Future of General Chemical lands raised during economic development plan meeting

By Ron Giofu

A public meeting to discuss an economic development community improvement plan (CIP) turned into what possibilities there may or may not be for the Amherstburg Land Holdings (ALH) property.

The area for a CIP was designated by the previous council Aug. 15, 2022 with manager of planning services Chris Aspila stating in a report to town council that “(o)pportunity exists to enhance economic development in the Town of Amherstburg as the Town of Amherstburg is receiving interest from firms seeking a presence in the Essex-Windsor region due to emerging regional economic development opportunities and our Town’s proximity to the Canada-United States border.”

Planning consultants MillerSilani Inc. were retained last September and a public open house was held Feb. 15.

Town council discussed the matter twice over the past week, the first time being April 11 during a special planning meeting, with the bulk of comments being about the ALH site, also known as the former General Chemical site.

“The recommendation (to summarize) presents little to no risk to the municipality. There is a risk that further delays in finalizing this CIP to allow for input from the Economic Development Advisory Committee (EDAC) may result in lost opportunities for potential development due to the lack of incentives the Town can offer. This risk is being mitigated by providing the EDAC members with a copy of the draft CIP, awareness of the SPM (statutory planning meeting) on April 11, as well as efforts to schedule and EDAC meeting in mid-April as the first planned meeting is scheduled for June,” Aspila stated.

The proposed area is bounded by Texas Road to the north, the Detroit River to the west, Meloche Road/ Alma St. and Concession 3 North to the east and Lowes Side Road to the south.

Councillor Diane Pouget asked if the report will be brought before the economic development advisory committee.

“I’m told there may not be time to have that done if we want it in place,” responded Mayor Michael Prue. “There are a number of companies looking to buy that land and we’re looking to seize the moment if we can.”

Amherstburg resident Bill Petruniak addressed town council asking about remediation and whether an assessment has been done.

CAO Valerie Critchley stated Honeywell has remediated approximately 200 acres of land.

“The key thing to know is the town does not own these lands. Honeywell owns them,” she said. “Any further remediation would be done by them.”

The entire parcel owned by Honeywell, operated under the Amherstburg Land Holdings umbrella, is approximately 600 acres.

“That’s the crown jewel for development, that land,” said Councillor Peter Courtney.

Courtney wanted to know who is mitigating any future remediation, with Critchley saying it would be between any future developer and Honeywell.

Pouget recalled the province giving about $20 million to Honeywell to clean up the site, noting council of the day was getting regular updates. She believed it was “rather disturbing” 200 acres were cleaned up and not the entire site, asking “was $20 million not enough?”

Critchley said the condition of the site was off topic, but said she would be happy to get council more information at a later date.

Councillor Don McArthur said it was important “to focus on the potential of the 200 acres, not the liability of the other 400.”

“If we could go back in time, I’m sure we wished things had transpired differently but they didn’t,” he said. “There are 200 acres of land that are developable. We just our mayor say that there are potential people circulating and keeping an eye on that land and it makes sense with the battery plant coming and the Gordie Howe bridge. That has potential.

McArthur said a CIP could unlock that potential, noting there are numerous examples of such plans working in other communities.

“You have to have a CIP in place so you can grant incentives,” he said. “They work wonders in Windsor in terms of residential and commercial development.”

A CIP is “an important piece of the puzzle to unlock industrial development in Amherstburg,” McArthur added.

“This is an opportunity - if we seize it and if we are successful - for someone to come in and take over 200 acres,” said Prue. “And if they do, we have to have the policies in place to incentivize them. If they don’t come here, the other municipalities in Essex (County) and Windsor have these policies or are about to have these policies. If we want that development to happen, we have to move with dispatch.”

Prue added moving with dispatch may make it difficult to present it to the economic development committee but said there will be opportunities for them to weigh in. The unnamed companies are “circling,” he said, and “are serious about Amherstburg” but want to know what incentives they could receive.

“At no time did I insinutate I wasn’t excited about this proposal. Of course I am,” said Pouget. “But our residents and council do have a right to know about the rest of that property. That’s all I was referring to.”

Resident Larry Amlin said he was of the understanding ALH wanted to sell everything and if they couldn’t, they would not sell. He wanted to know if the “total package” was being looked at.

“It’s theirs to sell and it’s somebody else’s to buy. All we’re trying to do is facilitate a factory there,” said Prue.

Town council voted to approve the economic development CIP and forward it to the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing for filing during a special council meeting this past Monday night.

“It is important that we capitalize on commercial and industrial industy,” said Councillor Linden Crain, adding the hope is to see jobs and spinoff jobs come to Amherstburg as a result.