By Pepper Parr
August 17th, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
Revised
Media releases that come out of the provincial government will be about creating jobs, doing something about climate change or improving the transportation system.
Getting new employers into a community is the raison d’etre for the people in economic development and there are perhaps 50 communities in the province looking for that company that is ready to move or expand.
Frank McKeown, the fellow hired to do the thinking at the Burlington Economic development Corporation, will tell you that not very many companies move their offices or plants – although International Harvester did move their distribution depot out of Burlington to Hamilton.
Bronte Meadows – a large swath of land that borders on Upper Middle Road and Burloak – should it be residential or employment lands?
The province has been putting resources into helping property owners get their land ready for development using what they call a Certified Site Program to help municipalities attract new jobs and investment
The objective is to help municipalities compete globally and attract new jobs and development by enhancing a provincial program that certifies industrial lands as ready for development.
McKeown adds: “We have been aware of this program for some time. The revisions announced reduce the size of the applicable site. Burlington has few sites that it would apply to. We have had little interest. The amounts are so small compared to the cost of land and development that the local market has indicated that it is not that relevant.”
The Investment Ready: Certified Site program can help get projects off the ground faster by marketing sites that have undergone rigorous due diligence to international investors. It gives potential investors easy access to important property information such as availability, completed environmental assessments, utility costs and transportation access.
The Bronte Meadows site, shown in a photograph above has drawn some comment. Former Mayor Walter Mulkewich commented: ” Your question re “Bronte Meadows” as to whether it should be “residential or employment” is a provocative question, the answer to which has been clear – that the economic future of Burlington will depend on those lands remaining “employment” as designated many years ago – and which City Council will surely maintain.”
There are those on this city council who are being heavily influenced by the property owners to convert at least some of the land to residential. Based on what the Gazette sees and hears at council meetings – keeping this land as employment lands is not a certainty.
Ontario is making several changes to the program to make it easier for businesses and municipalities to participate:
Expanding eligibility to include smaller, non-contiguous lands within business and industrial parks, not just large contiguous industrial lands of 10 acres or more
Doubling the amount of eligible certification expenses reimbursed to municipalities, from $25,000 to up to $50,000
Increasing the range of eligible expenses to cover the full certification process, including application, post-certification site changes and marketing activities
Doubling the certification designation, from two to four years
Introducing a pre-application consultation to help provide municipalities with quick answers to questions about the program before applying
Ontario now has 16 certified sites. None of them are in Burlington.
However, McKeown points out that his office has handled 63 site selection responses this year. About 80% of inquiries are lease opportunities. Hence zoning is a bigger focus for us.”
“We have been trying to create our own “ready to go” model.”
Zoned commercial, spitting distance to the QEW, minutes from downtown – owner wants to rezone and make it residential.
The program recently led to retailer Giant Tiger buying one of these sites in the Township of Edwardsburgh/Cardinal in Eastern Ontario. It is building a 600,000 square foot state-of-the-art distribution centre on the property, which is expected to support up to 300 jobs in the region.
The location of the sites certified to date can be seen on the map. CLICK HERE:
•Ontario has the only province-wide site certification program in Canada. This strengthens the province’s ability to compete with the United States, which has more than 35 certification programs.
• Certified sites are integrated into Ontario’s investment attraction strategy, and receive top consideration for strategic investment opportunities in the province.
• Pre-application consultations for the next intake round are open until December 31, so municipalities can find out more about how to be top-of-mind for potential investors.
Burlington is so “employment lands’ friendly that although Ikea had already made a conditional purchase of lands in Burlington for its national head office, it finally gave up dealing with the bureaucracy, especially the Conservation Authority. When it pulled out, it took with it 100’s of good full time paying jobs.
Your question re “Bronte Meadows” as to whether it should be “residential or employment” is a provocative question, the answer to which has been clear – that the economic future of Burlington will depend on those lands remaining “employment” as designated many years ago – and which City Council will surely maintain.