Published November 27, 2010
by iris_author
Former industrial sites can be a hard sell if their redevelopment value is less than the cost of remediation, wrote the Orillia Packet & Times Nov. 18, citing comments by Mark Winfield, a professor in York University’s Faculty of Environmental Studies.
There is also the “liability risk” a potential buyer faces after taking title of a property, Winfield points out. What sort of work will the Ministry of Environment require after a sale?
Elsewhere in Ontario, municipalities are facing the same dilemma with no choice but to foot the bill for remediation should they want to redevelop.
But Winfield is a firm believer in breathing new life into former industrial sites. “From a broad-interest perspective, there’s no question this makes a huge amount of sense.” The alternative is paving over the periphery, creating more sprawl and, in the process, “suck-ing the life out of downtown.”
Click here for YFile link
Posted in: IRIS News
