Hamilton seeks servicing plan for Stelco’s bayfront lands
The city is giving Stelco a January deadline to submit an agreeable strategy to service a massive swath of bayfront land it hopes to redevelop for industrial tenants.
The steelmaker says its plan to sever roughly 773 acres of unused land at 386 Wilcox St. into seven lots will generate about $12 million in tax revenue and many new jobs.
In October 2019, the city's committee of adjustment gave Stelco permission to subdivide the land as long as it met conditions relating to servicing.
The city has given Stelco until Jan. 22 to meet those conditions, including a servicing master plan, before the committee's approval expires.
If it doesn't make that deadline, the plan for the land - which the company says is about the size of downtown - isn't dashed, Coun. John-Paul Danko says.
Stelco could reapply to the committee of adjustment or pursue other planning committee approvals, Danko notes.
It's something that we definitely want to make happen, but at the same time, we have to make sure that we're proceeding in a way that's consistent with all other development throughout the city."
Representatives of Stelco didn't respond to The Spectator's requests for comment Thursday.
Council met in camera Wednesday to discuss an updated staff report on the file, which Danko noted carries legal considerations.
To complete the severance, Stelco has asked the city to amend its sewer bylaw, which limits to three the number of industrial properties that can share a single connection to the municipal system.
The steelmaker says it plans to maintain ownership of the parcels, but city staff are still concerned about potential sewage mishaps, drinking-water issues and pollution discharges originating from several players deep in the vast site.
In theory, Stelco could sell parcels years into the future, potentially muddying which legal entities and agreements the city might have to deal with should problems arise.
It's these incredibly messy" scenarios that the city's bylaws are designed to prevent, Dan McKinnon, general manager of public works, said during a public works session in October.
During that meeting, Peter McAlister, Stelco's chief development and operations officer, told councillors the company had spent close to a million dollars" on the severance effort.
We are receiving a tremendous amount of interest in our property and the site overall," he said, without specifying what type of industrial tenants Stelco hopes to land.
But he said the company strives to create a more pristine environment" on the site, which is contaminated and still has old structures that must be demolished.
Randle Reef, a years-long remediation project, is just off the western edge of the sprawling property, which McAlister noted, still includes what was once the largest private railway in the country.
In 2017, Stelco, which was previously U.S. Steel Canada, re-emerged from bankruptcy protection under new owners Bedrock Industries.
Coun. Lloyd Ferguson notes the Stelco lands have an advantageous location with handy water, rail and highway access.
It's a big deal for the community because it creates jobs, it creates tax revenue once you get that back into productive use," he said Thursday.
The city and Stelco are also locked in a tax dispute with millions in revenue at stake for the municipality. A Dec. 4 settlement conference between the parties before the provincial Assessment Review Board was adjourned to March to permit talks to continue.
Teviah Moro is a Hamilton-based reporter at The Spectator. Reach him via email: tmoro@thespec.com