC Minutes 3 July 28, 2004 · Tools for Re-Urbanization · OP/EA Processes · CIP for Upper Tier · 5% Park Dedication · Dedication of Natural Heritage Resources Feedback can be provided as follows: · written comments to staff by Monday, August 9th · participate in discussion at Development and Technical Services Committee on Monday, August 16th · participate in sub-committee · provide comments directly to the Province Please note that comments on the Provincial Planning Reform are due to the Province by Aug 31 st and comments on the Greater Golden Horseshoe are due on Sept 24th. Discussion Planning indicates that they feel that the new policies and procedures will not tie their hands, and as well, the concepts are consistent with our current plans and the Regional Smart Growth Plan. In fact, the Smart Growth Plan served as a basis for the Provincial papers. It was questioned if it is necessary or appropriate for EDAC to become involved given the scope the planning documents. It was recommended that the focus should be narrowed to specific issues, and feedback sought in those areas. As well, EDAC representatives inquired about the activities of the other regional cities in responding to these papers, and whether or not the Region will respond on our behalf as well. It was noted that there will be significant social/cultural changes required based on the goal to achieve 40 percent infill / 60 percent greenfill. There will be lifestyle changes, and changes to the kind of employment/industries operating in the area. Hans Pottkamper, Glen Woolner, Mark Paleczny, Patricia Bacon and Hans Gross volunteered to serve on a sub-committee to provide feedback to Planning. 4. New Economic Development Structure & Discussion/Planning Rob Browning announced that the position of Manager, Business Development has been filled. Kathy Weiss accepted the position last week, and will be responsible for both Business Development and management of the Business Enterprise Centre (BEC). 5. Future Direction of EDAC EDAC Minutes 4 July 28, 2004 The following points were discussed regarding the direction of EDAC: · EDAC should continue to participate in activities that it has been involved in over the last six months (i.e. commenting on business cases, participating in capital budget discussions, commenting on changes to DC by-law); · EDAC should be looking at implementation issues rather than setting direction; · Continue with CTT/stakeholders as liaison; · Get sense of big picture (Region) then determine where we fit in; · EDAC should comment on municipal processes to ensure that they are not obstacles; · The responsibilities outlined in the current terms of reference are too specific and can be simplified to encompass advisory activities; · Staff should manage relationships with businesses (ex. corporate visitation) to ensure needs are met (ex. Land), and EDAC should support them; · EDAC should be inclusive of other sectors (ex. hospitality, retail, downtown) in its mandate; · Should be aware of other cities' tourism initiatives; · Question of combining EDAC and DAC: o Should be one committee to oversee entire city for economic development and should be proactive; o The mandate of DAC has shifted over the past few years. When the corporate restructuring took place in 2002, the efforts of the City to remove corporate barriers meant that the scope of responsibilities for DAC became too broad (they became a corporate-wide sounding board), and thus they narrowed their focus. DAC now selects a few key areas of interest (ex. Retail, housing, homelessness) and works on related projects; o DAC is perceived as focusing on social issues, and as more operational. The mandates of the two committees may be complimentary rather than redundant, but it is important that EDAC is charged with downtown economic development as well; o Should not have committees for the sake of having committees; o It was proposed that there be 'cross-fertilization' between committees in that one committee should be able to have input on another committee's activities where there is an opportunity outside of the scope of their own mandate. · With respect to specific agenda questions the committee felt that EDAC should comment on business cases, downtown planning, and re-branding. · Staff should focus on Attraction, Retention and Facilitation. The committee agreed that this is an appropriate time to re-examine the mandates of EDAC/DAC, and will do so later this year, in time to implement new terms of reference for 2005. EDAC Minutes July 28, 2004 6. Items for August Agenda Lawrence Bingeman recommended tourism as a topic for next meeting. Michelle Schurter suggested that it may be appropriate to cover some of the changes with respect to Oktoberfest programming. 7. New Business Peter Cook has tendered his resignation due to scheduling conflicts. He has suggested that Len Carter act as his replacement in representing the Labour Council. This transition requires only a letter from Peter Cook, and will not require a motion by Council. The meeting adjourned at 1:20 pm. Janette MacDonald Economic Development Advisory Com m ittee Proposed Next Meeting August 18, 2004 11:00 am to 1:00pm Conestoga Room, Kitchener City Hall EDAC Minutes July 28, 2004