City council has agreed to increase a brownfield redevelopment grant for the site of a proposed 11-unit condominium development near the Gordon Street Bridge, because the site is more contaminated than had been thought.
Council approved a brownfield grant of up to $156,000 in March. Late last month, it boosted the grant’s limit to $294,000, as the developer will need to conduct additional environmental investigation work at the site to deal with issues raised by the provincial Ministry of the Environment.
The 0.4-acre site southeast of the bridge, across from Royal City Park, has been used in the past as a car service station and, more recently, as a car and truck rental business. There are no businesses there now.
A group of nearby residents strongly opposed council’s decision in March to rezone the site and change the city’s Official Plan to allow an 11-unit condo development. Council’s decision has been appealed to the Ontario Municipal Board, and a city staff report says redevelopment of the site is unlikely to occur if the OMB overturns council’s decision.
However, the report says, the city won’t pay out any grant money unless redevelopment does occur at the site and the assessed value of the site increases as a result. The city has been told that contamination at the site overlooking the Speed River is “worse than expected.” Part of the increased costs the developer is facing is $30,000 for “deep groundwater investigation.”