CENTRE WELLINGTON ‒ Centre Wellington is the first municipality in Wellington County to implement its updated Community Improvement Plan.
Presented during a council meeting, staff said the current goals and objectives of the township's new Community Improvement Plan (CIP) include addressing façade and building improvements, efficient and strategic use of land, as well as increasing and diversifying the housing supply.
Offering financial incentive programs intended to encourage private sector revitalization and redevelopment since 2015, the CIP was originally initiated to broadly and strategically address the downtown's physical, aesthetic, environmental, and economic development needs as well as key commercial, employment and mixed-use areas of the township's urban centre.
Normally reviewed every five years, the township's CIP has not been reviewed since its adoption.
"Notwithstanding the overall objective to ‘improve Centre Wellington’, it is recognized that the township isn’t facing major issues," said staff in the report. "Rather, the message is the township is actively pursuing investment and is committed to (supporting) a healthy ‘Urban Centre’ and to encourage local economic development."
According to the report, only "substantial projects" resulting in the construction of multiple rental residential units, other major building projects creating a significant number of jobs and/or meeting multiple goals of the updated CIP will result in a "significant increase in assessment value and property taxes."
A public meeting was held prior to the decision
The full report is available here.
Isabel Buckmaster is the Local Journalism Initiative reporter for GuelphToday. LJI is a federally-funded program.
