Council has given the city the green light to begin marketing 52 acres of commercial space in Parsons Creek to future developers.
360-thousand dollars will be spent on the plan, with 75-thousand of that on a site-specific retail trade study.
Councillor Phil Meagher expressed concern over it being lead by an outside consultant.
“We’re bringing someone from the outside to do a retail trade study, to say this is what’s best here, when we already have these people here. It just seems like there could be a different approach to this,” he said.
In response, the city assured council that the study will actively involve citizen groups like the Chamber of Commerce.
While Meagher voted in favour of the plan, councillor Guy Boutilier voted against it, saying he found areas of the plan to be over the top.
“360,000 dollars to sell land? At this point, I guess I haven’t been convinced by administration that let’s just run out, and use external consultants to do this. I’m not convinced of that,” he said.
However, Mayor Melissa Blake says she’s hopeful that the plan can allow the community to stand out.
“I need to make sure that whomever is giving serious consideration to us against places like Vancouver, or Montreal, or Toronto, or anywhere else that they might be considering, when they get our package they’ll be able to say holy crow, this is where I need to be with my skills and connections and capabilities,” she said.
Once the land is successfully sold, the city will get back the money it spent on the marketing side.
