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Enhanced Employment Lands for Simcoe County

Enhanced Employment Lands for Simcoe County. A Rationale to Expand Innisfil Heights. John Skorobohacz, CAO Andy Campbell, Director Infrastructure 15 August 2012. Innisfil Heights. Current Issue.

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Enhanced Employment Lands for Simcoe County

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  1. Enhanced Employment Lands for Simcoe County A Rationale to Expand Innisfil Heights John Skorobohacz, CAO Andy Campbell, Director Infrastructure 15 August 2012

  2. Innisfil Heights

  3. Current Issue • The County approved Innisfil’s OPA No.1 to extend the Innisfil Heights Employment area to the 5th Line • The Ministry of Infrastructure and the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing are not supportive of the expansion beyond the existing boundaries Innisfil Heights holds the prospect of becoming a strategic County and Town economic business hub

  4. Policy Context • Growth Plan amended & came into in force Jan. 19, 2012 • New Section (Section 6) deals with South Simcoe • Province sought input from County and local municipal staff respecting intensification, densities and employment land boundaries for Innisfil Heights Strategic Settlement Employment Area The Town is seeking the County to reaffirm its support to expand the boundaries of Innisfil Heights

  5. Planning Rationale • Growth Plan forecast for employment requires a boundary expansion of Innisfil Heights • Today, based strictly on future job and current growth/density assumptions, a mid-block expansion is warranted between the 6th and 7th Lines along Hwy 400 • Density of future employment may be lower than overall density target thus requiring more land to accommodate the forecast • Full public consultation was undertaken in support of OPA No. 1 • There were no objections based solely on proposed expanded boundaries

  6. Planning Rationale (cont.) • Expansion of these lands to 5th Line is already justified and was approved by the Town and County under Town’s OPA No.1 • Settlement boundary expansion to the south is appropriate and can be subject to staging and development controls to provide orderly sustainable growth • Gaining agreement will: • Speed the resolution of current appeals of OPA No.1 before the OMB • Assist timely adoption of the County’s new Official Plan

  7. Servicing Rationale • Servicing costs: • Waste water infrastructure is approx. $30 million (not including WWTP upgrades) • Water from Lakeshore WTP is approx. $35 million • Preferred WW servicing alignment along the 6th Line • Extension of full urban servicing to these lands supports the expansion of gaming site at Georgian Downs • Expanding the employment base of the Town provides economies of scale to address future downstream improvements to protect the quality of groundwater and wastewater effluent

  8. Market Realities • The current supply of vacant land in Innisfil Heights is not sufficient or contiguous to create a cluster of targeted employment types • Parcel sizes of vacant lands within current boundary insufficient size to accommodate uses envisioned by Town, County and Province • Location along Highway 400 is attractive to new industries • Innisfil Heights currently served by rail • Need diversity of size and configuration of parcels

  9. Market Realities (cont.) • A southerly expansion: • Can accommodate larger parcels and transportation- related employment • Expanded lands could better utilize rail as an efficient goods movement mode We are experiencing requests for servicing

  10. Fiscal Responsibility • Recovering the investment to extend water and wastewater services requires additional land areas over which to collect DC’s and property tax assessment • Benefits to Innisfil/County in terms of employment activity - ratio jobs/population • Expanding local employment lands brings provides fiscal benefits to all levels of government than just adding more residential population/subdivisions The County benefits from assessment growth

  11. Potential Property Tax – Innisfil Heights • County Base Property Tax as determined by current assessment values • Current area $114 K • Expansion area $2.4 K • Assumed County Tax increases based on full services • Current area $508 K • Expansion area $622 K

  12. Summary • Expansion of Innisfil Heights is a pre-requisite to meeting the Growth Plan targets for Simcoe County • There are compelling planning, market, infrastructure and fiscal rationale for the boundary expansion of Innisfil Heights • The support of County Council of this request provides long term social, environmental and economic benefits not only for Innisfil but the entire County of Simcoe

  13. Next Steps • Innisfil Council has requested the assistance of the Ontario Provincial Development Facilitator (OPDF) • Request the County reaffirm its support of the expanded employment lands and work with the OPDF Site servicing needs to commence in 2013 to meet growing development needs

  14. Questions

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