PH26568 - Town agrees to purchase Mary St. lot

Municipality :
Community : Bradford
Lot :
Concession :
Description : In a recorded vote, Councillors voted 6 to 2 in favor of purchasing the portion of the Mary Street parking lot owned by Ontario 1091795 Inc., putting an end to months of debate. The issue began over a year ago. Rather than continue to pay property taxes and carry liability on a 60' by 120' portion of the parking lot, which had for years been used by the Town as municipal parking, the owners of the numbered company put the land, located behind The Trophy Case restaurant, up for sale. After a closed door session of Council failed to come up with an acceptable purchase offer, the company put the property on the market, and finally, decided to build a 2 or 3 storey 3,200 sq. ft, office building on the land. Construction would have eliminated about 29 parking spaces. It was Councillor Ron Simpson who brought the issue back before Council, two weeks ago proposing a motion to reconsider the company's latest asking price behind closed doors, and reopen negotiations. When the motion was defeated, Simpson instead gave notice of a straightforward motion to simply accept the final offer of Ontario 1091795, "yes or no." Both Councillors Sharon Villani and Marty Toombs opposed entertaining the motion, arguing that is was the same motion in a different guise. "Your worship, I would ask you at some point to take control of the issue," Toombs said, noting that the only thing that had changed over the intervening months was that the price had gone up, and that there were new conditions - including a demand that the Town assume all legal costs. After Councillors had voted to waive the Procedural By-law to permit the motion to proceed, Toombs accused Council, "We're braking the rules - you're doing everything possible you can to keep this on the table." "And you and Councillor Sharon Villani are doing everything you can to keep this off the table," retorted Councillor Simpson. Councillor Sharon Villani said that she had not received a single phone call from any of her constituents on the potential loss of the parking lot. "They don't really shop downtown, because there's not much there...They shop in Newmarket." But Councillor Simpson argued, " The loss of 20-plus parking spots will be devastating to our downtown businesses. We've got to support our downtown businesses - they're great taxpayers." He noted that the original offer (about $30,000) was based on the 1996 actual value assessment, while property prices have climbed in the last 3 years. The owners have paid the taxes on the property, and had other out-of-pocket expenses, including consulting fees - explaining the increase in the asking price, he said. He called the purchase a "once in a lifetime opportunity", and urged Council to act on the offer, which had been extended to June 22nd, the date of the Council meeting. Councillor Marty Toombs reiterated that "100% of people on Council want to see this property purchased" - but not at the asking price. But Simpson noted that the owners have set the price. "Yes, it's more than we should be paying...but two or three years down the road it won't look as bad." He pointed out that a vacant lot on John Street about half the size of the Mary Street lot had recently sold for $50,000 in one day. "The parking spaces are important to the downtown," said Deputy Mayor Bud Brown. He called the asking price "probably reasonable..When those parking spaces are lost, they're lost for good. The lot is improved, there's paving on it... We have to bite the bullet, I think, and purchase this property." In the recorded vote, Mayor Frank Jonkman, Deputy Mayor Bud Brown, and Councillors Brian Bonany, Ron Simpson, Gary Lamb and Peter Dykie voted in favor. Councillors Sharon Villani and Marty Toombs voted against. The Town currently has $46,000 in reserve for new parking spaces.