NPC Had Their Own Plans For The Marina In The 1990’s

excerpt-npc-minutes-may-18-1990

OUR VIEW: Don’t sell marina property

The Tonawanda News

The North Tonawanda Waterfront Commission is right to offer a word of caution on a city plan to auction off the old Niagara River Yacht Club.

Situated on a slice of prime real estate on the river, the marina has been something of a football, kicked back and forth by city leaders seeking at various times over the last four years to either create a public marina or pad the city’s coffer by selling it to a private investor.

The marina cannot be sold for profit, so says New York state law. Because of its waterfront location, the city must put the money back into another park or acquire in exchange an equal amount of parkland elsewhere in the city.

In the past we’ve called the state’s law meddlesome — it still is — but while municipalities deserve the right to make their own decisions about real estate, we share in the commission’s cautious approach.

Even in the last year, much has changed when examining the future of NT’s riverfront property. A large-scale project to improve a stale and barren Gratwick Park is underway. What looked last year to be an easy decision to sell the marina now seems shortsighted.

Mayor Larry Soos and the Common Council have agreed to auction the property for a fair price and use the money to underwrite other park projects, presumably Gratwick Park’s ongoing refurbishments. That sounds like a good idea, but city leaders are missing the bigger picture.

North Tonawanda was lauded for the plan it put forth to the Niagara River Greenway Commission to improve Gratwick. There is no reason to think the same couldn’t be done for the marina down the road. Given their proximity to one another, a proposal to fix the marina could be seen as an extension — a reinvestment of sorts by the Greenway Commission — of the original Gratwick project.

If the city auctions off the marina, it has no options. If it holds onto it, opportunities exist — and more importantly, money will be available to fund those opportunities.

No one disputes that if the city divested itself of the marina it would be the easiest way to go. An auction would put to rest an issue with no simple solutions. But ease shouldn’t make haste, especially when we’re talking about something as important as the redevelopment of the city’s most valuable real estate.

Hold onto the marina. Worst case scenario, it can always be auctioned later.

Seems To Be On Hold

Since the July meeting things have been very quiet.  Little has been said or done regarding the Marina proposal.

Hopefully our efforts are paying off.

Marina land should be publicly operated: Kormos

By Alison Bell

Fort Erie

Jun 27, 2008

One of Niagara’s longest-serving MPPs is calling for the government to put a halt to development at Miller’s Creek Marina, labelling the project “Disneyfication of parkland.”

In session at Queen’s Park last week, Welland MPP Peter Kormos asked the government why it is allowing private industry to take over parkland.

“Why is the McGuinty government facilitating and accommodating the commercialization and privatization of the pristine parkland of the Niagara Parks along the Niagara River?” he said.

The comprehensive expansion plan — which includes three times more space for boats, a four-storey hotel, a four-storey condominium, a restaurant and shopping on 45 acres leased from Niagara Parks — depends on the outcome of an environmental assessment. A lease between Warren DAC Investment Ltd., the company spearheading the project, and the Niagara Parks Commission also depends on environmental assessments of the former shipyard lands.

Currently the marina has 135 slips for boats. There is a launch ramp, a gas pump and not much else.

The proposed development has a $120 million price tag and will be funded through Warren DAC, which took over control of the marina in April 2007.

In recent times, the marina has fallen into a state of disrepair, a state which Kormos described as “rustic.”

It has about 110 members.

In an interview with The Post, Kormos called the project, “The privatization, commercialization and Disneyfication of parkland.”

He said the lands should be occupied by a public body.

“Niagara Parks has always been under pressure by developers and by governments that want to make more money. The role of the commission is to act as a steward of those parklands and it’s a trust relationship that’s being betrayed now,” said Kormos. “The line has to be clearly drawn now.”

Niagara Falls MPP Kim Craitor said because of the condition of the marina, the parks commission had to decide whether to invest a significant amount of money to restore the marina with no guarantee of a return on the investment or work with a private developer. Craitor said nothing has been finalized in terms of the development because an environmental assessment is ongoing.

“They’re now doing an environmental assessment to determine if they can even do anything with (the land),” said Craitor, noting the assessments are mandated by the province.

He said the province does have final say in the outcome of the assessment and the development.

“The parks (commission) is saying that’s not the business we’re in. It would not generate enough money to operate. The other option is to say we’re not going to operate a marina there.”