1. intent to designate carp road corridor
business improvement area (BIA)

INTENTION de désigner le couloir du chemin carp comme secteur d’amélioration commerciale (SDAC)

Committee RecommendationS AS AMENDED

That Council:

1. Approve the area described in Document 1 of this report, to be designated as the Carp Road Corridor Business Improve.ment Area (BIA), under Section 204 of the Municipal Act, 2001 as amended by the following;

a) That report number ACS2010-ICS-CCS-0015 be amended by making the following changes to Document 1 – Proposed Carp Road Corridor BIA Boundary:

i) In the first column of Document 1 delete reference to “86” Cardevco Road and replace with “85” Cardevco Road, as shown on the attached document;

ii) In the second column of Document 1 delete reference to “102” Walgreen Road and replace with “100” Walgreen Road, as shown on the attached document;

2. Authorize the City Clerk and Solicitor to send out a notice of Council's intention to pass a by-law designating the area as a Business Improvement Area, in accordance with Section 210 of the Municipal Act, 2001;

3. Enact the following two enabling by-laws, subject to the City Clerk and Solicitor reporting favourably on the results of the intention to pass a by-law designating the area as Business Improvement Area as contemplated by Section 210 of the Municipal Act, 2001, :

a. to designate the area as a Business Improvement Area, as described in Document 1, as amended by the foregoing, to be named the "Carp Road Corridor Business Improvement Area (BIA)"; and,

b. to establish the Board of Management of the Business Improvement Area, to be named the "Carp Road Corridor Business Improvement Area (BIA) Board of Management”, and;

That there be no further notice pursuant to Section 34 (17) of the Planning Act.

RecommandationS MODIFIÉES DU Comité

Que Conseil :

1. approuve le secteur décrit dans le document 1 du présent rapport afin de le désigner comme zone d’amélioration commerciale (ZAC) du couloir du chemin Carp en vertu de l’article 204 de la Loi sur les municipalités de 2001, moyennant la modification suivante;

a) Que le rapport numéro ACS2010-ICS-CCS-0015 soit modifié au moyen des changements suivants au document 1 – Limites projetées de la ZAC du couloir du chemin Carp :

i) À la première colonne du document 1, supprimer la mention du « 86 », chemin Cardevco et la remplacer par le « 85 », chemin Cardevco, comme l’illustre le document ci-annexé;

ii) À la deuxième colonne du document 1, supprimer la mention du « 102 », chemin Walgreen et la remplacer par le « 100’ », chemin Walgreen, comme l’illustre le document ci-annexé;

2. autorise le greffier municipal et chef du contentieux à envoyer un avis d’intention du Conseil d’adopter un règlement municipal pour désigner le secteur comme zone d’amélioration commerciale, conformément à l’article 210 de la Loi de 2001 sur les municipalités;

3. adopte les deux règlements habilitants suivants, sous réserve d’un rapport favorable de la part du greffier et chef du contentieux au sujet de l’intention d’adopter un règlement visant à désigner le secteur zone d’amélioration commerciale, comme le prévoit l’article 210 de la Loi de 2001 sur les municipalités, :

a. de désigner le secteur décrit dans le document 1, modifié par ce qui précède, comme zone d'amélioration commerciale, qui sera nommé « zone d’amélioration commerciale du couloir du chemin Carp »;

b. de créer le conseil de gestion de la zone d’amélioration, qui sera nommé « conseil de gestion de la zone d’amélioration commerciale (ZAC) du couloir du chemin Carp ».

Qu’aucun autre avis ne soit donné, conformément au paragraphe 34 (17) de la Loi sur l’aménagement du territoire.

Documentation

1. Deputy City Manager’s Report, Infrastructure Services and Community Sustainability dated 22 July 2010 (ACS2010-ICS-CSS-0015).

2. Extract of Draft Minute, 26 August 2010.

Report to/Rapport au :

Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee

Comité de l'agriculture et des affaires rurales

22 July 2010 / le 22 juillet 2010

Submitted by/Soumis par : Nancy Schepers, Deputy City Manager/Directrice municipale adjointe, Infrastructure Services and Community Sustainability/Services d 'infrastructure et Viabilité des collectivités

Contact Person/Personne ressource : Saad Bashir, Manager/Gestionnaire, Economic Development/Développement économique, Community and Sustainability Services/Services de viabilité et des collectivités

(613) 580-2424,22339 Saad.Bashir@ottawa.ca

West Carleton - March (5)

Ref N°: ACS2010-ICS-CSS-0015

SUBJECT:	INTENT TO DESIGNATE CARP ROAD CORRIDOR Business Improvement Area (BIA)

OBJET :	INTENTION de désigner le couloir du chemin carp comme secteur d’amélioration commerciale (SDAC)

REPORT RECOMMENDATIONS

That the Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee recommend Council:

1. Approve the area described in Document 1 of this report to be designated as the Carp Road Corridor Business Improvement Area (BIA), under Section 204 of the Municipal Act, 2001;

a. to designate the area as a Business Improvement Area, as described in Document 1, to be named the "Carp Road Corridor Business Improvement Area (BIA)"; and,

b. to establish the Board of Management of the Business Improvement Area, to be named the "Carp Road Corridor Business Improvement Area (BIA) Board of Management.

RECOMMANDATIONS DU RAPPORT

Que le Comité de l'agriculture et des affaires rurales recommande au Conseil :

1. d’approuver le secteur décrit dans le document 1 du présent rapport afin de le désigner comme zone d’amélioration commerciale (ZAC) du couloir du chemin Carp en vertu de l’article 204 de la Loi sur les municipalités de 2001;

2. d’autoriser le greffier municipal et chef du contentieux à envoyer un avis d’intention du Conseil d’adopter un règlement municipal pour désigner le secteur comme zone d’amélioration commerciale, conformément à l’article 210 de la Loi de 2001 sur les municipalités;

3. d’adopter les deux règlements habilitants suivants, sous réserve d’un rapport favorable de la part du greffier et chef du contentieux au sujet de l’intention d’adopter un règlement visant à désigner le secteur zone d’amélioration commerciale, comme le prévoit l’article 210 de la Loi de 2001 sur les municipalités, :

a. de désigner le secteur décrit dans le document 1 comme zone d'amélioration commerciale, qui sera nommé « zone d’amélioration commerciale du couloir du chemin Carp »; et

b. de créer le conseil de gestion de la zone d’amélioration, qui sera nommé « conseil de gestion de la zone d’amélioration commerciale (ZAC) du couloir du chemin Carp ».

BACKGROUND

A Business Improvement Area (BIA) is an association of business people within a specified district who join together, with official approval from the City, in a self-help program aimed at stimulating local business. A BIA Board of Management is an organization set up to provide business promotion and improvement functions.

A BIA allows local business people and property owners to join together and, with the support of the municipality, organize, finance and carry out physical improvement and promote economic development in their district.

The City assists in the formal designation of the BIA and collects a zone levy which is returned to the BIA for its administration, annual budget and programming needs.

Once a BIA is approved by City Council, every business within its boundaries automatically becomes a member and bears their fair share of the cost of the program. While a BIA arises from the retail and professional activities of a main street, it has a profound effect on the surrounding area. It serves as an economic and social anchor, helping to stabilize and in some cases revitalize the local community.

The City of Ottawa currently has 16 BIAs with an aggregate budget in 2010 of over $5 Million.

The Carp Road Corridor Employment Area was designated in the Official Plan in 2004. The Economic Development Branch has been working with a local association of land and business owners for the past two years to establish a BIA within the Employment Area (illustrated in Document 1). A Steering Committee was established that was comprised of business operators and owners in the described area.

The Steering Committee has completed a variety of activities to confirm support for a BIA including a survey process within the proposed BIA boundary. The survey process has confirmed broad and strong interest in designating a BIA in the Carp Road Corridor Employment Area and is formally requesting that City Council adopt a by-law to establish a BIA pursuant to the Municipal Act, 2001 Section 210.

Following approval by City Council, the City Clerk and Solicitor will then mail an official "Notice of Intention to Designate" a new BIA to all commercial and industrial property owners within the proposed boundary. Property owners are required to send a copy of this notice to any of their commercial tenants giving them the same opportunity to object. If the total number of objections received within 60 days exceeds one third of those entitled to be notified (property owners plus business owners) or if those who account for at least one third of the area's property tax (property owners), calculated on the basis of assessment, the City will not proceed with the formation of the BIA.

DISCUSSION

In 2004, the City completed a Community Design Plan for the Carp Road Corridor and, as a result of the findings and recommendations; the Plan designated the Carp Road Corridor Employment Area in the Official Plan (Section 3.7.5, Amendment 7, June 9, 2004). One of the recommendations of the Community Design Plan – aimed at achieving the economic development potential of the area - was that local owners should undertake a process to determine interest and move forward with formation of a Business Improvement Area. Since that time, area land and business owners have moved forward with the recommendation and now have broad support for an area BIA.

The Carp Road Corridor Employment Area is home to a thriving business community of over 200 businesses and over 2500 jobs (Carp Road Corridor CDP and updated information). The area also has the largest stock of vacant light industrial land in rural Ottawa and is located immediately adjacent to the newly improved Highway 417, which is identified as a key economic development resource in the City’s Employment Land Strategy (http://www.ottawa.ca/calendar/ottawa/citycouncil/pec/2009/01-27/Phase%201%20%20_2008%2011%2010_.pdf). The Corridor is also home to the Carp Airport – another significant regional economic development resource.

As noted in the Employment Land Strategy, Ottawa has not seen significant growth in the industrial sector. In fact, there have been concerns regarding redesignation of industrial lands to other uses – primarily residential. The City’s designation of the Carp Road Corridor Employment Area and more recently the Employment Land Strategy underscore an understanding of the economic importance and commitment regarding the economic importance of industrial development in the City. An area BIA would be a partner with the City in ensuring that the economic development potential of the Carp Road Corridor is achieved.

Formation of a new BIA for the Carp Road Corridor BIA aligns with the refreshed 2010 Economic Strategy, in particular, Goal # 3 which seeks to leverage the city of Ottawa’s existing strengths as a competitive global hub for innovative, knowledge-based talent, businesses and organizations to inspire and facilitate future economic development activities, Proposed Activity Number 4, related to this goal speaks to performing regular business outreach to keep a pulse on the latest industry challenges to determine where the City’s Economic Development Branch can provide value, and BIAs are recognized as key stake-holders part of this process.

Activities and discussions over the past two years have shown that area business owners and land owners have both concerns and optimistic plans for the area, and a BIA has been recognized as a tool to address both.

The 2004 Community Design Plan identified some of area business concerns; including poor historic lot development control (now addressed in the Official Plan Amendment and new developments have good control of lot development standards). Another concern for many area owners is the quality of groundwater in the area and the possible business growth opportunity which would be provided by further extension of City water into the area (part of the Reed Industrial Park has City water).

The Community Design Plan also identified some of the building blocks for economic development in the area and reconfirmed more recently with area owners include the diversity of area businesses as indicative of a good place for business, the high proportion of long standing businesses in the area and a growing retail sector in the area benefitting from good traffic on Carp Road. These advantages were recently reconfirmed with area business owners.

A BIA will provide the Corridor business and property owners with a direct link to the City of Ottawa. A BIA will be able to provide critical information and communication resources to ensure existing businesses grow stronger, new or potential businesses have the tools to make educated decisions and that an overall plan for the area is implemented on a daily basis. The BIA can work in tandem with the City’s economic development initiatives to assist in attracting new business. It will also facilitate timely information sharing with and among area developers, businesses and property owners, on areas such as access to planning and zoning information, up-to-date statistical information and City and Provincial business support programs.

The area association Steering Committee has successfully undertaken a preliminary survey process and distribution of information to businesses within the boundaries shown in Document 1. As part of this process, all area businesses were visited by a representative and provided with information at their business location. Three organizational meetings were held to provide information, gain an understanding of owner priorities and build support for a BIA. Finally, individual business owners were canvassed “face to face” by Committee members.

Overall information was distributed to 215 businesses (property owners or tenants) in the designated area. Face-to-face meetings were also held with approximately half of this group. Of those who responded (72 per cent) – most of which were business owner/operators stated that they were supportive of a BIA. Only 5.5 per cent of businesses expressed a direct opinion against a BIA. The greatest constraint to obtaining a firm indication of support was the process of obtaining confirmation from those businesses which are subsidiaries of larger companies with out of town head offices.

RURAL IMPLICATIONS

The proposed Carp Road Corridor BIA will be outside the Urban Boundary, located in a rural area.

CONSULTATION

The local Councillors for the area, Eli El-Chantiry and Glenn Brooks, have been very supportive of the initiatives of the Steering Committee and are strong advocates for the creation of a BIA for the Carp Road Corridor Employment Area.

The Steering Committee has organized three area meetings over the past two years. For the most recent meeting, all property owners were notified by mail and all business owners were notified at their place of business. Councillor El-Chantiry attended the meeting and heard directly from area owners regarding area business and development issues, as well as surrounding the cost of any new business association. Businesses also highlighted the need to create a stronger voice for businesses in the Corridor; enhance communications with City Hall (e.g. staying aware of City initiatives such as the sign by-law); improve City services including City water and road/drainage; and identify opportunities for marketing the Corridor. Overall local business and property owners at these meetings expressed support for creation of a BIA, with a caution that the costs be reasonable.

Economic Development staff has consulted regularly with representatives from the Steering Committee leading up to their formal request to the City to designate a BIA.

COMMENTS BY THE WARD COUNCILLOR(S)

Councillors Eli El-Chantiry (Ward 5) and Councillor Glenn Brooks (Ward 21) are both aware and supportive of the BIA

LEGAL/RISK MANAGEMENT IMPLICATIONS

There are no legal/risk management impediments to implementing the recommendations in the report. Section 204 of the Municipal Act, 2001, subject to the requirements set out in Section 210, permits the City to designate the proposed area in the report as a Business Improvement Area and to establish a Board of Management for it.

CITY STRATEGIC PLAN

This initiative is consistent with one of the six key priorities of the City’s strategic plan which is to develop a Sustainable, Healthy and Active Community.

TECHNICAL IMPLICATIONS

N/A

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

Business Improvement Areas (BIAs) are funded by a special levy to owners and tenants within the designated area based on the annual budget requirement submitted by the BIA's Board of Management, and subsequently approved by Council.

As part of the City's Finance Department, the Financial Support Unit (FSU) has provided financial support to all BIAs. Since amalgamation, BIAs have grown significantly; with the addition of five BIAs, one BIA revitalization and two BIA expansions. During this growth, total FSU resource levels have declined; while this additional BIA can be accommodated, any further growth may require additional resources.

SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION

Document 1 Carp Road Corridor BIA Proposed Boundary Map

Document 2 Report from Steering Committee confirming business support

DISPOSITION

On approval by City Council, the City Clerk and Solicitor will mail a "Notice Of Intention to Designate the Carp Road Corridor Business Improvement Area (BIA)" to all commercial and industrial property owners within the proposed boundary set out in this report.

Providing the total number of objections received within 60 days does not exceed one third of those entitled to be notified or those who account for at least one third of the area's property tax, calculated on the basis of assessment, the City Clerk and Solicitor Department will prepare and place on a Council Agenda for enactment the two enabling by-laws to:

(i) designate the area as a Business Improvement Area, as described in Document 1, to be named the "Carp Road Corridor Business Improvement Area (BIA);" and,

(ii) establish the Board of Management of the Business Improvement Area, to be named the "Carp Road Corridor Business Improvement Area (BIA) Board of Management."

revised DOCUMENT 1

Proposed Carp ROAD Corridor BIA Boundary

The Carp Rd. Corridor BIA will consist of all rateable property that is in a prescribed business class located in the area consisting of:

DOCUMENT 2

Report from Steering

Committee confirming business support

W.O.E.D.A.

2300 Carp Road

Carp, ON K0A 1L0

July 20, 2010

Mr. Chris Cope, Economic Development Consultant

Community Sustainability Department

City of Ottawa

4^th Floor, 110 Laurier Ave. West

Ottawa, Ontario

RE: Carp Road Corridor BIA Formation

Dear Mr. Cope:

Business owners and property owners in the Carp Road Corridor support formation of a Business Improvement Area. Thank you for the generous assistance and advice you have provided to the West Ottawa Economic Development Association (WOEDA) BIA initiative.

WOEDA

WOEDA was formed in 2000 at municipal amalgamation in order to ensure a strong voice for established businesses and to help ensure continued economic development of the Carp Road Corridor business area. The WOEDA Board of Directors is presently made up of the following volunteer community business people:

Erwin Schulz, Chair (Vice President Aggregate, AECON)
Greg LeBlanc, Co-chair (Area land owner)
Wayne French (Director, Community and Municipal Affairs, Waste Management of Canada Corp.)
Dustin Therrien (Owner, Cheshire Cat Pub)
John Phillips (Owner, West Capital Investments – Carp Airport)
Santo Pecorella (Owner, NetWorks Express)

Carp Road Corridor OP Designated Employment Area

In 2004, the City of Ottawa completed a Community Design Plan for the Corridor, identifying that the Corridor includes 200 businesses and an estimated 2000 jobs and includes an important City economic development asset – the Carp Airport. As a result of the recommendations of the CDP, the City established the Corridor as the only officially designated Employment Area in rural Ottawa and included policies for the area in Section 3 of the Official Plan.

The OP designated Carp Road Corridor Employment Area forms the basis of establishing a boundary for a Corridor BIA. The Carp Airport, which is not in the Employment Area, has been added to be included in the geographic limit definition of the BIA. The proposed BIA boundary includes commercially assessed lands along Carp Road from Rothbourne Road to March Road and including five industrial business parks.

BIA Formation Initiative

Between formation of WOEDA in 2000 and when the City of Ottawa undertook a Community Design Plan for the Carp Road Corridor in 2004 WOEDA had established itself as a voice for area business. The CDP, commenting on economic development potential and responding to area concerns expressed during the CDP consultation process, recommended that WOEDA work to establish a formal area business association – a Business Improvement Area. In response to the recommendation, the following activities have been undertaken:

Area Meeting, July 23, 2008: WOEDA members met to discuss and approve the development of a formal plan to engage all area businesses in a discussion of forming a Business Improvement Area;

October 2008: A formal “action plan” including background, information about BIAs, BIA candidate work plans and budgets and updating of area owner contacts was completed and provided to members;

December 2, 2008: WOEDA members met to review and approve the BIA “action plan”;

June 2009: A door to door survey of approx. 100 businesses was completed, primarily in the Reed and the Cardevco business parks, in order to inform business owners, build contacts and obtain direct input on area issues. All businesses contacted stated general support for the idea of an area business association. Thirty-five owners returned a survey confirming support and providing further input on area issues including:

o Municipal water supply

o Road improvements

o Improved police presence

o Improved postal box services

o Impacts of the new sign by-law

October 23, 2009: WOEDA members hosted a representative from the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing – John Ballantine – who presented detailed information regarding the formation of BIA’s and the changing role of BIAs under new provisions in legislation and answered members questions regarding BIAs.

Through 2009: WOEDA discussed with members and participated in City consultation on the Rural Settlement Strategy, the Official Plan update, the Industrial Land Strategy and the Economic Development Strategy refresh.

May 2010: A door to door notification of an area meeting to be held May 22, 2010, was provided to all businesses (215 businesses) and included owner/manager contact and opportunity to discuss area issues. Also, the City of Ottawa and Councillor El-Chantiry facilitated a direct mail information package and meeting notice to all area property owners (based on City tax roll addresses – 276 individual properties). The May 23 meeting was attended by 35 land and business owners and all stated support or strong support for the BIA.

Directors One on One Contacts: Following the May 2010 area meeting, Board members followed up directly with attendees as well as other area businesses. Of the approximately 100 businesses approached, 72 have stated firm support, 5 have stated they do not support an association (primarily due to increased cost to business) and remaining businesses have been non-committal or unresponsive.

BIA Candidate Initiatives and Costs

All contact with owners since development of the “action plan” has included a discussion of possible BIA initiatives and information on how BIA costs are formed (by members at an annual general meeting to confirm a budget) and assessed (to property owners based on assessment proportion and likely passed to business tenants).

Key short term and long term initiatives, developed through consultation with WOEDA members and all owners include:

o Encourage completion of extension of City water to the remainder of the Reed Business Park;

o Encourage consideration of servicing other areas in the Corridor based on the successful model for servicing the Carp Airport – municipal water and small local wastewater treatment;

o Establish feature signage at each business park;

o Work with the City to begin to plan for road improvements to address current traffic risks at high frequency turning locations including the intersection of Richardson Side Road and the intersection of Cardevco Road;

o Work with owners to address sign by-law compliance;

o Establish an area business directory, take advantage of the City program to provide directional and feature signage, examine potential for senior government economic development grants

All contact with owners has included discussion of costs of a BIA work program and how those costs would be assessed. A draft budget $75,000 based on the above work items and including hiring a part time BIA manager has been used as a benchmark to provide information to owners. At that budget level, analysis of property assessments indicates that over 70% of property owners will pay a BIA levy of under $300. It is expected that special measures will be undertaken to mitigate possibly undue high BIA levies for a limited number of owners in the area due to some properties having assessments which are out of proportion to other assessments or possible benefit from the BIA.

Yours truly,

Erwin Schulz

On behalf of the West Ottawa Economic Development Association

613-831-0717

info@woeda.ca

cc WOEDA Board Members

BIA Business and Property Owner Supporters

Councillor Eli El-Chantiry

Councillor Glenn Brooks

agriculture and rural affairs committee

Report 56

8 september 2010

Comité de l’agriculture et des AFFAIRES rurales

rapport 56

le 8 septembre 2010

extract of

DRAFT Minutes 59

26 august 2010

extrait dE L’ÉBAUCHE

Du ProcÈs-verbal 59

Le 26 aoÛt 2010

intent to designate carp road corridor
business improvement area (BIA)

INTENTION de désigner le couloir du chemin carp
comme secteur d’amélioration commerciale (SDAC)

ACS2010-ICS-CCS-0015 West CArleton - March (5)

Councillor El-Chantiry moved a Motion to incorporate technical amendments to the above report, as outlined below.

Moved by Councillor E. El-Chantiry:

That report number ACS2010-ICS-CCS-0015 be amended by making the following changes to Document 1 – Proposed Carp Road Corridor BIA Boundary:

1. In the first column of Document 1 delete reference to “86” Cardevco Road and replace with “85” Cardevco Road, as shown on the attached document, and;

2. In the second column of Document 1 delete reference to “102” Walgreen Road and replace with “100” Walgreen Road, as shown on the attached document.

That there be no further notice pursuant to Section 34 (17) of the Planning Act.

CARRIED

The Committee then considered the report recommedations, as amended.