Economic incentive zone program ready for refresh, city staff say
City staff is recommending a review of a program that grants temporary tax breaks to some Penticton property owners who upgrade their land or buildings.
Economic incentive zones, created in 2010 to spur improvements in the downtown core, have been expanded over the years to include the waterfront, tourism and industrial areas of Penticton.
But with a review and update of the Official Community Plan now in the works, staff is recommending city council include the EIZ program in that refresh.
“As our community grows, economic climate changes and priority areas for community growth are identified, we need to ensure that EIZ programs are used in the most appropriate manner, which staff believe they have been in the past,” development services director Anthony Haddad wrote in his report for today’s council meeting.
“With the upcoming Official Community Plan process, there is a great opportunity to see where, or if, the EIZ program should be used moving forward as a tool to help support and promote targeted strategic growth in our community.”
To date, 27 projects with a combined construction value of $33.6 million have received tax breaks worth $1.1 million, according to Haddad’s report.
The smallest is a waiver worth $507 over five years for a $200,000 interior renovation to a building on the 100 block of Ellis Street. The biggest is a $540,000 benefit over five years to the owner of the $22.1-million Regency Retirement Resort on Wilson Street.
Council will also be asked Tuesday to have staff install a massive Canada 150 mosaic mural installed on the side of the Cleland Theatre.
The mural, composed of hundreds of tiles painted over the summer by community members, is part of a Canada-wide mural project meant to celebrate the country’s 150th birthday.
The effort was led locally by artist Lewis Lavoie at a cost of $10,000, with half from the city and $1,000 contributions from the Penticton and District Arts Council, Okanagan School of the Arts and Downtown Penticton Association.
City council’s Arts, Creative and Cultural Innovations Committee was to have raised the balance, but was unable to do so. It’s now recommending council pull the $2,000 from its public art reserve.
The regular council meeting begins at 1 p.m., with a pair of public hearings planned to kick off the evening session at 6 p.m.
The first concerns rezoning applications for 750 Kamloops Ave. to allow a single-family home to be replaced with three duplexes. The second hearing regards a similar application for three lots on the 1200 block of Government Street, where a developer wishes to replace two homes with three duplexes.