Merchants hit by construction could get $30,000 a year
The city of Montreal unveiled details Wednesday of its long-awaited plan to compensate merchants affected by major construction work. Under the plan, businesses that have seen their revenue drop by more than 15 per cent because of major projects will be eligible for up to $30,000 a year in compensation. “It’s a historic day for local commerce in Montreal,” said Robert Beaudry, a member of the city’s executive committee responsible for economic development. The program will be the first of its kind in Canada, Beaudry said. The city said it expects a municipal bylaw to be passed in December and it will be able to start accepting applications for the program in January. It hopes to start sending out cheques in February or March. The program will apply across the Island of Montreal and cover work conducted by demerged suburbs and the STM as well as by Montreal boroughs and the central city. The plan will be retroactive to Jan. 1, 2016, for work done by the city of Montreal or another on-island city that involved underground work and lasted — or is scheduled to last — for more than six months. It will be retroactive to Sept. 21, 2017, for businesses affected by work conducted by the city or the STM that blocked traffic and lasted, or is scheduled to last, for more than 36 months. That would include Bishop St., where an STM construction project scheduled to last almost four years started in October 2016. Many merchants on the street have closed their doors. One of the few to hold on is Elio Schiavi, the owner of Ferrari Restaurant. He said the compensation plan will help merchants affected by future projects, but not him. “It is a good thing, but for the future, not for me. For me, it’s not enough,” he said. The 75-year-old restaurateur said, for him, the damage has already been done. He doesn’t think he’ll be able to sell his business, something he had counted on to fund his retirement. Businesses that have closed or gone into bankruptcy won’t be eligible for compensation. Beaudry said the city had to make sure it had the capacity to pay and he didn’t think giving money to companies that no longer exist was a good use of taxpayer money. While the municipal administration has been criticized for moving too slowly on the plan, Beaudry said the administration, which took office a year ago, has moved as fast as it could. “As much as we’d like it to go faster, we have to look at reality,” said Mike Parente, the head of the Société de développement commercial de la Plaza St-Hubert. “I think our members will be OK to wait until spring.” Merchants on Plaza St-Hubert, where several blocks have been dug up, could be among the first to benefit from the program. “It’s a step in the right direction, we’re happy. The amount for some will be sufficient, the amount for others will not,” Parente said. More important than the specific amount, he said, is the fact it comes alongside several other municipal measures, including a reduction in property taxes on the first $500,000 of a non-residential building’s evaluation, aimed at supporting local businesses. Irving Tajfel, president and founder of Neon Clothing, has seen the effect of construction on his St-Denis location. Now he’s seeing it on his St-Hubert store. He’d like to see more effort put into promoting retail streets after work is done. “I’m very happy getting $30,000, but that’s a one-time fix,” he said The city plans to spend $5 million on compensation in 2019. Retroactive compensation is expected to cost $8 million. In total, the city plans to spend $25 million between now and 2021. The plan is aimed specifically at retailers and restaurants. Professional service businesses, banks and massage parlours won’t be eligible. Businesses will have two years after a project is finished to apply and will be able to demonstrate their losses by submitting their corporate tax return to the city. That move was praised by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, which said programs of this nature often make the application process difficult. The city also said it’s rebranding and adding new elements to an existing program that supports neighbourhood business associations, known as sociétés de développement commercial, in areas where major projects are taking place. Those new elements include a program that will provide $100,000 in funding for post-construction support and additional funding for SDCs in affected areas.