There’s still no city council decision on whether to proceed with an $8.6-million municipal contribution toward a road extension to open up the Kingsway Employment District site.
During Tuesday’s finance and administration committee meeting of city council, Ward 7 Coun. Natalie Labbée introduced a successful deferral, pushing a decision to their April 22 meeting.
“Some new information has come to my attention in the last 48 hours, and I’ve spoken with the mayor about it,” she said. “It’s time-sensitive and it could likely impact how council votes on this matter that’s before us.”
She also vaguely pointed to “unresolved agreements.”
Pushing a decision to April 22, she said, should “give us sufficient time to get the answers and resolutions we need in order to make a more informed decision that not only supports development and being open for business, but also serves the best interests of the taxpayer.”
Both Ward 11 Coun. Bill Leduc and Ward 12 Coun. Joscelyne Landry-Altmann expressed confusion for the deferral request.
Despite Leduc requesting that Labbée expand on the nature of information she was referring to, she declined.
“We just came out of an in-camera meeting where that information could have been divulged or brought forward as an amendment or addendum, whatever,” Landry-Altmann said. “It wasn’t.”
“Information is being shared without the rest of council,” Leduc said.
Asked if there were any implications to deferring a decision, city Planning Services director Kris Longston said, “None that I am aware of.”
In a social media post on Thursday, Labbée maintained that she will not provide additional context on the ambiguous nature of her deferral request, and that if members didn’t want a deferral, they would have voted as much.
Only Leduc and Landry-Altmann voted against the deferral.
“I may decide to share more details on April 22 and I may not,” she wrote. “My reasons for the deferral will be a not issue by April 22 and won't impact my decision about the matter anyway. That's all I am going to say about it.”
The property is owned by Dario Zulich, whose colleague Tim Laderoute attended Tuesday’s meeting from the public gallery. Laderoute declined comment after the meeting, telling Sudbury.com that they wouldn’t be commenting on the matter until it has been resolved.
The municipal contribution of $8,599,488 toward the construction of a road to open up industrial lands on The Kingsway was recommended by city staff for approval, as it complies with regular procedures.
The contribution would come in the form of $2,866,296 in reimbursements to the developer upon substantial completion of the road, and $5,732,592 in transferable development charge credits.
The total eligible project cost is $11,465,185, of which the developer would foot the bill for its $2,866,296 balance (25 per cent), extending Levesque Street northward from The Kingsway to the edge of the property line, opening up 30 hectares of the subdivision’s 70 hectares of land.
The northward road would be transferred to the city upon completion and eventually extend farther north to Lasalle Boulevard as part of a longer-term city plan.
The site was called the Kingsway Entertainment District until city council withdrew financial support for a municipal arena project in 2022.
Also called the Jack Nicholas Business and Innovation Subdivision, the Kingsway Employment District has a draft-approved subdivision plan for a 33-lot light industrial park.
Tyler Clarke covers city hall and political affairs for Sudbury.com.