St. Catharines councillors narrowly voted not to reopen the debate on whether to give a tax incentive to a Port Dalhousie condo project which met the criteria Monday night.

The original Oct. 7 decision to deny the tax rebate could only be reconsidered if two-thirds of council - a minimum of nine members out of 13 - agreed to reopen the issue.

The vote was 8-5.

"It was surprising and disappointing," said Sheldon Rosen, president of Port Dalhousie Harbour Club, which is redeveloping the former Lincoln Fabrics building on Lakeport Road, speaking outside council chambers.

"We had met all the criteria. The city has a way of dealing with these applications which has been consistent over the time. We expected to be treated fairly. There was an entrenched viewpoint which refused to allow information to come forward.

"It sends a clear message that the City of St. Catharines is not open to do business. Literally, the trust factor is nonexistent."

The project involves conversion of the former industrial building and construction of an addition, for about 120 condo units.

Council voted 7-5 on Oct. 7 against a staff recommendation to award a community improvement plan incentive to the project, with some councillors saying they couldn't support giving a rebate to a luxury condo project.

The incentive would have given the development the equivalent of an 80 per cent tax rebate over a 10-year period, worth about $3.36 million.

The rebate was based on future taxes the project will create when completed. The city collects about $35,000 in property taxes now and will be able to take in about $455,000 in the future when the development is finished.

The decision to deny the incentive was widely criticized by the business community as being inconsistent and sending a negative message, with some members writing letters and emails to councillors.

The reconsideration vote was brought forward by St. Patrick's Coun. Karrie Porter, who said council owed a fulsome debate to the public and the development community.

The condo project's planner Bruce Hall, a partner with The Planning Partnership, said that of the 13 CIP applications the city has received since 2016, council has approved city staff's recommendations in all cases except that of the Lincoln Fabrics development.

In the 12 other cases, city staff recommended council approve 10 applications and deny two applications.

St. Patrick's Coun. Mat Siscoe said government is supposed to be predictable. He said a CIP program that the development community doesn't believe in is not worth the paper it's written on.

"We can't just make this up on the fly."

Siscoe and Porter both expressed concerns about the future of the former Ontario Street GM property in their ward, as whoever ends up purchasing it will want to access the CIP program.

"Why would anybody take the risk of coming into the community if they believe the incentive programs that we put forward are not actually going to be there?" Siscoe asked.

But Merritton Coun. Greg Miller said voting for reconsideration would send a deeper signal to the community that council is willing to reconsider its decisions under pressure from the business community.

"What's best for the business community is not always in lockstep with what's best for the general public, and in this case it is not."

Port Dalhousie Coun. Bruce Williamson said in a democracy everyone pays their taxes, and it's a responsibility from which no one should be exempt.

Fellow Coun. Carlos Garcia said he didn't believe the incentives were necessary for the Lincoln Fabrics project - or the Royal Port condo project next door, which received a CIP from council in March - to go forward.

"The reality is we are going to get these large taxes regardless of whether we give them $3.4 million or not, because the project will go ahead because it's very profitable," Garcia said.

Council heard from eight delegations before hearing from developer Rosen on why the reconsideration vote should take place.

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Two of the delegations spoke against reopening the debate, while six were for it, including the Niagara Home Builders Association and the Greater Niagara Chamber of Commerce.

"It's an unfortunate decision of council today," Mayor Walter Sendzik said after the vote.

Council heard the city's decision could affect the Harbour Club's ability to get a matching incentive from Niagara Region, potentially impacting the project by $6.8 million.

"Our fear, and it's a huge fear, is that the general notion is the Region matches the city," Rosen told council.

"If the city is not there, the Region is not there. That is a woeful situation for us. It's unthinkable."

The vote for reconsideration:

YES: Karrie Porter, Matt Harris, Joe Kushner, Lori Littleton, Bill Phillips, Mat Siscoe, Sal Sorrento, Walter Sendzik

NO: Dawn Dodge, Carlos Garcia, Greg Miller, Kevin Townsend, Bruce Williamson

Karena.Walter@niagaradailies.com

905-225-1628 | @karena_standard

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