THUNDER BAY – The city is closer to approving a vision for the waterfront development, but at least one council member has reservations about the plan.
In a 3-1 vote, the growth standing committee has endorsed the Pool 6 Waterfront Vision and Master Plan Update.
At-large Coun. Rajni Agarwal was the only member to oppose the master plan update. Couns. Dominic Pasqualino and Trevor Giertuga, along with Mayor Ken Boshcoff voted to move the plan to city council for approval.
Agarwal was concerned about the ability to sustain small-business activity in the downtown cores when the conceptual design put forth a Main Street, which she says signifies a third downtown core.
“We have a downtown revitalized where we’ve invested millions of dollars in the downtown north side on Red River Road and Cumberland, now coming up. We have the south side that we are just taking down Victoriaville, and there’s a lot more work to be done there to revitalize that downtown. But this proposal is asking for another downtown when we have two other subsequent downtowns,” she said.
City manager John Collin said the city does not consider the Pool 6 development a downtown core.
“We are not trying to develop this as another downtown core, but what we have heard loud and clear from our own community, but also countless studies have shown this, the vibrancy of a city is dramatically affected by the vibrancy of its waterfront, if it happens to have a waterfront. This is an effort undertaken based on the waterfront development plan, based on the Smart Growth Action Plan to improve our waterfront, which has tremendous potential,” he said.
Collin also said revitalizing the north and south cores is a priority, with the south core beginning first and the north second.
“We believe we can have our cake and eat it too, but again, we are not trying to develop another downtown core. We are trying to develop a vibrant waterfront, and they are different in terms of what conceptually would be there,” he said.
Agarwal’s other concerns ranged from ownership of the proposed underground parking facility to the feasibility of creating a market space, a Nordic Spa, and a water park.
“When I read the proposal, it said parking underneath the whole place. Are we selling the land for people to propose to build on it? Like the person doing the Nordic spa, the hotel, the housing, whatever is there. If that’s gonna be sold, and parking’s underneath there, how is the ownership of the land going to happen, and who’s gonna own the parking?” she asked.
Joel DePeuter, director of development services, said when the city gets to the call for proposal stage, there is an opportunity for real estate negotiations with the proponent about the underground parking.
At this time, the city does not know how those negotiations will turn out because they still have a lot of assessments to perform before issuing calls to developers for proposals.
“We have a conceptual design. We still have all sorts of studies to do. We want to make sure that we provide as much flexibility as possible to potential developers. At the end of the day, these developers have to develop their own business cases, have to make sure that whatever they’re going to do will be profitable for them. So, we want to make sure that we do not have too many limitations in place, yet ensure that the interests of the city are protected,” Collin said.
He added the Pool 6 Waterfront Vision and Master Plan Update provides developers with a set of guidelines on what could be built in the area, but there are no guarantees the concept design will stay the same, Collin said.
These are not pie-in-the-sky ambitions we have. The highest and best use study did identify that there is potential behind all of the suggestions that are articulated within this initial concept,” he said.
