In The News
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Warehousing main aerotropolis promise
July 22-28, 2010 - The prediction that more than two-thirds of the aerotropolis lands will be used for low–wage trucking and warehousing companies has joined concern about the impact on farmland and the city’s finances, as well as the implications of the cancellation of the mid–peninsula highway on the proposed airport employment growth district (AEGD). But the consultants who authored the financial–economic impact analysis are defending their predictions.
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Hamilton politicians fume as Niagara to GTA highway abandoned
July 22, 2010 - A decision by a provincial environmental assessment study to drop a proposed roadway from Fort Erie to Highway 407 has left Hamilton politicians scrambling to determine how it will impact plans to develop the northern part of the city. A draft report from the province studying how to improve the transportation needs of the Golden Horseshoe.
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Debate over type of jobs in airport district heat up
July 16, 2010 - Some city councillors are taking issue with the kinds of jobs expected to land at the city's airport employment district. Experts project that when the 662-hectare development is fully built out by 2031, 45 per cent of the 24,360 jobs will be in wholesale trade, transportation and warehousing. But some councillors think the city should be going after higher-paying, higher-density jobs in manufacturing.
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Airport lands set for public decision
July 15, 2010 - After about two and a half years of sometimes heated debate by a panel of citizens, the airport employment lands are ready to be presented to the public for inspection over the next two months. But there remains some consternation and even anger by some members of the public committee over the creation of the airport employment growth district plans.
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No 'worst case' for development
July 13, 2010 - A citizens committee has been told there's no financial worst-case scenario if the city moves to open farmland around the Hamilton airport to development. The comment came after Michael Desnoyers of Hamiltonians for Progressive Development took issue with a report that said the city could reap $52 million a year in tax revenue when the land is fully developed. The report said the amount was $66 million, but the city would have to spend nearly $14 million each year for discounting industrial development charges.
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Aerotropolis could cost $351 million: report
July 8-14, 2010 - A consultant–prepared “financial/economic impact analysis” says it will cost $351 million to service the airport employment growth district (AEGD), but that doesn’t include several key infrastructure elements including sewage treatment upgrades and the trunk sewer and water lines connecting the aerotropolis to the Woodward Avenue treatment facilities 25 kilometres away. The upbeat report argues that the controversial 2,050 acre development will attract nearly 25,000 jobs and produce over $50 million a year in tax ‘profits’ by 2031.
