betterdwelling.com
Wow...
The last thing one would expect is a new start but something seems to be brewing on the Queensway east of Islington. The Pie Commission (Good meat pies) got booted again but is up and running a bit south.
Land aggregation takes time and money. I don't know of a future plan for that area but that doesn't mean there isn't one. Things like future transit, future zoning, etc can make today's apparent folly look like tomorrow's goldmine.
The Queensway would be a straight track to downtown. They could call it the South Crosstown. Up and running for our second centennial in 2067. Maybe faster if they built an elevated road above the QEW to link with the existing crumbling elevated one further east.
Developers will buy when convenient, hold until convenient, and build when ideal conditions are coming up.
True. Most of the farm land south east of Alliston and north of Beaton is owned by developers. Mainly Mattamy Homes. Has been for 20 years.
A lot of land is under contract. The developers don't have enough money to buy all the land they want for the future so they make a deal today to ensure they can buy it in the future. This also makes it simpler to keep zoning and taxes at low rates as it is owned and operated by a farmer or small business. Something along the lines of "We will give you x dollars a year until we are ready to buy your land. When the time comes, we will pay market rate plus 5%. In exchange for this consideration, we have right of first refusal if you receive any others offers.". For many farms, x is six figures a year. Nice bump in income for doing nothing. Much much cheaper than interest cost on a loan to buy the land.
It doesn't but it causes a political headache. For instance, Smart centres owns some fields in Barrie. Technically the fields were rezoned to commercial but smart centres can (and does) apply for a temporary use agriculture bylaw as they are fields and not a commercial site. It is an 82 acre parcel that pays agricultural taxes of $8,250. If they were required to pay based on zoning, tax bill would be $50K-175K for the same parcel. Residents are questioning why Barrie would grant such an exemption on a monster corporation as that pushes more tax onto everybody else. If farmer AllistonGT owned the land, the community pushback would be much less.
Can you just not rent the fields out to someone wanting to plant beans or corn in them - another way to get your tax credit.
My buddy does this adjacent to his property near their cottage in Prince Edward County.
Maybe. Given the relatively small size, distance to existing farms and need to drive farm vehicles through the city, it may not be economically viable. For large fields on the boundaries, your solution is much easier.
