By Dianne Cornish, REVIEW STAFF

A former Flamborough councillor and builder of energy-efficient homes is poking holes in Hamilton’s long-term plans to establish a large industrial park at the John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport.

Dave Braden of Valens calls the plan­ – referred to as aerotropolis or the Airport Employment Growth District (AEGD) – “just plane stupid” and cites a litany or reasons why he believes it is doomed to fail, including what he describes as Hamilton’s “poor record of promoting or maintaining its commitment to industrial lands.” He points to Clappison’s Industrial Park as an example of how commercial interests won out over industrial to allow the big box development and says there have been zoning changes in Hamilton and Stoney Creek that show the city’s lack of commitment to retaining employment lands after large amounts of money, some of it from taxpayers, has been used to service them.

“What was (envisioned) to be an industrial park is now mostly a power centre,” Braden said of the Clappison’s Corners development.

The former Ward 14 councillor is also a director with Environment Hamilton, which is challenging the aerotropolis plan at the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB). He insists there are many other reasons why the proposed industrial plan will fail. He’s speaking out now, he said, because he feels the public has a right to know the huge risk posed by the plan and how it could negatively impact future infrastructure projects, such as the east-west corridor in north WaterdownWaterdown.

Braden says that more than 50 per cent of the landowners of the proposed aerotropolis lands are residential developers whose commitment to retaining industrial zoning on the site is questionable as it is more valuable to them if the land is rezoned as residential.

“They have a clear motive to hope that the intention of the project fails,” he charged.

Proof of this, he says, is that the developers are now appealing the industrial designation of their lands and asking that it be changed to residential and/or commercial. Their appeals are before the OMB, which is now at the pre-hearing stage but is expected to proceed to a full-blown hearing this fall.

Braden feels there is a lot to question about the AEGD plan, apart from the $300,000 that he says the city has set aside to fight for the project at the OMB. Part of the justification for proceeding with the plan to develop about 700 hectares (1,730 acres) around the airport over the next 20 to 30 years is that city staff says there is a shortage of available brownfields to accommodate employment lands. “That’s because they defined ‘available’ as only those lands which are both derelict and not paying taxes,” Braden said, suggesting that there are brownfields in the city’s bayfront area that could accommodate new industry. “If we applied that definition to the aerotropolis lands, none of them would be ‘available’ either,” he contended.

When council voted 13-2 to approve the first stage of the plan in October 2010, staff reported that the project would bring in annual tax revenues of $52 million and create more than 24,000 jobs when fully developed by 2031. It will cost an estimated $353 million to service the lands with water, roads and sewers.

Ward 14 councillor Robert Pasuta voted for the plan and maintains it’s the right way to go for Hamilton. While he regrets the loss of farmland, he said economic development is needed to create jobs and generate tax revenues. He believes the airport lands, once serviced, will attract new investment.

Pasuta said that the city’s brownfields “don’t have spots big enough” to accommodate the types of industry that will be coming to Hamilton and that investors want the type of transportation network that is available around the airport.  “I think it will work,” he said of the AEGD plan.

Mayor Bob Bratina remains opposed to the scheme. He and Brian McHattie were the only councillors to vote against it back in 2010. “My vision has always been to retain as much of our prime agricultural land as possible,” the mayor said recently. However, council has decided to support the AEGD and “this then calls upon us to determine whether our plan is feasible financially in view of current economic realities.”

Given the cost of servicing the lands and the reality that potential development is dependent on competitive pricing with surrounding municipalities, the mayor said,  “There could be cheaper and more acceptable alternatives to the AEGD that will allow for the growth Hamilton will need over the next 20 years.” These issues, he said, will have to be examined by council and staff “before we make final commitments.”

Those commitments could be a long way off, according to Guy Paparella, Hamilton’s director of growth planning and manager of the AEGD project. There are still several steps to take in the process involving political and public input and “it might take 15 to 20 years to develop that area,” he noted.

Assuming the city clears the OMB hearing this year, the next step will be to prepare a financial plan showing the costing of the project and its impact on development charges in the city, the official said. Then a development charges bylaw must be drafted and approved and a marketing plan drawn up.

Paparella said that the servicing will be phased, with perhaps a few hundred acres serviced over a two- to three-year period. He said a tax levy will be “the last resort” to finance the plan, with the majority (90 per cent) of money for servicing coming from development charges and the rest from private sector investors and landowners within the developed area who will benefit from the infrastructure services.

“We’re not going to rely on levy dollars,” he said. “Politically, no one will support it.”

Braden charges that staff haven’t explained the cost implications if developers refuse to commit to internal servicing (inside the property lines). He also questions where investors will go if the airport lands don’t suit their needs. By concentrating future development near the airport, the city could be driving businesses away, he said.

The former councillor noted that in its 20-year existence the Airport Business Park, now part of the AEGD, has failed to attract a single tenant. But Paparella said only 16 acres of the 240-acre park is serviced and industrial developers aren’t interested in land unless it is fully serviced. The park owner plans to service the balance of his land this year now that there has been “some momentum” in development plans for the area. “He has got a lot of inquiries and is motivated  to sell,” he added.

The AEGD plan generated 16 appeals from community groups, landowners and developers to the OMB last year. Some are hoping to change the zoning on the lands; others want to stop the project in its tracks. But the city remains committed to developing all of the lands as employment lands.

Paparella said when approvals for the project have been given and the land has been serviced, interest in developing it will grow.
Braden insists it is a pipe dream. “The stakes are high and the chances of this working out are similar to winning a lottery.”