Liens on old GM property
The St. Catharines company tasked with designing the former General Motors site has put a construction lien on the property alleging non-payment by Bayshore.
A property title search shows Better Neighbourhoods Inc. put the $160,841 construction lien on the properties at 282 and 285 Ontario St. on Nov. 17.
It joins Canada Revenue Agency, which has had a $1.9-million lien on the properties since September.
The City of St. Catharines, meanwhile, is owed $1.7 million in property taxes since 2015 but cannot act to collect it until the fourth year of non-payment.
Better Neighbourhoods’ Glenn Barr, a consulting engineer specializing in urban design, said the company did master planning for the whole GM site over the past couple of years, including planning and engineering.
“As planners and engineers, we go along with the flow and do the best job we can. We try to avoid doing liens but in this case we couldn’t,” Barr said.
Barr said construction liens are fairly common and he’s had to use them with other companies through the years that get behind of their payments. He said the mechanism is there under the Construction Lien Act to help engineers and planners protect themselves.
He said Better Neighbourhoods continues to represent Bayshore for certain matters at city hall.
“We take the attitude that the project is bigger than the owner,” Barr said. “We also continue to work on it because we want the project to succeed for the benefit of the city. Whether Bayshore carries on holding the property or somebody else takes over the property, we’d like to continue working on the property.”
Better Neighbourhoods planners were at city council in June with a first phase plan for the site — a 37unit subdivision on a 1.16-hectare former GM parking lot at 10 Pleasant Ave.
City council on June 26 approved the draft plan of subdivisions for the project which includes detached, semi-detached and townhouse dwellings and a six-unit apartment building.
The parking lot is part of a massive 20 hectares of former GM land now owned by Bayshore.
“We’re excited about the development of the General Motors site. We think it’s going to be a big thing for the city and we think that it’s important that it happen well, that it’s designed well,” Barr said. “We are attempting to make that happen and we hope to be part of the process down the road.”
Bayshore lawyer Howard Manis said he believes the construction lien is ineffective in that the services rendered are not the type that can be liened.
“It’s work that improves the property and we don’t think this is,” Manis said from Toronto. “And we think that if anything is owing, it’s substantially less than the $160,000 that they registered for.”
The land title also has a lien on the property from Sept. 15 for $1.9 million by the federal government’s minister of national revenue pursuant to the Excise Tax Act.
A restrictions order not to sell or transfer the land is also on the properties as of Dec. 13 due to a Superior Court preservation of property order involving a $15-million lawsuit with metal recycler Attar Metals.
A statement of property taxes owing from the City of St. Catharines obtained by The Standard this month shows Bayshore owes $1.75 million in taxes from 2015, 2016 and 2017.
The amount is the total for both Ontario Street addresses and includes significant penalty and interest at a rate of 1.25 per cent.
However, Mayor Walter Sendzik said the company has a threeyear window to pay under the Municipal Act and is not off-side with official regulations. He said many companies put money into their properties and pay the taxes later which include interest.
“From my perspective, it’s a big parcel of property. A lot of expense had to go into it,” Sendzik said, adding he’s not surprised Bayshore hasn’t paid property taxes yet.
“This is not something new in our business community.”
City treasurer Kristine Douglas said under the act, a municipality can’t take collection action until the fourth year after there are three proceeding years of unpaid taxes. That’s applicable to all properties in the municipality, including homes and businesses.
An individual or company that owes taxes for the past three years has until Dec. 31 of 2017 to submit payment or the city moves forward with a tax arrears process.
“We try as much as we can to work with the property owners and get the taxes paid before we move to the registration process,” Douglas said. “Once we register a tax arrears certificate, then we can’t accept any partial payments and all taxes and outstanding arrears need to be paid.”
If an individual or company pays enough to cover its first year of taxes owing, the clock moves forward and they’re not at risk of entering the tax registration process. kwalter@postmedia.com twitter.com/ karena_standard