Lowe's, city may dodge OMB hearing, 2009-05-07

[posting]

Lowe's, city may dodge OMB hearing

Whig-Standard

http://www.thewhig.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1557871
2009-05-07

Lowe's Companies of Canada wants to have a mediated settlement with the city, hoping to settle a planning dispute before it goes to an official hearing at the Ontario Municipal Board.

At a pre-hearing for the case this morning at City Hall, lawyers for the company and the city told the board they were willing to have mediated talks, but that it would be up to their respective clients to decide whether to forge ahead with settlement discussions.

A lawyer for the company said Lowe's was willing to settle.

It will be up to city councillors whether to enter into mediated talks. Their decision will likely be made behind closed doors before being announced publicly.

In September, city council voted 7-6 to uphold a committee and staff recommendation to reject Lowe's request to build a big-box home improvement store on Gardiners Road, just north of Princess Street. The development was estimated to cost approximately $20 million and would include a 13,233-square-metre store with a nearly 3,000-sq.-m. garden centre. If built, it will be the largest home improvement store in Kingston and be bigger than the Frontenac Mall on Bath Road.

Lowe's filed an appeal with the OMB, which has the authority to overrule municipal planning decisions.

The official hearing for the Lowe’s case will last four weeks. The city is expecting to call half a dozen witnesses, including planners and economic experts, to make its case.

The case will be heard from Nov. 16 to Dec. 11 in the council chamber at City Hall.

“Hopefully, who knows, we may not have to meet,” said Sylvia Sutherland, a former mayor of Peterborough who chaired yesterday’s pre-hearing.

[ePardon]

Will the development of a Lowe's store here in Kingston ending up being a zero sum game? Will the jobs promised by Lowes simply be offset by jobs lost elsewherw in Kinston as result if lost employment at other stores?

[Civic]

Where is the analysis that would support the need for another big box store?

For council, chain, location is everything
DEVELOPMENT: City councillors stand ground in dispute with big-box retailer Lowe's
Whig May 9, 09

It appears an adjudicator may decide the fate of the Lowe's development, a day after the big-box retailer proposed a mediated settlement to the dispute.

For some city councillors, the west-end site the company covets is still something they won't consider.

"I always believe in mediation," said Councillor Vicki Schmolka. "Whether this situation ... can be resolved through mediation, I don't know."

Lawyers for the company and the city met Thursday for a pre-hearing before the Ontario Municipal Board. Only a few members of the public attended the meeting, which saw the sides set the foundation for a hearing later this year.

It was during Thursday's session that the lawyer representing Lowe's told the board that the company was interested in having mediated talks with the city and avoiding a hearing. The board offered to act as mediator.

The company said it was still focused on a Gardiners Road site city council has already rejected.

Councillor Joyce MacLeod- Kane said that mediated talks should look at all options, including other sites for the store.

"I wonder how much they want to mediate?" MacLeod-Kane said. "If they are really interested in coming to Kingston sooner than later, why aren't they interested in looking at other sites?"

Councillor Steve Garrison said he was willing to look at the Lowe's application, if it was for another site.

"We made a decision based on sound planning principles ... that this was not a good development application on this site. That remains my position," he said.

"The ball is in Lowe's court to come back with an appropriate proposal."

Once Lowe's files a formal request with the board for mediated talks, city councillors will go behind closed doors and hear legal advice about the merits of entering into discussions with the chain.

Councillors regularly hear legal recommendations in private. The Municipal Act allows for legal matters to be discussed away from the public eye. Once a decision is made, the outcome will be reported during an open session of council.

Councillor Ed Smith said he felt mediation would be worthwhile. However, he said, one of the seven councillors who voted against the development would have to change his or her mind before mediation could begin.

In late September, the politicians voted 7-6 to uphold a staff recommendation not to rezone industrial land for commercial use and allow the store to be built on Gardiners Road.

Lowe's wants to build a 13,233-square-metre store with a 2,944-sq.-m. garden centre. The $20-million development included a 465-sq.-m., free-standing retail building that could house a restaurant.

The development could produce annual property taxes of $350,000 -- up from the $10,000 the city currently earns annually from the vacant land -- and a one-time infusion of $1.8 million from development fees.

The city's planning department voiced concerns about the proposal, including a worry that the store would put pressure on the outer limits of the city's boundaries for future growth. A consultant noted the development would have an adverse impact on smaller home-improvement shops.

City planners also said the development would eat into the city's small reserve of industrial land. Neighbouring property owners would then be able to ask for similar zoning changes and the city would have no basis to refuse them, the department said.

"We have a surplus of commercial- retail land available," said Schmolka, who sits on the city's planning committee. "We have a deficit of industrial land available."

Schmolka said feedback from residents about the Lowe's decision has changed in light of the closing of the S&R department store.

"People see the economy changing and worry there will be less choice and less of their favourite choices and see the Lowe's decision in that context," she said.

Councillor Bill Glover said residents in his downtown district of Sydenham aren't happy S&R will close, forcing some to shop at malls to get basic items.

There are also concerns that a Lowe's store may put another downtown fixture -- Vandervoort's hardware store -- out of business.

"What I think has crystalized a lot of people's thinking is the closing of S&R," Glover said. "Some people are connecting the dots."

Several councillors didn't want to comment yesterday on the possibility of mediation, saying that it is a legal matter.

"I really can't say anything," said Councillor Rob Hutchison. "It's very hard to say what we could or could not do."

Glover wouldn't comment specifically on the company's offer for mediation. He voted against the Lowe's application.

"I have yet to hear anything which would cause me to alter that view," he said.

[Florence]

Does anyone have any experience with mediation? I would like to know how it works. Can there be room for mediation when the two sides have opposite opinions?

[Civic]

It will be interesting to see the final location of this development. The lack of light industrial lands issue stills seems to be unresolved.



Lowe's, city reach deal
By JORDAN PRESS
Whig-Standard 2009-08-05

Lowe's will be building a new store in Kingston after city council had a change of heart last night.

City councillors approved, in principle, a settlement agreement with Lowe's that will bring to an end the development dispute launched months ago and avoid a lengthy and potentially costly hearing.

As part of the settlement, Lowe's will have to submit a new planning application, which could have it building on the site it wanted on Gardiners Road, or in another location.

Last night, city representatives couldn't say where the store will be built, but that it will be built in Kingston.

"Lowe's is coming to town," said Tony Fleming, the lawyer who represented the city in the case, in an interview outside the council meeting.

City councillors heard details of the agreement behind closed doors and then approved the settlement publicly. There was no debate and the vote was unanimous.

The specifics of the agreement were not made public last night. The details will be worked out between the company and the city over the coming weeks, likely completed by the end of the month, and then be made public.

"It's still subject to working out the details," Fleming said.

"Until such time as we have said agreement, the parties aren't at liberty to discuss the settlement."

Legal matters routinely are kept out of public meetings until a decision is made. Provincial legislation allows legal issues to be dealt with away from the public eye.

The settlement arose out of mediated talks the two sides had at the Bay Street offices of the Ontario Municipal Board. The talks did not produce a public report through the board.

The OMB, which has final say on all development decisions, recommended mediated talks to settle the dispute.

Fleming said Lowe's came to the table with a settlement offer. Fleming said the city's goal at the talks was to come to a settlement.

The settlement means that the two sides won't have to go through a four-week hearing to settle the dispute. The OMB still has to approve the mediated settlement.

Once the details are finalized, the settlement will end one of the most contentious issues council has dealt with in the last three years.

Lowe's appealed the city's decision to deny its bid to build a big-box home-improvement store in the west end. The chain proposed building a 13,233-square-metre store with a 2,944-sq.-m. garden centre. The $20-million development was to include a 465-sq.-m., free-standing retail building that could house a restaurant.

If built, it would be the largest home-improvement store in Kingston.

The development, on the Gardiners Road site, would have produced annual property taxes of $350,000 -- up from the $10,000 the city currently earns annually from the vacant industrial land -- and a one-time infusion of $1.8 million in development fees.

City planners were concerned the development would put pressure on the outer limits of the city's boundaries for future growth, and a consultant noted the development would have an adverse impact on smaller home-improvement shops. There was also concern about rezoning serviced industrial land, which the city says is in short supply.

City councillors have decided to have the costs of the appeal made public once the matter is settled.

[Dogma]

The development, on the Gardiners Road site, would have produced annual property taxes of $350,000 -- up from the $10,000 the city currently earns annually from the vacant industrial land -- and a one-time infusion of $1.8 million in development fees.

I would suggest a net gain of over 10 years = $ 5 million direct tax benefits to the citizens!

[challanger]

Hello. Nice Post. I hope citizens get some benefit from this whole project. Let's see how it goes. See ya around.

[marrydavid]

Thanks for sharng this all