Sunday, 27 April 2014

Brantford & Brant County barter over boundary changes

A growing Brantford could lure new business away from Oxford
By Mark Schadenberg
BRANTFORD – The City of Brantford has a desire to grow about 3,500 acres and during a municipal election year the city appears to be playing a game of chess with the County of Brant.
With this gamesmanship in mind, the land owners in question could be the pawns as ownership rights to future taxation and likely zoning changes from three separate areas (see the map) are up for grabs.
I've written about this topic before and I've connected the scenario to the Woodstock situation versus Norwich Township in the past, and Woodstock casting its shadow on about 100 acres (of current farmland) along Pattullo Road which The Friendly City wants for future municipal industrial land.
A major difference in Brant is that no one from Brantford council, including its mayor, sits on Brant County council, whereas in Oxford, Woodstock has three seats on Oxford council.
All significant municipal changes must go through the so-called 'public process' of meetings, seminars, easels, maps, graphs and charts, projections, over-head projectors, zoning clarifications, wining and dining, whining, and defining partnerships.
Read the Brantford Expositor link below as the update shows that Brantford wants to move forward and quite frankly needs to as it's bursting at its seams for growth. At the same time, Brant County is wearing the hula hoop and holds the skipping rope.
In the middle is a tug-of-war, which could be solved by a provincially-appointed mediator (facilitator named Paula Dill). Needless to say, this boundary adjustment will be a hot topic at the Oct 27 polling stations for both parties.
Keep in mind, if Brantford grows, they may be able to lure more new industry to Gretzky's Bell Homestead – attracting potential employment away from Woodstock or other southern Ontario centres.
Brantford mayor Chris Friel describes the negotiations “the most blatant of stalling tactics” in the Expositor story, adding the municipality's original desire was 12,000 acres from the County, but is now focused on 3,500 acres.
This most certainly is a story which must be followed by the business-minded of Woodstock.

EXPOSITOR Link: 
http://www.brantfordexpositor.ca/2014/04/23/freil-brant-offer-called-woefully-inadequate


Mark Schadenberg, Sales Representative
Senior Real Estate Specialist (SRES designation)
Royal LePage Triland Realty
757 Dundas St, Woodstock
www.wesellwoodstock.com
(519) 537-1553, cell or text
Email: mschadenberg@rogers.com
Twitter: markroyallepage
Facebook: Mark Schadenberg, Royal LePage Triland

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