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HomeMy WebLinkAboutEcon Dev Adv - 2005-02-23 ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES February 23, 2005 11:00 am -1:00 pm Conestoga Room - City Hall Attendance: Ed Brooker, Lawrence Bingeman, Bob Denton, Shawky Fahel, Henrik Nosegaard, Mark Paleczny, Hans Pottkamper, Councillor Weylie, Glen Woolner Janette MacDonald, Rob Morgan, Michelle Schurter, Councillor Smola, Valerie Bradford, Patricia Bacon, Cory Bluhm, Hans Gross, Jeff Wilmer, Silvia Wright, Mayor Zehr Regrets: Scott Baird, Howie Budd, Jane Jantzi, Peter Benninger Absent: Manfred Conrad, Len Carter 1. Welcome and Introductions Hans Pottkamper chaired the meeting. Hans Pottkamper introduced Valerie Bradford. Valerie joined the Business Development team in February, as a Business Development Officer focusing on the new Business Retention Program. 2. Review and Adoption of Minutes of January 26, 2005 The minutes were approved. 3. Attendance at meetings - Hans Pottkamper The current terms of reference have not been brought before council to be ratified, but do outline the need for representation from different industry sectors, and a requirement to attend 75 percent of meetings. Currently, committee members are only considered 'absent' if they do not send their regrets, or provide any kind of notification to the staff that they are unable to attend. The group felt that participation was important to ensure balanced debate, and that there should continue to be an allowance for extenuating circumstances to account for the busy schedules of committee members. The committee members present asked the co-chair to send out a reminder letter and attendance records to all members and to follow up with those members who are having the most difficulty in attending. A report on that will be tabled at the next meeting. It was suggested that committee members should be provided with contact information for staff or the co-chairs to ensure that their 'regrets' are submitted in a timely fashion. 4. Adaptive Reuse Initiative - Jeff Wilmer, Cory Bluhm There are currently 12 - 30 properties that are not eligible for adaptive reuse incentives based on geography (they are not located within the boundaries of what the City considers 'Downtown' - that is the area between Victoria, Weber, Cedar and Charles streets approximately). It is anticipated that the market for these properties will not be viable for 5 - 10 years, but staff would like to kick-start the market by increasing supply. Adaptive Reuse provides value to the community through increased tax assessment, neighbourhood investment, and clustering of redevelopment. Adaptive Reuse means a change in use of a building; not just an upgrade or redevelopment. Ex. an institutional building converted to housing, or an industrial plant converted to office space. As the costs to develop these sites can be prohibitive in terms of attaining a desirable ROI, governments provide incentives for developers if adaptive reuse is identified as a planning objective. Staff presented several alternatives including relying on the current incentives for Downtown only ('do nothing'), do everything (offer the same incentives that are currently available for Downtown), develop a new TIF or defer DC's, or offer a lump sum grant based on units created. Committee members did not favour any scenario that would involve spending money up front, but rather support relieving developers of their tax burden such that the city is no worse off for the development, and the developer can achieve a reasonable rate of return. As well, it was felt that it will be beneficial to capitalize on the current momentum with respect to downtown development. In summary, there was support from the committee to establish some incentive for these properties, with a TIF favoured. The committee felt it was important to focus on heritage buildings or those with some architectural significance, and to focus on buildings near downtown. The committee was also not in favour of the proposed boundaries for any incentive plan and requested that staff research the actual location of likely properties that could become eligible, with a goal of drafting new boundaries that are more property/opportunity specific. Finally, there was support for establishing a clear time limit for the incentives to be available. 5. Employment Lands Update - Hans Gross, Rob Morgan, Patricia Bacon Township Land (near Breslau, not 'Airport Lands') · Currently waiting on zone change request made by owner to convert some land to residential. There are approximately 400 acres in total. Huron Business Park · Looking at taking back lots 140 and 141 (3 acres); a potential purchaser has already been identified for the land. · City currently holds a 12.5 acre parcel, plus the recently acquired Maple Leaf Foods lands (26 acres) for potential industrial development, or for the City's Central Maintenance Facility. · The City is severing a 4 acre parcel from the Huron Natural Area for industrial use. Staff members are working with a potential purchaser. Grand River West Update · Lot 2 came back to us · New offer incoming on Lots 1 & 2 · Lots 3, 4, 5 built (Custom Leather) · Expecting offer on lot 6 · Lot 7 built (MTE) · Lot 8 available · Expecting offer on lot 9 from self-storage facility. The committee discussed the incoming offer from the self-storage facility, and suggested that this is not a desirable use. Staff indicated that attempts had been made to dissuade the potential purchaser, but that the zoning by-law permits this usage. It was determined that council could turn down the offer, and the committee suggested that the purchaser should be told not to submit an offer. 6. Business Retention Project Update - Patricia Bacon, Valerie Bradford Staff are preparing for trial runs with the survey created by Innovia Partners, and are developing a training session for volunteers. There are 141 businesses targeted for this phase of the retention program, and staff identified that realistically 30 percent of the businesses will not participate. As well, business owners or representatives may not be available to meet with task force members within our timelinees. As meetings are conducted, there will be an opportunity to 'red flag' priority issues, which Patricia Bacon will pursue. Staff will provide an update on the program at the May meeting. 7. Other Business Hans Pottkamper will work with staff to have the Terms of Reference ratified by Council. Meeting terminated. Janette MacDonald, Recording Secretary Economic Development Advisory Committee Next Meeting: March 23, 2005 11:00am-1:00 pm Conestoga Room , Kitchener City Hall