By: Sylene Argent, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Essex Free Press
Council for the Town of Essex voted to authorize administration to allocate the sanitary servicing capacity necessary to facilitate the private development proposed for the former Peavey Mart site at 401 Talbot Street North, and to draft a Servicing Agreement satisfactory to the Clerk and Chief Administrative Officer.
The Servicing Agreement will be with the property owner and the Municipality of Lakeshore to set the terms and conditions for providing servicing capacity to the property. The Servicing Agreement will be brought back to Essex Council for final consideration.
The property is located immediately adjacent to the Town of Essex municipal limits, and its owners have approached the Town requesting access to municipal sanitary sewer servicing in order to facilitate the construction of a proposed recreational and commercial sports-oriented development, consisting of a multi-use indoor recreation facility, members of Essex Council learned at the June 1 regular meeting.
A number of components are incorporated, including sports turf, ice pad addition, food and beverage services, locker room facilities, kitchen/ dining areas, bowling, pickleball, golf simulation, and ancillary commercial uses.
“Administration recognizes the development may provide broader economic benefits to Essex, including employment, sports tourism, visitor traffic, spin-off activity for local businesses, and enhanced recreational amenities,” Director of Infrastructure Services, Kevin Girard, said.
Because the property is outside the Town of Essex boundaries, servicing requires Council support.
The Town’s sanitary system, however, has finite remaining capacity, Girard added.
For that reason, Town administration recommended that any approval be conditional on the confirmation of sanitary flows, detailed engineering review, confirmation that there are no adverse system impacts, and the establishment of a defined maximum capacity allocation.
In answering Mayor Sherry Bondy’s question on whether or not this would return to Council for final approval, Girard explained the recommendation allowed them to start negotiating the agreement and would allocate the servicing.
Director of Legal and Legislative Services, Joe Malandruccolo, believes it would need to come back for approval after the agreement is negotiated.
Councillor Katie McGuire-Blais also wanted it to return to Council, as she was unsure how they could approve it without knowing how much capacity would be required. When it comes back to Council, they will see what the capacity will be, and Council can decide on final approval then.
What is being planned sounds amazing, McGuire-Blais said. Even though it is located in Lakeshore, it will benefit Essex and its residents.
She was excited to see it happen, but wanted to know what the Town’s current capacity was, and if there is risk of denying properties located in Essex Centre because of this.
Part of the reason administration came to Council pre-emptively was to ensure administration did not invest a lot of time in agreements and negotiation if it would have ended up being denied, CAO Kate Giurissevich said. She wanted to get a sense of Council’s appetite first.
Councillor Kim Verbeek also supported getting the information. If it will not put a strain or restrictions on developments in Essex, she would support the request.
Bondy believes one question she anticipated hearing from the public is if this development will have the same rate as Essex residents or if there will be a premium rate for an outsider. Girard noted the admin intends to have that conversation as part of negotiations for the agreement.
Councillor Jason Matyi wondered if this was a good time to ask Lakeshore to change boundaries and allow the site to be included in Essex.
That was discussed during preliminary discussions, but it is a lengthy process, Bondy noted.