Changes are coming to the way Bradford West Gwillimbury supports businesses through its Community Improvement Plans (CIP).
At a special meeting March 22, councillors were taken through overviews of new CIPs for buildings in both its industrial and downtown cores. While some late applications were handled early in the year, the town’s CIP programs have been on hold since the previous set of plans expired at the end of 2021.
Not only were those plans successful, explained Jonathan Hack of Sierra Planning, but they were also very generous, particularly with the industrial CIP.
Hack and his company, who developed the original CIP in 2012 and have worked on subsequent revisions, began the process in the fall, consulting with a variety of stakeholders. Earlier in March, the new draft documents were completed and put online for public viewing and comment, in advance of the special council meeting.
Both industrial and downtown CIPs are proposed to see their programs expand through the new proposal, but among the bigger changes is the elimination of the development charge grant. Applicants could seek a grant equal to 100 per cent of the development charges for industrial or 50 per cent for downtown under the old plans. The new proposal changes that to a deferral of up to 100 per cent of those charges in both plans, with any interest accrued funded as a grant to a maximum of $250,000.
The grants worked as expected at the start of the CIP and followed the trend set by communities around Ontario, Hack said. But nearly a decade removed, the changes being made elsewhere are also required in Bradford West Gwillimbury.
“What we’re seeing is a number of changes in a number of municipalities. They're tightening the eligibility and, in fact, changing the nature of the program to one where they’re offering deferrals more than they are actual grants,” he explained. “That is obviously a savings, but it’s also a sort of an effective fiscal management to incentivize.”
Coun. Gary Lamb called on Hack to explain what moving from grant to deferral would mean for the ratepayers in the community. After all, the development charges for a project are still paid for a project that received a grant, but instead of the developer footing the bill, it falls to the taxpayer to make that fund whole.
“You have to fund it and, of course, with certain of these industrial applications that require development charges to be levied, it can get very expensive as a proposition for the municipality,” Hack said. “You’re looking at this from a fiscal management perspective and value for money.”
Moving from a grant to a deferral isn’t believed to be a “deal stopper,” he added. Right now, the proposal calls for the deferral to be 18 months from when the building permit is issued, but staff will consider moving that window to 18 months from building occupancy, following questioning from Deputy Mayor James Leduc.
For the proposed downtown CIP, the previous façade, landscape and signage improvement grant and building, restoration, renovation and improvement grant programs have been reorganized into building exterior and building interior grant programs.
These moves are designed to take a very successful CIP that over the past decade has served its purpose, Hack said, and strengthen it, making the program better, specifically when it comes to building restoration. The changes, he added, will also “put the reins” on some of the money spent, ensuring a balance of fiscal responsibility and community improvement.
The exterior grant program essentially remains the same under its new name, providing grants of up to $10,000 for façade improvements ($15,000 on Barrie Street, Holland Street, or Bridge Street). The minimum grant will increase to $2,500 and consider side and rear façades, something Coun. Mark Contois thought was key, given the construction planned for the downtown core during the next few years.
As part of the interior grant program, a maximum $25,000 grant is on the table under far stricter eligibility than the previous CIP. Under the new guidelines, the town shouldn’t have to worry about paying for renovations by owners who were holding out until public money became available.
“There were a few applications that would come forward and I thought myself … it was the cost to do business,” said Coun. Peter Ferragine. “I’m really happy with the tightening up on that.”
Contois too was in favour of including interior renovations as a CIP program as long as they led to sprinkler systems or other safety improvements that could protect the downtown over time. Ferragine shared the same train of thought.
“If it does involve anything safety, building code and such, I’d be all in favour for it, 100 per cent,” Ferragine said. “If we’re talking about making it safe and hitting the codes properly and just having it where customers are completely comfortable with going in, that’s where we can look at it and that’s when it comes to council discretion.”
The comments collected before and during the public meeting will be reviewed by town staff in advance of further reports coming to council in the coming weeks for further direction.
