By John Blatherwick and others, Ottawa Citizen Letters to the Editor, December 22, 2016
Costs must be recovered in Zibi redevelopment Re: $60M sought for Zibi cleanup, Dec. 16
I sincerely hope that Ottawa’s taxpayers are not going to pick up the $60-million tab to clean up the former E.B Eddy paper mill site. The buyer beware principle must apply here. The developer knows how badly the site is polluted and most likely understands the cost of remediation.
Ottawa has a brownfields policy to promote redevelopment on lands like this former industrial site. But in this instance, council may have to set a limit on the level of subsidy available. It is also acceptable practice for a municipality to fully offset the cost of site cleanup with potential, not guaranteed, future increases in market value assessment that will result in residential and commercial property taxes where none are currently generated.
http://ottawacitizen.com/opinion/letters/todays-letters-ottawa-say-no-to-footing-zibi-cleanup-bill