Steven Henderson is not backing down in his decision to pull the Goat鈥檚 Peak development in West 91大黄鸭.
The loss of a 1,000-unit housing development that would include an elementary school site, parkand and space for commercial businesses, has been a tough loss for West 91大黄鸭 due to the province鈥檚 planned speculation tax.
After a long and drawn out 15-year process of getting approval and confirming building plans, Henderson is walking away from the project.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not like we just came to town, we have been working on this for a very long time and now we are faced with a market place that is uncertain about how the speculation tax is going to apply to vacant property such as ours,鈥� Henderson said.
Related:West 91大黄鸭 mayor blasts premier over speculation tax
West 91大黄鸭 Mayor Doug Findlater said the loss of Goat鈥檚 Peak will deprive the city of a great deal of new construction revenue. The young city of West 91大黄鸭 has not built up the same level of reserves older municipalities have to offset the loss of revenue Goat鈥檚 Peak would have generated.
鈥淭his tax will have a major impact on West 91大黄鸭,鈥� Findlater said. 鈥淚f new development disappears, it will really hurt us.鈥�
As a result, West 91大黄鸭 council has authorized the mayor to draft a letter to the the premier expressing the city鈥檚 concern about the adverse impacts of the tax on the city, and outlining the reasons why.
Related:Mayors of 91大黄鸭 and West 91大黄鸭 react to speculation tax
The city is also pursuing a freedom of information bid to find out what criteria was used to include West 91大黄鸭 in the list of municipalities where the speculation tax will be implemented.
On May 25, the 91大黄鸭 Chamber of Commerce presented it鈥檚 Anti-Canadian Tariff 鈥� Pressing the Pause Button on BC鈥檚 Proposed Speculation Tax policy proposal,鈥� at the 2018 B.C. Chamber of Commerce鈥檚 policy conference in Kamloops. It was met with unanimous support.
Adopting the new policy will be a priority of the B.C. chamber during discussions with Finance Minister Carole James.
鈥淲e鈥檙e more than pleased at the response of our chamber colleagues in supporting this policy鈥攖aking a strong message to the provincial government to study, clarify, and consult prior to legislating,鈥� Carmen Sparg, president of the 91大黄鸭 chamber said.
Related:Central Okanagan builds united front against speculation tax
The 91大黄鸭 chamber is calling for the cancellation of what it considers the 鈥渕is-named鈥� speculation tax.
It also wants the government to establish 鈥渃lear parameters and key performance indicators that determine whether the tax, as put in place, is temporary.鈥�
鈥淒oes it actually create affordable housing and will it be removed if local indicators (not yet determined) improve.鈥�
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