Talk of eliminating development fee exemptions from Centretown, has caused concern among Chinatown property owners, who fear their district might suffer.
The Chinatown Business Improvement Area held a meeting with property owners and Counc. Diane Holmes on March 30 to discuss the district’s potential.
“This part of the town in underdeveloped,” said Grace Xin, executive director of the BIA. There is a lot of vacant land, she added, and many properties are in need of improvement. “We absolutely need this incentive for people to develop,” Xin said.
In early summer, City Council will debate whether to remove the development fee exemption from the areas in Centretown that currently don’t have to pay to city for property development. For Chinatown residents, losing the exemption would impede their goals to improve the area.
Stakeholders at the meeting also discussed adding more police officers to patrol the area’s streets regularly. Chinatown used to have two beat police officers, said Holmes, but there is only one.
Crime is down in the area, she said, but commercial and residential property owners would feel more secure with the additional officer. The decreased crime rate also had a lot to do with having beat officers in the area, she added.
Not much development has taken place in Chinatown, despite the exemption from fees, said Holmes. In fact, other areas around Ottawa that still have the fees in place have been developing more rapidly. Preston, Wellington and Bank have all seen improvements and developments over the years, Xin said. But Somerset has been left behind. “We’re happy for our neighbours, but we want to see something done on our street,” said Xin. “We feel that the city forgot us.”
Gordon Walker, vice-chair of the Chinatown BIA and a property owner in the area, agrees. But despite this, Chinatown property owners would like to see the exemption remain for another five years, said Walker. That way, he said, when the economy picks up, Chinatown will be able to develop.
The district’s development was just one of several major issues addressed in the meeting which will all affect Chinatown’s future. The city could introduce more money for designs to improve facades on Somerset, said Holmes. In the past, the Bank Street BIA had success with a similar program, she said. The city could receive proposals from professionals and architecture students about how to improve the attractiveness of buildings and upgrade the outer facades.
The overall character of Chinatown, though, would be preserved, said Xin. The buildings in the area are unique, she said, and they will strive to keep the village look and atmosphere. However, some buildings on Somerset are in poor shape.
Residents and commercial owners would also like to see a secondary plan, said Xin. The last time Chinatown had one, she said, was in 1980. The plan would provide a guide for future developments.
Holmes said she needs to discuss plans with the Chinatown BIA before she can show support for either side of the fee exemption debate. There will be committee meetings in June, she added, and City Council will pass the by-law in July.
The poor economy is a factor in the lack of development, but not the only one, said Xin. Chinatown residents need more incentive to develop, she said, and they need the city’s help.
But the property owners are positive. “A lot of questions were asked and a lot of questions were answered,” Walker said. “I think everyone left feeling good.”