{"id":31483,"date":"2022-06-16T19:13:07","date_gmt":"2022-06-16T23:13:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=31483"},"modified":"2022-06-16T19:20:52","modified_gmt":"2022-06-16T23:20:52","slug":"re-think-urged-for-auroras-community-improvement-plan-on-accessibility-sustainability-and-affordability","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/re-think-urged-for-auroras-community-improvement-plan-on-accessibility-sustainability-and-affordability\/","title":{"rendered":"Re-think urged for Aurora\u2019s Community Improvement Plan on accessibility, sustainability and affordability"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Council members are urging a re-think on Aurora\u2019s Community Improvement Plan after uptake from downtown business and property owners was less than hoped for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Town designated the Aurora Promenade \u2013 the core of the Yonge and Wellington gateways \u2013 as a Community Improvement Area (CIP), a move which included financial incentives to encourage long-term private sector investments in new and existing developments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eligible improvements, including fa\u00e7ade renovations, would see some reimbursements and\/or tax relief through the CIP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After CIP goals fell short, the Town initiated a review of the program to determine which goals were ultimately met. The resulting report, which was presented to Council at last week\u2019s General Committee meeting, focuses on four key themes: sustainability, heritage, accessibility and affordable housing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA few of the Town\u2019s neighbouring municipalities offer accessibility-related grants as an eligible expense within their Building Restoration and Improvement Program,\u201d said Economic Development Officer Nick Kazakoff in the report. \u201cFor example, the Township of King offers the installation of automatic doors and accessibility ramps as an eligible expense in their Property Improvement Grant. Similarly, the Town of Whitchurch-Stouffville offers eligible expenses for barrier-free entry under their Building Fa\u00e7ade and Signage Loan program. King\u2019s maximum eligible grant amount is $10,000 and Whitchurch-Stouffville is $15,000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe inclusion of accessibility improvement investments in the Aurora Promenade CIP could be easily addressed by adding them as an eligible expense as part of the Building Restoration, Renovation, and Improvement Program similar to Whitchurch-Stouffville\u2019s CIP.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other neighbouring municipalities offer grants related to sustainability, which Aurora could also pursue. King, for instance, covers improvements to energy and water efficiency within buildings, with similar programs also instigated in Bradford.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is recommended that Aurora considers adding eligible expenses related to sustainability, such as water efficiency upgrades, to their existing Tax-based Redevelopment Program,\u201d noted Kazakoff. \u201cThis approach has been successfully demonstrated in close by and comparable municipalities. Additionally, Middlesex County is a comparable municipality to Aurora and has taken the initiative to offer an entirely separate CIP initiative that includes many important sustainability improvements with a maximum eligible grant amount of $7,500. Therefore, Aurora may consider adopting a similar program for the promenade CIP as it would greatly advance sustainability efforts and be within an affordable budget range.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Heritage improvements, he added, were already covered within the CIP plans but including affordable housing as well could be a problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe addition of an affordable housing financial component in the Aurora Promenade CIP may be out of the scope as it would require significant cost analysis in order to realize any benefit. However, non-financial incentives could be developed and offered under a CIP. For instance, projects that offer an affordable or attainable housing component might be eligible for a streamlined planning process, fee deferment plans, or assistance with grant applications from the Region, Province, or Federal granting levels.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reviewing the potential paths forward last week, Council members welcomed a further look into the new proposed areas the CIP could cover, but a missing element in the report, noted Councillor Michael Thompson, was an analysis on why uptake for the existing program was so low.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe need to have a frank look at the original CIP plan that we rolled out,\u201d he said. \u201cWe had a lot of fanfare and expectations and hope around it and utilized best practices then but there was very little uptake. We had very few applications and what I would like to see this time around are some true measures on what a successful plan looks like. It\u2019s great to have all of this, it\u2019s great to stick the money aside and provide it where there is merit, but at the same time, it is good to have some metrics on what our expectation is in terms of the return on investment here\u2026.in terms of what we expect on an annual basis in terms of applications so we can actually assess whether or not the program is successful.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Councillors Wendy Gaertner and Sandra Humfryes offered similar viewpoints, with the former requesting further information on how these programs might be funded going forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have to put out an expectation in some people\u2019s minds,\u201d said Councillor Gaertner. \u201cCan we then fulfil the ability to be presenting some of these things, even one of these things, if there was a certain uptake? I think that piece needs to be explored before this comes back again.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Added Councillor Humfryes: \u201cI am not sure how many businesses or organizations utilized this opportunity, but there\u2019s so much that can be done with the revitalization of downtowns. It\u2019s coming at a perfect time. I hope there\u2019s lots of effort put in around how much we need to put aside, how it is going to work, and how we can make a strong communication process so everyone understands what\u2019s available to them, what\u2019s in it, and what they need to contribute to help as well.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Brock Weir
Editor
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter<\/strong><\/p>\n\r\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Council members are urging a re-think on Aurora\u2019s Community Improvement Plan after uptake from downtown business and property owners was less than hoped for. The Town designated the Aurora Promenade \u2013 the core of the Yonge and Wellington gateways \u2013 as a Community Improvement Area (CIP), a move which included financial incentives to encourage long-term […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31483","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general_news","category-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-8bN","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-26 00:14:16","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31483","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31483"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31483\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31483"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31483"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31483"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}