Depending on who you ask, Bradford’s grant program to attract investment in rehabilitation and growth should either be expanded or instead shut down altogether.
Jonathan Hack of Sierra Planning and Management led council through a workshop to brainstorm the future direction of the town’s community improvement plan (CIP) program, including intended goals, desired outcomes and councillors’ top priorities during a special meeting on Oct. 29.
The workshop comes as the most recent step in the current review of the program, which was implemented in 2012 with help from Hack. He has also guided each required review every two to three years since then, including most recently in 2022.
Looking at the downtown
Ward 7 Coun. Peter Dykie reiterated the importance of the program in helping to revitalize the downtown while supporting “mom and pop” shops and floated the idea of encouraging the creation of more rental units above stores, potentially by adding and blending modular units on top of existing structures.
Suggesting council needs to “tighten up” the program for the downtown because “it has to benefit the community at large,” Ward 4 Coun. Joseph Giordano wanted to take it a step further by reducing the focus on facade changes and instead encourage demolitions and redevelopments to create more taller mixed-use buildings with commercial on the ground floor and condos or apartments above.
“Let’s knock these things down and build something that actually will transform our downtown instead of lipstick on a pig,” he said.
Ward 6 Coun. Nickolas Harper agreed, but suggested retaining the historic facades during redevelopment, as is regularly seen in places like Toronto.
“I think this town has a unique feel to it that needs to stay,” he said, noting that having more people living and working near shops would “drive people downtown” which would help local businesses while also making transit more sustainable.
Hack acknowledged programs of that nature have been successful in other downtowns like Guelph.
Taking a different approach to the downtown portion of the CIP program, Ward 5 Coun. Peter Ferragine suggested it’s time to “shut ’er down.”
“The CIP program we had started back in the day has served its purpose,” he said. “I don’t want to put any money into the budget right now for the CIP.”
Ferragine recalled the downtown portion of the program was started to improve the appearance of buildings, help bring them up to code and get the vacant units filled, but said most of that is already done. He has been critical of more recent applications for renovations related to tenant turnover, which he feels should be considered “the cost of business.”
Going a step further, Ferragine suggested discontinuing all parts of the CIP program, based on what he’s seen of some “very serious” pending budgets, especially as “things are tough for people right now.”
While Hack agreed the CIP shouldn’t be funding leasehold improvements, he cautioned against “throwing the baby out with the bathwater.”
While he didn’t agree with the concept of closing the CIP program altogether, Ward 3 Coun. Ben Verkaik echoed the need to maximize the benefit to the community while keeping down costs.
“This needs to be a very sharp tool and not a blunt object,” he said.
Supporting employment
Several councillors also weighed in on the importance of supporting the industrial sector, with Harper emphasizing the importance of the commercial/industrial tax base in addition to residential.
“We need to really stay on track with a plan that has some balance,” he said.
Using Mapleview Drive in Barrie as an example, Harper suggested blending more recreational and entertainment uses into the industrial areas, echoing an earlier suggestion from Giordano that the CIP program incentivize the development of indoor pools or playgrounds as he said many young families are finding a “huge gap” while seeking things to do in town.
Verkaik suggested one of the best ways to support employers would be to invest in supports for affordable rentals and housing, and the town could “piggy back” onto and boost projects from the County of Simcoe.
“If we don’t have people that have affordable housing, we don’t have employees,” he said, adding that’s one of the main factors for employers considering coming to Bradford.
That was later echoed by Mayor James Leduc who agreed with the need for some kind of housing CIP.
“I’ve heard from the employment community that drastically they need affordability here,” he said, adding some employers can only afford to pay so much to workers without “driving costs up.”
The mayor also called an employment CIP “very important,” and suggested incentives for expanding utilities in industrial areas and tying funding to employment numbers.
Potential to include more options
Looking to expand the existing accessibility provisions within the downtown portion of the CIP, Ward 1 Coun Cheraldean Duhaney suggested accessibility should become its own separate CIP program.
“There are so many facilities and businesses in our community that need urgent attention,” she said.
Beyond that, Duhaney also wants to see a CIP that can help to fund under-represented community groups in town, and another to help support youth entrepreneurs in particular.
Another potential option is to expand the borders of the downtown program both east and west beyond the current boundaries to include more of the newer commercial developments in town.
The program is currently split into three parts — for the downtown (DCIP), for the industrial areas (IACIP) and for seniors housing (SHCIP) — and offers incentives, especially grants, to encourage specific types of development and private investment.
Beyond just attracting investment, Duhaney asked what other metrics can be used to measure the public good of the CIP program, and Hack pointed to the potential for improvements to the public realm, which could include building facades, but also lighting, walkways and street furniture.
Other benefits could be attracting more tourism to Bond Head, or encouraging better on-farm housing for seasonal agricultural workers.
Councillors were hesitant to expand the program by adding an agricultural CIP, about which the specifics were uncertain, or a Bond Head CIP, especially as that community lacks municipal water and sewer services and is already anticipated to be eligible for incentives under a potential heritage conservation district.
Last December, council voted to suspend the DCIP for one year beginning Jan. 1, 2024, pending the outcome of the review and in anticipation of the Holland Street reconstruction potentially getting underway in 2025, while the SHCIP program has been suspended since 2017.
Earlier this month, council approved $75,000 through the IACIP for Tiltco Architectural Services at 60 Industrial Rd.
A staff report based on the workshop is expected sometime in the first quarter of 2025, with a presentation of potential draft CIPs anticipated to follow at a public meeting in the second quarter.
