BY WAYNE CARVER
GUEST OPINION
I am writing in response to your editorial of Feb. 1 concerning the City of Charlottetown’s purchase of the vacant lot adjacent to Founders Hall.
Concerned citizens have been watching the political machinations and posturing with interest for a number of months; awaiting the final outcome of this predictable high stakes and highly profitable game between the province, city and local developers.
To begin with, most area residents are familiar with and approved of the Waterfront Master Plan put forth by the City of Charlottetown and adopted in 2012. That plan provided for a park and easy access to the harbour with a promenade and activities. It was to highlight our heritage as the Birthplace of Confederation. Some local residents have felt that the use of the waterfront area for anything other than development was a waste of resources. A prominent local developer was taking exception
to the use of the property as early as 2005.
For several years the waterfront project muddled along under the good direction of the Charlottetown Area Development Corporation (CADC) although seemingly always underfunded, unappreciated and without proper direction from the province or the city.
In July 2016 Charlottetown developer Tim Banks told CBC News that he was frustrated CADC would not sell him the property on the southeast corner of Prince and Water Streets to build a $15 million complex with residential units, parking and commercial space. CADC’s general manager commented at the time that they were in negotiations with another developer and that CADC had responsibility to consult with Aboriginal groups as well.
In reality, the premier had already commissioned a study in September 2015 to determine if publicly-owned companies such as CADC were doing what they were supposed to be doing. A committee had been studying the issue but the results of the study had not been made public at this time.
By October 2016 the property was up for sale. One would have expected it to sell immediately, given the high interest. Exactly which authority listed the property was not clear but it does not appear to have been the city. In retrospect, it appears negotiations were already underway to bring CADC under the wing of the provincial government.
On Nov. 9, 2016 the premier’s committee announced it found it hard to say if the corporations were doing what they were supposed to be doing as “the corporations were never really given a clear mandate and direction in the first place.” As a result, the province would explore a process to consolidate both the Summerside Regional Development
Corporation (SRDC) and CADC.
On March 28, 2017, The Guardian reported Newfoundland developer Paul Madden, developer of the waterfront condominiums, had purchased the Founders’ Hall property including the parcel of land bordering Prince and Water Streets. By summer 2017 the property was subdivided and the lot on the SE corner of Water and Prince was for sale.
Anyone taking bets would have thought APM would snap it up as quickly as possible. That didn’t happen. According to editorial of Feb. 1, 2018, APM waited until January 2018 to put in an application to build a $10 million project on the site. The City of Charlottetown turned down the application and purchased the property for $1.25 million. APM
was snookered. Hopefully there will be a waterfront plan in the works.
Most recently, on March 3, 2018, it was announced that there has been another change of plans and Founders’ Hall will become the downtown market many thought it should have been.
To add insult to injury, we learned the Charlottetown Harbour Authority will manage the market and has signed a two-year lease agreement. How convenient. More taxpayer’s money going into a property the taxpayer owned less than one year ago. One has to wonder was the province’s intervention a plan to grow the economy or just another glaring abuse of
power and patronage to accommodate the business and political elite? An estimated $4.125 million, plus real estate fees have changed hands. The taxpayer has forfeited a heritage property and ends carrying the brunt of the cost. Responsible government you say.
- Wayne Carver of Long Creek is a supporter of electoral reform and comments frequently on social and political issues
