Quote:
Originally Posted by king10
Im not sure there are develoeprs w Vranich'z pocket book lining up to build in Hamilton.
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I don’t agree with the logic. With the right conditions, all types of developers would come to Hamilton. Perhaps the municipal government should cease any kind of oversight of development, waive all development fees and other charges, and allow demolition or alteration or anything else without need even for an application. Then we would attract all sorts of developers.
It’s insane to compare the demolition of an existing building on an important intersection in the downtown with the building of a fence or a gazebo. It should be the practice to inform the public when a change in use of a piece of land is being proposed (for instance, replacing a building with a vacant lot), and it is perfectly reasonable for the municipal government to deny demolition permits unless there is an actual plan for redevelopment. It is in the public interest to promote higher and better uses for land in the city.
If it was permitted to demolish buildings willy nilly without any plans for redevelopment, what you would see is a lot of individual property speculators hoping that the price of their land goes, up tearing down the existing buildings and replacing them with low-value uses (vacant lots, parking lots) while they await hypothetical conditions that will allow them to sell to someone who might think he can redevelop. The result would be declining tax revenues and rising taxes for the existing tax base.
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