North Grenville Council is moving forward with the process of transferring a 0.52-acre piece of land on the Kemptville Campus to Habitat for Humanity for a new build. The proposed building will see an 18-unit apartment style condominium built at 2680 Concession Road, right across from the Kemptville District Hospital.
Director of Planning and Development, Phil Gerrard, says the Council has already approved the zoning by-law amendment needed to transfer the property, and that it is expecting to hear back shortly from the County about the amending of the Official Plan. The next step is for Council to declare the land surplus to requirements. “Staff has concluded that there is no need for the property by any municipal department,” Director Gerrard said at the meeting.
Since the land is being donated to Habitat for Humanity, and not sold, Director Gerrard told council that a formal appraisal of the property is not needed. That being said, Councillor John Barclay said at the meeting that he would like to see some sort of evaluation done on the property in order to be transparent about the value of the donation. “I don’t want to slow things down, but I think that some community members would like to know the value of this donation to Habitat for Humanity,” he said.
After a short discussion, it was decided that the Municipality would get the property evaluated, but will steer clear of a formal appraisal to mitigate costs and to avoid delaying the build.
Director Gerrard says Habitat for Humanity has presented a second round of conceptual drawings for the project to the Municipality and he expects one more round of comments before they are ready to apply for site plan approval.
Habitat for Humanity helps people break into home ownership by providing affordable financing and assistance with the down-payment on a new home. All properties are appraised at fair market value by MPAC, and the Municipality will see the full value in property taxes for all these units. “While we are facilitating the acquisition of the land, property taxes will be paid in perpetuity at fair market value,” Mayor Nancy Peckford said.
