Airport Employment Growth District (AEGD)

[Jon Dalton]

Part of the reason the RHVP is at capacity is induced demand. Homes were sold on the basis of highway access and much more big box retail has been added up there, guess what, the highway fills up. Now we need another one. Once we have enough highways, we will have enough and there won't be any more traffic congestion. Other cities have given up and focused more on transit, but not us - we're determined.

[markbarbera]

It would appear the anti-AEGD forces are all fired up for their day in OMB court. At the very least they are testing out their speaking notes here ahead of the hearing to see how they spin.

[coalminecanary]

Still waiting for proof from the pro-aerotropolis camp that a) we need more land brought into the boundary, b) anybody will actually open businesses up by the airport and c) we won't see residential sprawl there...




crickets chirp...

[realcity]

Ask our former mayor he voted for it. Our current mayor is on record voting against. One of only two No votes.

I was originally against but I now support it but only if it is strictly zoned industrial forever. I don't think residential sprawl taxes will pay for it.

[coalminecanary]

Based on their track record, I'm sure city hall will successfully resist the pressures of the homebuilders to rezone any portion of the aerotropolis to residential.

[durandy]

Originally Posted by realcity

Ask our former mayor he voted for it. Our current mayor is on record voting against. One of only two No votes.

I was originally against but I now support it but only if it is strictly zoned industrial forever. I don't think residential sprawl taxes will pay for it.

what do you mean by 'strictly zoned industrial forever'? This is meaningless. Cities can undo zoning, and cities are pretty much under the control of developers both when they pass zoning bylaws or variances.

[durandy]

Originally Posted by markbarbera

It would appear the anti-AEGD forces are all fired up for their day in OMB court. At the very least they are testing out their speaking notes here ahead of the hearing to see how they spin.

you're right I'm fired up about it. I also don't think there's a chance in hell the appeal will win. I think there's no chance Hamilton will avoid becoming another Halton. We are just another shitty 905 suburb.

[bigguy1231]

Originally Posted by durandy

you're right I'm fired up about it. I also don't think there's a chance in hell the appeal will win. I think there's no chance Hamilton will avoid becoming another Halton. We are just another shitty 905 suburb.

It may not be so bad being a rich suburb.

[coalminecanary]

Tell that to Mississauga, who's crying just as hard for help from the upper levels of government as we are.

They can't make it work with YYZ, but Hamilton's gonna give it a shot with YHM?

It's nonsensical.

This is NOT AFFORDABLE.

[thistleclub]

This should be dainty.

City targets opponents’ experts in aerotropolis hearing
(Hamilton Spectator, Joan Walters, Jan 14, 2012)

Battle lines became clear Monday on the first day of an Ontario Municipal Board hearing into the city's plan to expand Hamilton's urban boundary.

City lawyer Nancy Smith served notice she will aggressively challenge qualifications and independence of several witnesses listed by the groups appealing the boundary expansion.

But the lawyer for Environment Hamilton and Hamiltonians for Progressive Development -- the groups opposed -- laid out plans to question the underpinning of the entire proposal -- commonly known as the Hamilton aerotropolis.

Much of the land slated for development near the airport “is true greenfield land... completely pristine, green, prime agricultural,” said lawyer Eric Gillespie.

He said he will be making the case that not only does the city not need all 720 hectares it has designated for development, it has plenty of other options.

In fact, he said in his opening statement, it's difficult to reconcile the city's insistence that it needs more land for development when it's recently taken about 100 hectares out of commission in other areas of the city that could have been used.

City lawyer Nancy Smith said it's her job to keep the hearing on the only track it's supposed to be examining -- the question of exactly how much land should be designated for the development -- officially known as the Airport Employment Growth District.

[durandy]

It will be a challenge. The city has either 200 or 300K to spend on it vs 50K for Environment Hamilton. That means expert statements by the top people at Hemson etc while EH has to run off volunteers. The City has the easier argument the the growth is mandated in the Growth Plan, while EH is really arguing hypothetically that either a Hudak govt or the city will renege on existing laws and allow sprawl.

[NortheastWind]

Does anyone know what the outcome was on the appeal to the OMB?

The Spectator article of January 23 (http://www.thespec.com/news/local/ar...ive-lands-foes) indicated: "The municipal board is expected to wrap up the hearing this week on the officially named Airport Employment Growth District. It is not known when it will issue a decision on how much land the city requires for its plan."

[SteelTown]

^

OMB's Aerotropolis decision could take weeks

http://www.cbc.ca/hamilton/economy/s...polis-omb.html

It could be another few weeks before the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) rules on the largest urban boundary expansion in Hamilton's history.

The OMB adjudicator is currently deliberating the two sides in the Airport Employment Growth District (AEGD) debate, otherwise known as the Aerotropolis. The hearing ended in late January, and while 80 per cent of OMB decisions are reached within two months, more complex ones can take a while, said communications consultant Karen Kotzen.

“There is no way of telling how long it will take.”

The hearing is the latest step in a 10-year process to open up about 720 hectares around the John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport to long-term development.

Opponents to the plan say the expansion is unnecessary, and could have a negative impact on the environment and use up arable land.

The city says it will attract jobs, economic development and as much as $70 million per year in taxes by 2031.

[PBRSTREETGANG]

Originally Posted by SteelTown

^

OMB's Aerotropolis decision could take weeks

http://www.cbc.ca/hamilton/economy/s...polis-omb.html

It could be another few weeks before the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) rules on the largest urban boundary expansion in Hamilton's history.

The OMB adjudicator is currently deliberating the two sides in the Airport Employment Growth District (AEGD) debate, otherwise known as the Aerotropolis. The hearing ended in late January, and while 80 per cent of OMB decisions are reached within two months, more complex ones can take a while, said communications consultant Karen Kotzen.

“There is no way of telling how long it will take.”

The hearing is the latest step in a 10-year process to open up about 720 hectares around the John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport to long-term development.

Opponents to the plan say the expansion is unnecessary, and could have a negative impact on the environment and use up arable land.

The city says it will attract jobs, economic development and as much as $70 million per year in taxes by 2031.

The entire project should be abandoned. Check out this fine article in City Journal for many similar projects that have failed and that continue to cost taxpayers: http://www.city-journal.org/2012/22_4_airports.html

[NortheastWind]

Originally Posted by PBRSTREETGANG

The entire project should be abandoned. Check out this fine article in City Journal for many similar projects that have failed and that continue to cost taxpayers: http://www.city-journal.org/2012/22_4_airports.html

This article is about building new airports and expanding existing one's before the demand is there. The Airport Employment Growth District is about developing employment lands that will create demand to support airport growth, particularly in cargo.

[SteelTown]

OMB rarely reject entire proposal. It's either a green light or a smaller project than originally intended.

[durandy]

Originally Posted by SteelTown

OMB rarely reject entire proposal. It's either a green light or a smaller project than originally intended.

or a bigger one

[coalminecanary]

Originally Posted by NortheastWind

This article is about building new airports and expanding existing one's before the demand is there. The Airport Employment Growth District is about developing employment lands that will create demand to support airport growth, particularly in cargo.

It's entirely applicable to our situation. Building an aerotropolis means tying your future to a dying industry. Building warehouses to spur cargo flight numbers is like building hotel rooms to boost passenger numbers. It doesn't work that way. Cargo throughput is a side effect of having lots of businesses that generate products and value.

We need real industries here before we think about how to handle the cargo. And modern industries go where they can tap into good employee pools and good customer pools. We need to build a city for people first, and then the business will follow.

Without real development and real businesses, The best we can accomplish here would be to steal some cargo volume from YYZ. And these companies are going to require huge incentives (meaning money from us) in order to move their operations here. Just like the millions we needed to throw at Canada Bread to lure them. And if we can get them to move here, all it means is that we are a stop along the journey for these goods. This kind of activity does not produce valuable employment. It is an unaffordable model.

Also, maybe you missed the entire part of the article about how building aerotropolii doesn't really work...

If there’s any city whose airport might seem likely to spawn a surrounding aerotropolis, it’s Memphis, home of Federal Express, which has turned the city’s airport into the second-largest cargo hub in the world. Hoping to capitalize on that relationship at a time when Delta has cut some 25 percent of its passenger flights at Memphis International Airport, city leaders have rolled out the slogan “Memphis: America’s Aerotropolis” and are marketing the area to businesses looking for a location that allows them to plug in to global networks.

But Memphis’s experience illustrates a problem with the viability of the aerotropolis idea: many businesses don’t want to locate in industrialized airport settings—which tend to be ugly and lacking urban amenities—just for the sake of easy airport access. Even FedEx, which employs thousands of cargo handlers at the airport, has been moving its front-office employees to suburban office developments, leaving behind hundreds of thousands of square feet of unused space. The office district around Memphis International Airport now has the highest vacancy rate in the city, north of 50 percent. A stark symbol of the area’s struggles is a four-story office building named Aerotropolis Center, which has been vacant for five years.

Aerotropolis doesn't work in the cargo capital of the world. But it will work here!

[CaptainKirk]

Originally Posted by NortheastWind

The Airport Employment Growth District is about developing employment lands that will create demand to support airport growth, particularly in cargo.

Really? "Particularly cargo"? Is this true?

Forgive me, I'm not an expert, but is hundreds of millions of infrastructure spending by the city worth getting some low paying cargo/warehouse jobs?

That just doesn't seem right. I must have something wrong here.

In regards to LRT, transportation minister Glen Murray said, ""maximize the growth in your tax base and the attraction of new investment and new jobs and private sector investment".

http://yourhamiltonbiz.com/citys-cas...sue=2013-03-05

Isn't the more prudent approach to use as much provincial (and possibly federal) money to do this, rather than city money to do AEGD for some cargo warehousing?

[LikeHamilton]

OMB rules in favour of Aerotropolis plan

CBC News Posted: Jul 8, 2013 12:57 PM ET Last Updated: Jul 8, 2013 1:55 PM ET

The largest urban boundary expansion in Hamilton's history is going ahead, as the Ontario Municipal Board has ruled in the city's favour on the size of the airport employment lands.

In its ruling, the board dismissed appeals from both Environment Hamilton and Hamiltonians for Progressive Development and accepted the city's argument that a net of 55 hectares of employment lands are needed.

The expansion is necessary for employment opportunities, said OMB Vice-Chair J.V. Zuidema in the decision.

“The board orders that the appeals of EH and HPD on Phase 2 are dismissed and that 555 net ha is required to meet the forecasted demand for employment land to the year 2031,” she wrote.

The ruling was dated July 3. It was the latest step in a 10-year process to open up about 720 hectares around the John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport to long-term development.

Opponents to the plan say the expansion is unnecessary, and could have a negative impact on the environment and use up good farmland.

The city says it will attract jobs, economic development and as much as $70 million per year in taxes by 2031.

Ward 2 Coun. Jason Farr wouldn't say if he was pleased with the decision yet because he hasn't had a chance to look at it in-depth. But he did say this:

"It comes down to opportunities. I am not on for any kind of residential development up there. I never will be. I’ve had assurances from all over this hall that that’s never going to be the case," Farr told CBC Hamilton. "This is industrial-commercial. This is jobs, jobs, jobs. That’s what we need and we need it all over the city."

"When the folks from economic development are saying we need more of that space available to compete, and that’s what that industry out there is desiring, then we need to try to make that work. But certainly not from a residential standpoint."

This phase of the hearing dealt primarily with whether the city needs that much land and whether it followed an appropriate process.

http://www.cbc.ca/hamilton/news/stor...-decision.html

There is also a poll and a copy of the actual ruling with this story.

Did the OMB make the right decision allowing the city an urban expansion around the airport for employment lands?