Frequently Asked Questions: 121 Ontario Street (West Ward School)

Background

In January 2017, the Town of St. Marys released a Request for Proposal (RFP) for the purchase of Town-owned land located at 121 Ontario Street. This land, commonly known as the West Ward School property, was the previous location of the Early Learning Centre, which was recently moved to Holy Name of Mary School.

This notice provides detailed information about the decision to relocate the Early Learning Centre and to sell the property at 121 Ontario Street. It also refers to a number of staff reports that were submitted to Council as part of the planning and decision-making process.

For additional information about this process, contact Brent Kittmer, Chief Administrative Officer at 519-284-2340, ext. 216 or bkittmer@town.stmarys.on.ca.

To submit a proposal, visit the Bids and Tenders page on the Town of St. Marys website.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why did the Town decide to relocate its Early Learning Centre to Holy Name of Mary School? Why not stay at the West Ward School Location?

The Town’s early learning service is licensed under the Child Care and Early Years Act and must meet various legal requirements to maintain its license. While located at the 121 Ontario Street site, the Centre did not meet the current standards for child care facilities and was exempt under the Planning & Design Guidelines for Child Care Centres. Additionally, the Centre did not meet Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) requirements for accessible access to the secured playground. There was a risk that the Centre’s exemption could be revoked at any time, meaning the Centre would lose its license and Provincial funding.

The Huron Perth District Catholic School Board received a Ministry of Education Grant in the amount of $483,000 to develop a child care centre at the Holy Name of Mary School. The School Board approached the Town with a proposal to have the Town relocate the child care centre to the Holy Name location.

The Town and the School Board ultimately negotiated a partnership to relocate the child care centre to the Holy Name location. The School Board would fund $483,000 of the costs and the Town would fund the balance.

The Town’s final budget for the relocation was $500,000 and the project provides the Town the opportunity to continue to provide its child care program in a modern space.

Related staff reports 

• Staff Report - November 10, 2015
• Staff Report - March 1, 2016
• Staff Report - June 28, 2016

Why did the Town decide to sell the 121 Ontario Street property? Why wasn’t an existing or new municipal service/program located there?

A number of factors were considered when making this decision:

• The Town considered a suggestion to use the 121 Ontario Street property as a cultural centre, but found this idea to be contrary to the recommendation of the Town’s Cultural Plan. The Town’s Cultural Plan recommends creating a culture and arts centre in the downtown core. This is supported by the Strategic Plan, which guides Council to make investments in culture in the downtown core.
• The existing building is forecasted to need approximately $326,000 in capital upgrades in the next ten (10) years.
• Retaining the building, even in vacancy, represents a base cost of $20,000 per year. Once in use, annual operating costs increase beyond $20,000 per year.
• The sale of the property at 121 Ontario Street was viewed as one step in the strategy to finance the Town’s approximate $500,000 investment in the new Centre at Holy Name.

Related staff report

• Staff Report - October 18, 2016

Why did Council not provide a Heritage Designation for the property?

The timing of considering the recommendation to designate was difficult because the Town may not be the property owner in the very near future. When designating a property, it is preferable and encouraged to have a dialogue with the owner of the property and to have them be supportive of the designation.

The decision was “not to designate at this time” as Council did not want the proposed designation to influence the sale of the property. Council also preferred to be able to have a conversation with the future owner regarding the designation.

Despite not designating the property, the Town’s sale process for the property requires interested purchasers to ensure that any future use of the site respects the heritage value and history of the property and fits into the neighborhood.

Why is the preferred use of the property residential?

The Town’s Strategic Plan guides Council to put in place strategies to retain and attract youth. Additionally, labour market research has identified that there is an acute shortage of workers for a number of Town employers. One of the key barriers to attracting/retaining youth and attracting workers is a lack of attainable housing options, including rentals.

The Town’s Strategic Plan guides Council to put in place tactics to create a more flexible housing stock in St. Marys, including rentals, which regular people working regular jobs can afford. Redeveloping 121 Ontario Street for residential purposes was viewed as an opportunity to move this strategic priority forward.

The planned residential use for this property is not what most people think of as “affordable housing” or “social housing”. The Town’s definitions for attainable housing are below:

• Individuals who work in the Town and who make a “living wage” ($16.47/hour as defined by the Perth Huron United Way) should be able to afford to live in the Town (i.e. regular people working regular jobs), OR
• Per the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, in Canada, housing is considered affordable if shelter costs account for less than 30 per cent of before-tax household income. 

Aren’t there zoning requirements that prevent the property from becoming a residential use?

Within the Town’s Official Plan, the property is currently designated as “Residential”. As such, a future residential use of this property is permitted under the Official Plan without an Official Plan Amendment. The current zoning of the property is “Institutional” recognizing the property’s historic uses as a school and a child care centre. Any future residential use of the property will require a Zoning By-law Amendment, a Site Plan Agreement and a Record of Site Condition. A Heritage Assessment would also be likely.

If a residential use is desired at this location, why not sever the property into two parcels: one with the existing building, and one vacant lot for residential development?

The lot is able to be severed, and the Town did consider the option of severing the lot and selling off two parcels separately. The property is affected by flood plain and zoning by-law requirements based on the intended future use of the property. After review, it was determined to be preferable for the Town to sell the property as one large lot.

The intended future use of the site will dictate which zoning and site plan requirements apply and are required to be met (i.e. parking requirements, setbacks, etc.). In turn, how a future use of the property intends to meet the zoning requirements will then affect how and where lot lines of a severed parcel should be drawn. Given this information, the Town decided to sell the lot as one large parcel rather than speculate a future use and presume how best to properly divide the lot.

How is the property being sold?

The property is being sold through a Request for Proposal (RFP) process. The RFP process is being used because price is not the only determining factor that is important to Council in the sale of this property. The most important consideration is the planned future use of the property. To that end, 70% of the points in the RFP will be awarded for the planned future use of the property and 30% of the points will be awarded for the offered price. The winning purchaser will be determined by the offer that scores the highest amount of points after evaluating the future plan for the property and price offered.