SUMMERSIDE - City officials are looking for ways to stimulate business growth in the downtown area but one councillor wonders if proposed tax incentives are the way to go.
Coun. Norma McColeman, the city's liaison to the downtown business community, said the traditional retail core needs some sort of stimulus package to breathe new life into the area.
"There has to be business generated," McColeman.
"There has to be incentives there that would make it attractive and advantageous for people to want to come and invest dollars into establishing their business in the downtown core."
She said Charlottetown has set up a tax incentive program for business development and Summerside should follow suit.
Charlottetown has another advantage, she says: as the capital city it attracts more business opportunities.
A good mix of businesses is needed, she maintains.
"I think it's wonderful with the Department of Education coming but those people are not going to leave money in the downtown. We don't have anything for them to leave it at."
McColeman is a big supporter of doing things locally but added there has to be the business, services and restaurants that the public want.
Coun. Brent Gallant said if councillors want to deal with a tax incentive policy, they should put it on the city council's next agenda so it can be discussed.
Gallant said during the boom time for downtown Summerside the commercial space was increased nearly 500 per cent. Then the move uptown came, draining a lot of businesses away from the downtown core.
Gallant said since that time many of those empty buildings have been filled.
"We put another 300 or 400 people down there that weren't there before," he said.
Gallant pointed to seven new businesses that recently opened in the Waterfront Mall, the move of the Department of Education, the opening of a new convenience store and restoration of the Royal Bank building.
"They've got that new call centre at the Waterfront Mall and that's over 40 jobs there," he said.
"And these are all new to the area. I'm not against a reasonable incentive plan that is appropriate. But as far as taking the taxpayers' dollars and providing it to one area over another area, I would be very interested in how you do that.
"I'm not against discussing it but I'm not going to do anything just because somebody else is doing it."
