Demand for new houses has dropped significantly in Guelph, judging by the number of new single detached home starts in the city last year.
That statistic is considered the best barometer of real-time housing demand by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, which released 2008 figures recently.
The City of Guelph was forced to file only two stop-work orders for building construction without a permit in 2008.
That`s the same number that was filed in 2007, down from four in 2006, said Bruce Poole, the city`s chief building official.
The Hamilton Spectator reported Thursday that a city survey found one-sixth of new houses -- more than 16 per cent -- built in Hamilton in the first half of 2008 were under construction before a permit was issued. This was reportedly an improvement over that newspaper`s findings in a 2007 investigation.
0109TNTO 50-storey condo tower proposed for parking lot
Toronto is considering redeveloping a small triangular parking lot, squeezed between the Gardiner Expressway and a major off-ramp, into something more lucrative – perhaps a 50-storey condo tower.
The review of the city-owned, quarter-hectare lot at York and Harbour Sts. is just the sort of thing the new Build Toronto agency was created to do after an advisory panel said the city could reap $150 million a year through better stewardship of its real estate.
Soon, rural Middlesex County residents won`t have to wander the Internet wilderness any more.
The county has issued a request for proposals to provide high-speed Internet access that would be available to all households and businesses by 2010. Right now, broadband service is limited or nonexistent outside of towns or villages in the county, said Southwest Middlesex Mayor Doug Reycraft.
These tough economic times aren`t tough enough to avoid a tax hike in Barrie this year.
City councillors gave initial approval to its 2009 business plan and operating budget Monday, which sets a 2.8 per cent property tax increase.
The budget would add $87 in taxes on a city home assessed at $229,000, with total taxes on that house, municipal and education, totalling $3,224.
"This process started two years ago when this council made fiscal responsibility a priority," said Coun. Jeff Lehman, chairman of the city finance committee. "The decisions made are not just for the present, but for many years."
It was the Near East against the Far East at Ottawa City Hall yesterday as Ottawa residents fenced over the route for a possible new bridge across the Ottawa River.
Citizens, mostly from Manor Park and Rockcliffe Park, told city council`s transportation committee that the $4.5-million environmental assessment study process, which recommends a bridge at Kettle Island, fails to properly assess the impact of the $400-million to $500-million bridge.
0109KWCG Rumpel Felt building finds a buyer at $3.2M
KITCHENER
The Rumpel Felt Co. property in downtown Kitchener has been sold for $3.2 million.
The former felt factory at 60 Victoria St. N. was sold in late December along with its neighbouring property, which houses the End of the Roll flooring products store and the Noble Trade plumbing supplies business.
Despite objections from a resident who will see a road built directly across the street from his Grange Road driveway, council has approved zone changes for two Ward 1 subdivisions on either side of the proposed road expansion.
"When we purchased the property, we recognized it wasn`t going to be farm land forever," said Neil Rocha, who lives across the road from the two proposed subdivisions.
His concerns are of both traffic and potential parking on Grange Road.
0109YNEW Newmarket wants to lower proposed 4.9% tax increase
It`s budget time, so the Town of Newmarket is looking for savings in every nook and cranny.
Council and staff gathered yesterday to look over the draft capital and operation budgets with a fine-toothed comb, hoping to scrape a little off the proposed 4.9-per-cent increase it would slap on municipal taxes. The percentage has already decreased through discussions of which projects can wait and which are essential in 2009, town CAO Bob Shelton said.
Drinking water in more than half of 100 older Toronto homes tested last summer exceeded the acceptable level of lead – a huge increase over a previous study.
While water officials attribute the spike to warm weather in the second round of tests, high lead levels at the tap – as much as eight times the accepted standard – highlight a long-standing problem with lead service lines leading to homes in older parts of the city.
0109TNTO GTA Transit, water set for funding fast track
Federal Infrastructure Minister John Baird will meet with big-city mayors in Ottawa tomorrow and says he will unveil reforms aimed at fast-tracking infrastructure projects, such as streamlined environmental assessments.
Baird contacted the Star yesterday and indicated transit and water-treatment projects could be priorities for infrastructure money.
Nortel Networks Corp., once the country`s top technology titan, filed for bankruptcy protection today in a move that marks the latest chapter of the telecom gear-maker`s long fall from grace.
Toronto-based Nortel said today that the company and its various subsidiaries would seek protection from creditors with filings in Canada, the United States and Europe.
TTC this year embarks on construction of Transit City, its plan to build a 120-kilometre network of light rail lines during the next 15 years. Peter Kuitenbrouwer continues a series of columns on the $8-billion project, which the province has endorsed but not funded, and which remains largely a leap of faith for city hall.
Despite the boundaries of the Greenbelt, Lincoln is planning for a population increase of about 7,400 by 2031.
"We see ourselves as a greenbelt community, and we realize it`s our job to sustain and make possible development within the greenbelt," Coun. Margaret Andrewes said at Lincoln`s planning committee meeting on Monday.
The Ontario Greenbelt Act was mandated by the province to stop development on environmentally sensitive lands, which include much of the agricultural lands surrounding Lincoln.
A 144-unit luxury condominium project proposed for Orchard Point has been approved by the Ontario Municipal Board.
However members of council remain divided on the issue of high-rise development on the waterfront.
Coun. Ralph Cipolla said the six-and eight-storey project at the entrance to the Atherley Narrows will be a be an attractive, landmark development showing that Orillia is "finally growing up and entering the 21st century."
The project will add significantly to the city`s tax base and bring well-to-do residents to town who will contribute dollars to the local economy.
Ottawa council is to decide today whether to expand the search for a new interprovincial bridge to include Lower Duck Island.
Opponents of the proposed $500-million bridge at Kettle Island won a small victory Monday night when the transportation committee said the city should ask the National Capital Commission to include Lower Duck Island in the second phase of a study for a new bridge.
The current economic downturn is a "once-in-a-lifetime event" that represents the worst financial crisis since 1929, a senior economist told city council yesterday.
Benjamin Tal of CIBC World Markets said Hamilton is in a reasonable position to weather the crisis, which will not start to resolve until June, or later, this year.
Errant golf balls will continue to be the only incursion onto County Road 19 from two Belwood golf courses.
Citing liability concerns, the Wellington County roads committee yesterday refused a proposal that would have seen golfers crossing the road on foot and in carts.
"The committee is not confident it can be done safely at this time," committee chair Rod Finnie said.
0109DAJX Meeting set on Ajax ward boundary changes
AJAX -- An open house is being held next month on plans to redraw the Town`s ward boundaries.
The aim is to have new boundaries in place for the November 2010 municipal election. Mayor Steve Parish said the open house is on Monday, Feb. 2 from 7 to 9 p.m. in the council chambers of Town hall.
