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B6 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER Wednesday April 25, 2001 Business To reach this section call 845-3824 Fax:337-5567 Town's land crunch hinders development Group wants Oakville to become a livework community By A n g e la B la c k b u rn OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF ack o f em ploym ent land is the biggest hindrance to O ak v ille's econom ic d evel o p m ent, says the O a kv ille E c o n o m ic D ev elo p m e n t A llia n c e (O E D A ). T he Tow n m ust open up 367 new acres o f em ploym ent land ju s t this year to stay co m p eti tive. "E ven that w ill be a stretch for us," adm itted O ED A C E O D avid Cash. O akville now has 3,800 acres o f em ploym ent land w ith ju s t 38% vacant, providing only one jo b fo r every six residents. Yet O akville aim s to becom e a live-w ork com m unity so 6,200 acres w ill be needed by 2031 w hen the tow n is built-out. T he n um ber crunching is all p art o f last y e a r's E m ploym ent L ands Strategy. Tow n councillors w ere rem inded o f the num bers again T uesday w hen O E D A 's annual report was presented at council. O E D A w as founded in 1999, as a jo in t effort o f the Tow n and business com m unity, to pro m ote econom ic grow th. O E D A 's m an d ate is ro o ted in the 1997 E conom ic D ev elo p m en t Strategy, a 10-year plan that recognized certain "challenges" facing O ak v ille's econom ic developm ent. T he need for m ore em ploym ent lands tops the list, said Cash. "We d o n 't have a w ide enough selection o f land sites. We have a good selection o f office space and buildings, but industrial sites are very short," adm itted Cash. W hile O akville has a few infill lands avail able alo n g th e Q EW and in the W in sto n B usiness P ark, C ash said, "F o r us to be co m p et itive w e need a real variety o f sites." M any undeveloped sites in tow n are ow ned by people w ho wartt to build on them and then lease w hile com panies prefer to buy their ow n land and build. E co n o m ic g ro w th , p articu la rly in d u stria l grow th, has been strong in the w est GTA and O akville is co m peting directly w ith oth er GTA com m unities fo r it. W ith M ississau g a nearly built out, O akville has w hat C ash calls a w indow o f opportunity. "If w e d o n 't get the sites open, the co m p a nies w ill go to M ilton o r B ram pton. T h ere'll be an opportunity O akville could m iss and other com m unities could be cashing in o n ," said Cash. O E D A 's a n n u a l re p o rt also sta te d , th a t "reduced availability o f em ploym ent land in O akville is a contributing factor to low er in d u s trial building perm it levels in 2 000." Industrial/com m ercial building perm its hit $176 m illion in 1999 b ut have dropped since. E m ploym ent land vacancy rates fell from 40% (1,400 acres) in 1996 to 25% (900 acres) in 1999. To be co m petitive the vacancy rate should be at least 40, if not 50% , said Cash. O E D A recom m ends opening 500 acres in the area know n as 407 W est as a priority. Hwy. 407 should open this year and C ash expects a lot o f in dustrial/com m ercial interest in O akville. "I 'm afraid w e m ight not be ready," he said. L and north o f D undas S treet w ill provide the m ost em ploym ent land in the long term . The S trategic L and U se O ptions Study calls fo r des ignation o f 2,200 acres o f em ploym ent land there, m ost along Hwy. 407. W ith lots o f p rofessionals here, am ong a ground sw ell o f residents w ant to w ork near hom e, and w ould even trade pay to escape traf fic, the vision for along Hwy. 4 07, is sim ilar to M e a d o w v a le 's h ig h q u ality , cam p u s sty le offices. Yet land availability isn 't the only hurdle. C ash noted it's up to developers to provide industrial land but they can m ake m ore m oney building hom es. It's the Tow n that w ould co l lect m ore tax m oney from industry. The Tow n is zoning for business, revam ping its O fficial Plan and in dustrial/com m ercial zo n ing by-law s, and hoping. The Tow n also needs to get the w ord out about O akville b u t ju st last w eek it picked up a trio o f aw ards. T w o A w ards o f E x ce lle n ce fro m the E conom ic D ev elo p m en t C o u n cil o f O ntario w ere g le a n e d fo r its new p u b lic atio n C om m unity Profile. A n A w ard o f E xcellence also cam e from the G reater T oronto M arketing A lliance w hich m ar kets the GTA for O akville including the GTA logo on all o f its ads. L John Bailey, Vice President M arketing, M olson C anada; T hom as Pigeon, C EO , Pigeon Branding & D esign; A ndrew Barrett, Vice President M arketing, M olson C anada and C hristian Pichette, President, Pigeon Branding & D esign check out som e o f the new labels for som e M olson brands produced by the local com pany. Pigeon Branding gives Molson new look Pigeon Branding + Design, of Oakville has signed a landmark Agency of Record agreement with Molson Canada. "With the signing of this agreement, we have moved the traditional supplier/client relationship into the true arena of partnership," noted Thomas Pigeon, Chief Executive Officer. "Over the last cou ple of years we have been privileged to work with Molson on the redesign of Molson Export, Molson Dry, and the revitalization of the brand identity sys tem for Rickard's, including the newest addition to the Rickard's family - Rickard's Gold. At every level, Molson has displayed a high standard of pro fessionalism and we are delighted they have decid ed to take this landmark step in making us exclusive partner as their brand design consultant." Andrew Barrett, Vice-President of Marketing responsible for Molson Canadian, explained the rationale behind the contractual AOR agreement with Pigeon Branding + Design. "The Pigeon team shares our view that package design is not a stand alone element, but is an integrated component of all brand communication that builds a key relationship between our brands and beer drinkers. The design components that originate on packaging are ulti mately applied to all elements of brand communica tion. As such, our packaging and design requires strong strategic stewardship to continue to aggres sively grow our brands, including Molson Canadian, Canada's #1 selling beer." HALTON REGION PUBLIC NOTICE TRAFFIC SIGNAL INSTALLATION & SOUTHBOUND LEFT-TURN LANE AT TREMAINE ROAD (REGIONAL ROAD #22) & DUNDAS STREET (REGIONAL ROAD #5) TOWN OF OAKVILLE, PR-1932 N otice is hereby given pursuant to Sections 297 and 300 o f the M unicipal Act, R.S.O. 1990, Chapter M.45 as am ended that the Council for the Regional M unicipality o f Halton proposes at its meeting on W ednesday, May 23th, 2001 at 9:30 a.m. to pass a by-law for the installation o f traffic signals and southbound left-tum lane at Trem aine Road (Regional Road #22) and Dundas Street (Regional Road #5), Town o f Oakville. Plans showing the proposed w ork m ay be inspected at the Planning & Public W orks Department, Records Area, Halton Regional Centre, 1151 Bronte Road, Oakville. On W ednesday, May 16th, 2001 at 9:30 a.m. in the Halton Room at the Halton Regional Centre, 1151 Bronte Road, Oakville, Ontario, Council through its Planning and Public W orks Com mittee will hear in person, or by his/her Counsel, any person who claims that his/her lands will be prejudicially affected by the said by-law and who applies to the Regional Clerk no later than Friday, May 4th, 2001 to be heard. For further information, please contact Mr. J. Choi, P.Eng., M anager, D esign Services at extension 7610. From Oakville/Burlington/M ilton: (905) 825-6000 Toll Free: 1-866-4HALTON (1-866-442-5866) Tourism seen key to town' s future Tourism is key to O akville's econom ic future and those with a stake in that future are sending out the m essage that the tow n is the best place in the GTA to m ix business with pleasure. "W ith a growing corporate sector and new meeting facilities on the horizon, corporate travel, meeting and events will generate more econom ic benefits," said Oakville Econom ic D evelopm ent Alliance (OED A ) CEO David Cash. The Oakville Convention Centre opens next month next to the Holiday Inn Express on Bronte Road. The new $50 million D elta Glen A bbey Hotel & Conference Centre should open in 2003 w hile a 97-room Hilton G arden Inn is under construction on the south side o f the Q EW opposite the AM C Entertainm ent C entrum in east Oakville. Oakville makes $54 m illion from the one m il lion tourists w ho com e here yearly. The O akville W aterfront Festival alone attracts 200,000 visitors every June and w hile 75% of O akville's visitors are "day trippers", local hotel and conference facilities are expanding. Just to help things along, the Tow n has declared M ay 1 to 7 as O akville Tourism Awareness Week. Tourism is O ntario's sixth largest export indus try and receives 37% o f Canada's tourism rev enues and 44% o f the country's visitors. The province has 88,000 tourism -related businesses offering services from food and accom m odation to am usem ent and transportation. TINA AGNELLO REGIONAL CLERK www.region.halton.on.ca HALTON REGION PUBLIC NOTICE RECONSTRUCTION OF TRAFALGAR ROAD (REGIONAL ROAD #3) FROM HIGHWAY 407 TO 450 m SOUTH OF BRITANNIA ROAD (REGIONAL ROAD #6) TOWN OF MILTON, PR-1539B N otice is hereby given pursuant to Sections 297 and 300 o f the Municipal Act, R.S.O. 1990, Chapter M.45 as am ended that the Council for the Regional M unicipality o f Halton proposes at its meeting on W ednesday, M ay 23rd, 2001 at 9:30 a.m. to pass a by-law for the reconstruction o f Trafalgar R oad (Regional Road #3) from Highway 407 to 450 m south o f Britannia Road (Regional Road #6), Tow n o f Milton. Plans showing the proposed w ork may be inspected at the Planning & Public Works Departm ent, Records Area, Halton Regional Centre, 1151 Bronte Road, Oakville. On W ednesday, M ay 16th, 2001 at 9:30 a.m. in the Halton Room at the Halton Regional Centre, 1151 Bronte Road, O akville, Ontario, Council through its Planning and Public W orks Com m ittee will hear in person, or by his/her Counsel, any person who claims that his/her lands will be prejudicially affected by the said by-law and who applies to the Regional Clerk no later than Friday, M ay 4th, 2001 to be heard. For further inform ation, please contact Mr. J. Choi, P.Eng., Manager, Design Services at extension 7610. From O akville/Burlington/M ilton: (905) 825-6000 Toll Free: 1-866-4HALTON (1-866-442-5866) www.region.halton.on.ca HALTON REGION PUBLIC NOTICE CONSTRUCTION OF AN EASTBOUND, RIGHT-TURN LANE AT UPPER MIDDLE ROAD AT NINTH LINE/FORD DRIVE TOWN OF OAKVILLE, PR-1949 N otice is hereby given pursuant to Sections 297 and 300 o f the Municipal Act, R.S.O. 1990, Chapter M.45 as amended that the Council for the Regional Municipality o f Halton proposes at its meeting on W ednesday, May 23rd, 2001 at 9:30 a.m. to pass a by-law for the construction o f an eastbound, right-tum lane at Upper Middle Road at Ninth Line/Ford Drive, Town o f Oakville. Plans showing the proposed work may be inspected at the Planning & Public Works Department, Records Area, Halton Regional Centre, 1151 Bronte Road, Oakville. On W ednesday, May 16th, 2001 at 9:30 a.m. in the Halton Room at the Halton Regional Centre, 1151 Bronte Road, Oakville, Ontario, Council through its Planning and Public W orks Committee will hear in person, or by his/her Counsel, any person who claims that his/her lands will be prejudicially affected by the said by-law and who applies to the Regional Clerk no later than Friday, May 4th, 2001 to be heard. For further information, please contact Mr. J. Choi, P.Eng., Manager, Design Services at extension 7610. From Oakville/Burlington/Milton: (905) 825-6000 Toll Free: 1-866-4HALTON (1-866-442-5866) TINA A G N ELLO REG IO N AL CLERK TINA AGNELLO REGIONAL CLERK www.region.halton.on.ca