Committee approval brings Kingsway development step closer

Sudbury's planning committee officially declared two parcels of city-owned land near the former Kingsway Hotel surplus Monday night, paving the way for a still unspecified development.

Paul Baskcomb, the city's general manager of growth and development, said the approval was only to make the property available to sell for the developer. He said the landowner still hadn't submitted business proposal for the property. Should that happen, more details of what's planned for the area will be made public.

"This evening was just about the declaration of the property as surplus to the (city's) needs," Baskcomb said. "As far as the use of the property, that would be subject to a future rezoning and an Official Plan amendment, as well ... But we've got no information on that now.

"Any kind of commercial development would have to come back for a rezoning. And that's where you'll have the opportunity to get a lot more information."

Ward 11 Coun. Lynne Reynolds, whose ward includes the Kingsway property, also didn't know what the unnamed developer had in mind.

"But we're hoping that there will be something done there to improve that property," Reynolds said.

The developer is also interested in buying a house on Kitchener Avenue, which runs behind the former hotel, as well as the two city-owned lots on Kitchener to consolidate their holdings. A staff report said plans are to use some of the land for parking.

“It is understood that the owner of the former Kingsway Hotel property intends to use the subject lands as part of a parking area in conjunction with the redevelopment of the former hotel lands and the property at 59 Kitchener Ave.,” the report said.

Opened in the early 1960s, The Kingsway Hotel was a once-popular spot, but more recently, it was home to a series of failed bars and restaurants, and was ordered closed and the tenants evacuated in 2009 when the owner failed to pay the hydro bill.

The city tried to sell the property for years, without success, in an attempt to recover about $200,000 back taxes. The city finally took ownership in late 2013, demolished the three-storey, 10,000-square-foot building and cleaned the soil. It was sold to the current buyer last summer.


Dalron rezoning applications approved

Also Monday, Dalron received approval to rezone two properties it owns on Barrydowne Road, including one that used to house Fabricland.

Dalron wanted the properties at 863, 865, 867 and 904 Barrydowne Rd. rezoned C2, which would permit a wide range of commercial uses. They had previously been zoned for light industrial uses.

While representatives from Dalron at Monday's meetings said plans for the properties are not yet finalized, they had no objection to a request from Ward 9 Coun. Deb McIntosh, who asked a clause be including prohibiting use of the property for an auto garage, because of the lands proximity to Junction Creek.