CORNWALL – The city’s planning advisory committee will hold a public meeting Monday night about making some key changes to a couple of development programs.
The two programs are the Heart of the City Community Improvement Plan (CIP) and the Brownfields Community Improvement Plans (CIP).
Both plans, which have been around for approximately nine years, give developers certain tax breaks in order to encourage building.
The policies have been reviewed by the Cornwall Planning Programs Evaluation Committee (CPPEC), which is recommending a few changes to allow newer types of development.
For the Heart of the City plan, CPPEC wants to see the grant in lieu of taxes over 10 years applied to developers wanting to put up buildings with multi-residential units above ground floor commercial space.
This would apply to an area basically one block north and south of Water Street, from Amelia Street east to Marlborough Street. It includes the former Si Miller Arena site.
However, in order to get the grant, the developer would have to keep the commercial space 75 per cent full or the incentive temporarily stops during the 10 year window.
The other change would allow the increment grant for housing that addresses the needs for accessibility and seniors in the city’s 10 Year Housing Plan, although it would not be a low-income housing project.
The other change proposed is for the Brownfields CIP. The city wants to designate another area of land in the east end of the city that would be eligible for the six brownfield development incentive programs.
The land is on either side of Boundary Road, from Montreal Road north to the railway tracks.
There is also a proposed wording change in the Brownfields program to allow the city to review brownfield applications that may not fall within the designated boundaries on the map.
Brownfields are pieces of land previously used for heavy industrial and commercial uses that may be contaminated with hazardous waste or pollution.
Even if PAC okays the changes Monday, it can be appealed by anyone to the Ontario Municipal Board within 20 days, provided they have met certain conditions.
The Planning Advisory Committee meeting starts at 7 p.m. at city hall, 360 Pitt Street, in the council chambers.
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