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Continued disruptions caused by the construction of the Valley Line West LRT has pushed Edmonton to pass a motion that would explore a new policy to help business who are dealing with the negative repercussions.
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Continued disruptions caused by the construction of the Valley Line West LRT has pushed Edmonton to pass a motion that would explore a new policy to help business who are dealing with the negative repercussions.
On Wednesday, city council passed a motion with a tight 7-6 vote.
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The proposed policy would help businesses who have suffered financial loss during major construction projects which may apply to areas like Stony Plain Road where sidewalks have been torn up and areas fenced off due to ongoing construction of the West LRT line.
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Todd Janes, executive director of the Stony Plain Road and Area Business Association, said with the ongoing construction he’s hearing from businesses in the area that customers are having difficulty accessing storefronts.
“They’re dealing with sidewalks that have been completely removed and access to those businesses is incredibly limited. They thought that maybe (construction) would be for a year and it’s been 19 months. There’s a fair bit of open excavation and not only is that visually unappealing but it does have some safety hazards,” said Janes.
“I think our businesses truly understand that this is part of a growing city and we will have short-term pain for long-term gain. The delay in the construction has been significant.”
Coun. Andrew Knack brought the motion forward in the past but it did not pass, despite businesses who’ve expressed a need for some relief after seeing a large reduction in revenue since construction began. Knack said Vi’s For Pies, a business on Stony Plain Road at 134 Street, has seen about a 30 per cent reduction in revenue since construction began.
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He came back to council proposing a program that would help struggling business owners that would be repayable following the completion of construction and once revenue has increased.
“We need to make sure the businesses can make it through to the end of construction so that they can actually experience that benefit,” said Knack.
“I’ve learned a lot over the other times I’ve tried and failed on this motion, figured out ways to make amendments and adjustments by talking to those who had concerns previously, and embedded those suggestions and pieces of feedback into the new motion that will have helped address most of council’s concerns.”
Mayor Amarjeet Sohi said the city has to figure out how it can help businesses who are struggling with ongoing major construction. But he is concerned about where the funding will come from.
“The city has very limited tools to help. One of the challenges that we faced last time we discussed this issue was that if we were to give a property tax break to businesses, we can only do that to the landlords, not to the businesses directly. So that’s the question I have because it is the businesses that are impacted,” said Sohi.
ctran@postmedia.com
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