Downtown business owners are being encouraged to beautify their properties with an interest-free grant and loan program from the city.
At a meeting Tuesday (Nov. 21), the city's planning committee approved an amendment to the Community Improvement Plan (CIP), which would provide businesses with financial incentives for planning and building fees, project development studies and facade and building improvements.
Depending on what physical improvements a business decides to undertake, and where they're located in the city core, different rebates, ranging from 50 to 100 percent (to a maximum of $50,000), for building, renovation and planning costs will apply.
Committee members voted unanimously in favour of the CIP, saying a program of this nature is long overdue and has proven to be successful in other cites in Ontario.
Maureen Luoma, the executive director of Downtown Sudbury, which has been working with the city for years to establish a CIP, said she's been receiving many positive phone calls from property and business owners about the program.
Luoma said there's positive energy brewing downtown from both the business sector as well as from customers.
"This is going to give the private sector and the businesses that next push to continue that positive development," she said.
While the financial incentives amendment is a relatively new concept, Luoma said the idea of a CIP dates back more than 20 years.
"At the end of the 1980s, we with the city worked on a facade improvement program and the unfortunate thing at that time was that while the intent was good, there was no mechanism in place to provide any incentive for the private sector to get involved," said Luoma. "There has been the intent and the desire to do that and provide financial incentives for some time."
In the last year, Luoma said a "very serious and concerted effort" has been made with the city to develop this program.
The CIP still needs to be approved by city council Nov. 29 and should be ready to go in the spring.
