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Staff to look into potential sale, re-development of downtown lot

February 27, 2020   ·   0 Comments

By Mike Baker

Orangeville Mayor Sandy Brown would like to see a new multi-use facility, boasting parking and both commercial and residential units, constructed on a municipally-owned lot across the road from Town Hall. 

In a motion presented to Council on Feb. 10, the mayor called on town staff to investigate potential options for the parcel of land that currently houses a public parking lot just off Broadway. While the mayor appeared to be open to ideas with regard to what to do with the land, he suggested constructing a multi-storey building could be the way to go.

“There has been a lot of discussion about this particular plot of land. Parking issues in the downtown core have been raised by business owners… but this isn’t just a parking issue, we need to talk about the economic vitality of the downtown core,” Mayor Brown said. “A building in that place would be a multi-use building with additional commercial and residential components, and maybe office component as well. Economic development there in the downtown core, I think, is a good thing.”

Any potential development of the site would, in all likelihood, cost several million dollars. As such, Coun. Todd Taylor suggested he was uncomfortable moving forward with any expansion at the site unless it was funded by a private entity.

“I certainly want more parking spaces, I’m just confused how we go about this. As a taxpayer, and for the taxpayers, we don’t really have the funding available to us to fund another garage,” Coun. Taylor said. “I’m interested in pursuing, I think it’s a good idea, I just worry (about the cost). I would hope this would be private as opposed to public. 

In what he described, almost entirely in jest, as a rare moment, Deputy Mayor Andy Macintosh agreed with Coun. Taylor, making it clear that he doesn’t believe taxpayers should be on the hook for any development at the site. 

While the prospect of a joint public/private partnership was broached, whereby the Town would offer up the value of the land and a developer would look to build on it, Mayor Brown noted that, after discussing this option with CAO Ed Brennan, an agreement like that could be difficult to pull off.

“Early indications are that public and private partnerships are sometimes difficult, and perhaps the idea of selling the property with conditions to be met by a developer might be the best route,” Mayor Brown said. “That would remove any financial commitment by the Town on that particular transaction.”

A motion to have staff look into potential options for the site, while also incorporating an environmentally friendly view for any future development, was carried unanimously by Council.

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