At the March 30 Economic Development Committee meeting, Mayor Scott Aitchison suggested that the committee discuss expropriation of the vacant Empire lot for possible recommendation to Huntsville Council. The lot, the former location of the Empire Hotel which burned down in 2008, is on the southeast corner of Main Street West and Centre Street and has been vacant since the structure was torn down after the fire.
The item was not on the committee’s agenda, but Aitchison broached the topic during round-table discussion at the end of the meeting, beginning first with a question to Downtown Huntsville BIA Executive Director, Helena Renwick, about the impact the vacant lot has on Huntsville’s downtown.
“It’s one of the topics that comes up on a regular basis in downtown. Business owners ask me, visitors ask me, locals ask me, ‘what is going on with the Empire lot?'” said Renwick. “We certainly saw a huge decline in our (BIA) revenues because of the lack of storefronts there. It’s kind of an eyesore. I would happily make a recommendation if there’s any incentive the town could offer to developers… It’s a piece of real estate in the downtown core that is constantly being questioned, why the town hasn’t done anything, and I have to explain that the Town doesn’t own that property.”
Aitchison suggested to Renwick that expropriation might be the answer.
“I think committee should make a recommendation to council that we expropriate it,” he said. “I brought it up now because I want committee to discuss it.”
To me it’s one of the big economic development opportunities in our community. It was listed and I think it was being marketed at more than it’s actually worth. I’ve done some research on expropriation and learned that municipalities don’t have to create some huge, all-powerful need for the property, we just have to say we want it and need it and here’s the assessed value and go away. We need to light a fire under this project as well. Our downtown core has been really quite vibrant but I think Bracebridge is catching up to us and that’s just not acceptable.
Mayor Scott Aitchison on the vacant Empire lot in downtown Huntsville
The Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) describes the Expropriations Act as one that “allows a municipality, approval authority or a public agency to take property for a purpose deemed to be in the public interest, even though the owner of the property may not be willing to sell it. Any interest in land and improvements, such as buildings, may also be expropriated.”
The Town would have to compensate the property’s owners if an expropriation were approved. According to the OMB, factors considered in the expropriation process to calculate the amount of compensation the owner is entitled to include market value, damages attributed to the disturbance, damages for injurious affection and any special difficulties in relocation. The owner of a property up for expropriation can request a hearing.
Aitchison did not elaborate on what the Town would do with the land once it was expropriated, saying only that “the Town would have to dispose of it through an RFP or list it for sale,” nor did he suggest an appropriate price or from which part of the Town’s budget the funds would come. Mayor Aitchison did not respond to Doppler’s requests for further comment.
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Expropriation seems like an authoritarian measure. Isn’t a speculation tax more appropriate? Some kind of speculation penalty would do more for the broader issue of people letting their commercial properties sit and rot, instead of targeting one person unfairly. It’s a long-term solution, however, and depending on how much prep work you need to implement a speculation penalty fairly, you may not get results as fast as you want. Maybe both solutions are necessary.
Some people were gutting part of the building directly neighbouring the empty lot, this winter. I hope that means it will turn into something.
I agree Mr. Bell and was also thinking the same.
Expropriation is ugly, no matter how you spin it. Maybe necessary in extreme instances such as road relocation as mentioned by Mr. Millman. In my view, the town is not in the real estate business and expropriation should not be an option.
The Waterloo building looms as the white elephant that needs to be appropriately handled. Do we, the taxpayers, want the additional burden of acquisiton of another expensive property?
What is the vision for the future of Huntsville? Do we want to excel in portraying the uniqueness of this town by incorporating the beauty of nature? An example is Kent Park (that little corner at Main and Brunel). What happened with the planning zeal of that one? Was it not the initial intent to add lovely green space to the downtown core? Now it is partially paved over for parking with a business kiosk stuck in the middle. And sandwich boards advertising a variety of venues sprouting there at various times of the year. Is this nice?
Can anyone come forth and attest to the beauty of the town dock area? If someone can enlighten us as to how that area evolved to its present status from a visionary point of view, it would be interesting to read all about it! And please add the inclusion of that enhancing pipe in the river!
The core of the issue is why was expropriation even considered? It’s a vulgar way to acquire property. Too dictatorial for my liking.
Personally, I feel that expropriation in this instance may be somewhat extreme. Expropriating for the purpose of road relocation is an accepted practice under the Highway Traffic Act: proving such practice to be “in the public interest” (without any singular purpose in mind) is a recipe for an OMB hearing.
Surely the property owner is entitled to a fair sale price. The preponderance of properties in Muskoka are “overpriced”, but given that the eventual price (without municipal intervention) will be what a willing buyer is prepared to pay to a willing seller; who’s to say that the seller will not receive close to his asking price? Meanwhile, expropriation will cost the Town the assessed value, plus the ancillary costs noted in the article, and the costs of the OMB hearing. And with no well-defined use for the property, the Town will likely end up with nothing but the OMB costs.
As Mr. Tapley avers, what is required is a vision. Two of Huntsville’s current scarcities are parking and affordable housing. Add another “green” buzzword like solar power by mounting a solar panel array on the roof, and you certainly have justification to expropriate.
Expropriation is not going to win this town any popularity contest. This property as I understand it was tied up in estate for some time and the town should not be in the real estate business. That has not proven to be successful in the past nor will it be in the future. How much discussion has taken place between the owner and the town up to this point?
A vision!
There is a whole block of a building, from HR&C all the way up to Centre Street…..
Underground parking.. free as it has to be to compete with the malls.
First floor of mostly retail….
Second floor of mostly professional offices, maybe some residential or possibly a hotel again….
Third floor.. mostly residential or hotel…
Roof top, a mix of outdoor garden setting and indoor restaurant, about 60 % outdoor, 40% indoor as we have less people in winter and thus don’t need the unworkable “outside” portion in that season.
Who owns the thing… I have no idea but if you could get it to look a bit like this you would have something with which to compete against the likes of the Deerhurst village to be built on the shores of a boggy part of Penn Lake I am told.
If you made the sidewalks sort of half open air and partly covered by a building overhang at the inside and large enough to really allow pedestrian shopping/dining that actually worked rather than the current sidewalk. If you used the whole perimeter of the block this way, especially the Center street and back sides.
If the building was covered in something that evoked the Muskoka landscape, some rock, some wood but tastefully done and surrounded by trees that actually had a space into which they could grow and mature….
Maybe the bus could stop there again, right in the center of town…
You get the idea but I wonder if such could ever come to be with the current tangle of planning rules and the costs driven ever higher by multiple jurisdictions and layers of by-laws.
If someone can make it work then your downtown will be vibrant and open for business for a long time. If not well, I’ll see you in Walmart most likely.
I think this discussion needs to be broader reaching. There are quite a number of empty storefronts around Main St. What’s the big picture for a downtown renewal? Expropriation without a plan for what happens after the town owns the property is not a solution.
There should be time limits on any “sitting empty” lots in town or increased tax levies applied & re-directed or land expropriated. Be progressive & be smart.
I strongly agree with the Mayor. Expropriation is definitely something we should consider. I think we should target more than one lot too.
Although I do not personally feel expropriation is the way to go as it reeks of a kind of heavy handiness that our community should try to avoid I do think that before this goes any further the town might consider sitting down at the table and perhaps entertaining a joint venture with a setback parking in front and at rear for loading, proper public washrooms, at ground level, and no pizza or coffee shops, we have enough of them and too much h litter already.
I agree Dave Kealey, that is a good idea. I thought someone had already proposed a similar project for the old Salvation Army location. The only thing I would add is that it would be nice to include some kind of social hub on Main Street as well. We have the library right across the street, but it would be great if we had something else to attract, entertain, and/or educate people – something that is not a store.
Great idea Alan, but what this town, and the downtown core specifically, needs, is a marquee building with mixed use. A business level with storefronts and another with offices for startups and then a few floors of low rent/ affordable housing and something really nice on the top few- high level condos?
Hi George,
I think it’s safe to say that any member of council, town staff or the mayor would be happy to answer any of your questions provided they are honest and respectful and would wholeheartedly welcome any suggestions you may have. As a community we will achieve better results if we’re on the same team.
How about the town buy the land and make a parking lot, charging a small amount to park solving the problem of no parking and generating some money for future downtown improvements.
What about the 2 lands just east of it …. For 7 years they have been vacant but no action from the town ..??
Also you sell the Montessori school that was actually generating income ..Are you idiots ? Why not contact the owner of the old empire site to lease it in summer instead of closing the whole main street ….are you guys bone heads ???
FINALLY! will the mayor and town council really step up and get something done with this prime chunk of land or is the mayor just blowing smoke? If this was a realistically priced piece of real estate it would have sold years ago
What is the assessed value?