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HomeMy WebLinkAbout74-80REPORT NO. 2 CANADIAN LEGIOkT Egjj ASE OF LAND The Canadian Legion has written to Council offerring to purchase 3 acres of land in the Bowmanville Industrial Park at a site for the relocation of their legion hall. They have made an offer to purchase this land immediately south of the cemetery for $21,000. Since this matter was referred to this Committee, Finance Committee has recommended acceptance of the offer. Points 4 and 5 below are perhaps not entirely planning considerations, but I feel Council should be aware of them. The follow - ing are my observations on this proposal. 1. The present location of the legion hall is not really a very satisfactory one although the legion has been there for many years. Although the parking lot is mainly in the commercial zone fronting on King Street, the hall itself us in the residential zone tetween two existing houses on Queen Street. There is inevitably a certain amount of night time distur- bance caused by a use such as this and its relocation to a commercial or industrial area can only be regarded as an improvement. The proposed site is a suitable one for the purpose. 2. Before the Legion could build on the proposed site, they would have to have an Oa.i3ci 41 Pl,,n Amendment approved by the Region and Queen's Park and a Zoning Amendment approved by Council and the O.M.B. In addition, if the proposed site was acquired under section 354(50) of the Municipal Act, then the sale of the land for any non-industrial purpose would 2 2. (continued.....) require the approval of the Mi,i_i_sLry al: Tre,-swra q Economics and Intergovernmental Affairs. 3. The Region would have to extend municipal sewers and water mains approximately 1800 ft. north along Cemetery Road from Base Line Road. Approvals for this would probably take some time and the Region would probably want the Legion to pay for this initially, although some of the costs could be recovered later if additional developments hooked up to the extensions. This initial capital cost would not be significant to an industrial developer, but it could be beyond the means of the local Legion Branch. 4. The price currently being offerred for the land is not refl- ective of current market prices.Industrial land is currently valued at approximately $15,000 per acre in the Bowmanville area, according to local real estate agents estimates. I believe that the former Town of Bowmanville offerred industrial land for sale at $7000 an acre some time ago, but the inflation of land values recently has left that figure far behind. Effectively, to accept the present offer would be to grant a 4p14000 subsidy in the form of land to the Legion to relocate its premises. It is the responsibility of Council to determine whether the benefits to the community from the proposed relocation are worth the cost, but I feel that it is the responsibility of planning staff to ensure that Council is aware of the true cost to the taxpayer of any planning decision ® 3 �+® (continued.....) such as the relocation of a nonconforming use. I believe that the proposed terms of the sale would grant the purchaser a two year exclusive option on the land. During that time the Town would have to turn down any other offers by industrial, developers for the land. Council should be aware that it may have to turn down other higher offers for the land only to have the deal with the Legion fall through in the end due to one of the legal obstacles to the proposal. This too is part of the cost to the Town. 5. The municipality is the owner of a considerable amount of land within its territory, both industrial and other types and periodically applications are made to purchase some of this land. I think that the municipality should have a con® sistant procedure for dealing with all sales of municipal p property, and this procedure should include a valuation of the property by an independent appraisor to determine the true market value. 6. It is important that the site being vacated by the Legion not be re- occupied by a similar use, thus perpetuating the present problems. A residential use would seem to be most appropriate for this area and the Town has the right to ensure that the future use is an appropriate one for the site since the Town would be indirectly assisting the relocation. 1 am aware that the O.h.C. are currently seeking a site for senior citizen apartments close to the downtown area, and 6. (continued.....) this would seem to be an ideal site for this purpose. Perhaps even the existing buildings could be incorporated into an O.H.C. scheme. It may be desirable, if O.H.C. are interested to arrange a land exchange instead of a straightforward sale of land to the legion or to make other arrangements which would secure the site for senior citizen housing. 7. In conclusion I would recommend: (a) that the relocation of the legion hall be approved as regards planning consideration subject to the satisfaction of Council regarding other matters. (b) that the relocation be subject to the elimination of all non - conforming uses of the present site. (c) that Council, the Legion and O.H.C. be urged to give favourable consideration to redevelopment of the present site for senior citizen housing. Respectfully submitted, f' ; Z �r ` i 1 ✓ George F. Howden, Planning Director.