City considers tax exemption bylaw to encourage lot development

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — City council is considering enacting a tax exemption bylaw to help develop the 100th Street and 100th Avenue lot. 

During the June 9th committee of the whole meeting, the City of Fort St. John council reviewed a presentation by staff for a bylaw related to the 100th Street and 100th Avenue property. 

At the direction of city council, staff consulted with Colliers, a commercial real estate company, and conducted research into other nearby communities on the process of curating a revitalization tax exemption bylaw. 

Such a bylaw would provide an incentive to companies looking to develop the property, and would mean the property is exempt from municipal taxes for a certain period of time. 

During the June 9th presentation, staff detailed examples found in Williams Lake, Creston, Grande Prairie, Kelowna and Prince George,  of which have slightly different tax exemption bylaws with Sam Loran, a planner for the city, explaining the communities had seen positive results from the bylaws. 

“The rationale behind this bylaw is it’s meant to incentivize development on the 100th and 100th site,” Loran said. 

Multiple options for different exemption percentages, timelines and minimum construction costs were presented, and councillors voiced their support for many of the suggested options. 

“We talked about this four or five years ago, and it’s kind of all now come together,” Councillor Trevor Bolin said.

“This is something new,” Mayor Lilia Hansen said.

When asked, staff confirmed the bylaw could be written, or modified later, to include other unused lots around the city. 

If the bylaw was written and read into law, staff would begin creating marketing material to further incentivize the sale and development of the property, which staff also confirmed could be used in other projects and city development at a later date. 

The councillors voiced their support for a minimum estimated project cost of $5 million for any development looking to receive the tax exemption, with a preference for a ‘mixed-use building,’ meaning a combination of residential and commercial spaces.

In the regular council meeting on June 9th, the council voted to direct staff to write a revitalization tax exemption bylaw for a future council meeting. 

The bylaw would include a total exemption of the municipal property taxes for five years on the property and whatever development is constructed upon it.