{"id":10041,"date":"2014-05-24T07:30:50","date_gmt":"2014-05-24T11:30:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ianchadwick.com\/blog\/?p=10041"},"modified":"2014-05-24T07:41:28","modified_gmt":"2014-05-24T11:41:28","slug":"the-acdcavi-site-remediation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ianchadwick.com\/blog\/the-acdcavi-site-remediation\/","title":{"rendered":"The ACDC\/AVI Site Remediation"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"AdmiralEarlier this week,<\/strong> members of council received this email from Ian Adams of the Enterprise Bulletin<\/a> about the upcoming motion on remediation of the empty property at Hume and Hurontario Streets:<\/p>\n

I was wondering if I could get your thoughts with regard to extending\/not extending the site remediation agreement for the ACDC\/AVI property, and whether an extension should be granted\/not granted. Ian Adams,\u00a0Collingwood Enterprise-Bulletin<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The site remediation agreement is unique: it is, as I have been told by the Planning Department, the only one of its kind ever made on any<\/em> property in this town. It was made at the request of the AVI developer, not<\/em> the town, but the town agreed to it as the third party. At that time, it seemed reasonable that development would have started within the three-year term of the agreement. That proved overly optimistic, in light of the sluggish economy.<\/p>\n

As the town’s lawyer stated, this is a tripartite agreement that requires the agreement of all<\/em> three parties to change (and, if any party wished, to discard). Any single party has the right to challenge one or both other parties in a court over the terms.<\/p>\n

While the onus for enforcement unfortunately falls to the town under its property standards bylaw (section five), the town is given the discretion when and even whether to enforce it (section four). Any enforcement would be a costly legal challenge and a lengthy court battle for taxpayers. Potentially several years.<\/p>\n

Keep in mind the expensive\u00a0legal battles that arose when the former council removed the legally and democratically-approved permits from the site. Those cost taxpayers more than $100,000. Plus there were subsequent costs to restore and amend some of the agreements to allow the developments to proceed. That doesn’t even mention the costs the developers went through – to get the initial permits, approvals, heritage impact studies, architectural drawings and the properties themselves – and for ACDC to have to pay for a redesign and new heritage impact study last term.<\/p>\n

To return the site to what it was before those permits were rescinded last term could cost much more. And we would be no further ahead than we were in late 2006 when we had approved a signature building on the site. Except without the prospects of that beautiful building.<\/p>\n

Would this benefit the community or the town? Or just waste more taxpayers’ money to pursue what might be better and more effectively gained through negotiation and compromise?<\/p>\n

Conflict and confrontation are not good – nor wise – negotiating tactics. And they are not what a municipality should be known for.<\/p>\n

On May 10, 2014, Council received a letter from Stephen Christie, lawyer for the AVI developer. In it he wrote,<\/p>\n

AVI would consent to a one year extension, to April 30, 2015, of the date by which ACDC must either substantially commence development of its property or fill the existing excavation.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This suggests there is an apparent agreement by both developers for an extension, although ACDI asked for a two-year extension, not a one-year. Based on correspondence from both parties, and on staff’s discussions with the developers about their intentions and wishes for the site, a motion was crafted by staff and our legal counsel that tried to accommodate both parties as well as meet the needs of the community.*<\/span> It read:<\/p>\n

THAT Council grant the requests for an extension for a period of two years for Admiral Collingwood Development Corporation (\u201cACDC\u201d) and one year for Admiral\u2019s Village Inc. (\u201cAVI\u201d) to the term specified in the existing Site Remediation Agreement (\u201cSRA\u201d), subject to the following terms to be substantially incorporated into the revised agreement be appropriately executed by the Mayor and Clerk:<\/p>\n