Kingsville looking for public opinion on properties up for grabs

Kingsville property debate The Town of Kingsville is looking for input from residents on whether it should buy three vacant properties.

The Town of Kingsville is calling on residents to give their input on three properties up for grabs.

The former Kingsville District High School, Jack Miner Public School, and Kingsville Public School properties are the centre of the debate.

On Monday night, a public information session was held, informing residents of the pros and cons.

“Best case scenario [if we pass] is one of our local developers but it and they build something that’s in tune to Kingsville’s culture and how the town works,” said Mayor Dennis Rogers.

In the event the town decides to let the properties go, it doesn’t get a say on what goes in.

“Pros are we will be able to control what goes there and we’d be able to flip it and even potentially get some money back from it,” he said.

The biggest impact on residents will be cost.

“There’s obviously potential for tax increases if we buy the properties and do not immediately sell them for what we’ve purchased them for,” said John Norton, Kingsville’s CAO.

“But, when you get into trying to redevelop a property and maybe do something that has a cost, then there’s going to be some tax impact.”

That cost remains unknown as the town waits for condition assessments of the buildings.

“Until we have those assessments, we won’t really know what the properties are worth,” Norton continued. “We have done an independent evaluation of the high school property.”

“We suggest it’s worth $2.4 million, however, we know a recent high school property in Amherstburg sold recently for much more than that.”

Norton said the property sold for over $3 million and was a lot smaller than the former high school grounds.

A resident weighed in at the meeting, saying she would like 70 per cent of the property to go towards affordable housing for young adults looking for their own home.

Other residents said they should be used to beautify the town and create some sort of landmark.

If you’re looking to give feedback on the matter, you can do so on Kingsville’s website. https://haveyoursaykingsville.ca/

It will remain online until at least the end of August. The town hopes the rest of the consultations can be done completely online so they can move to the next step, depending on the final decision. That decision will be made by council.