Nanaimo City Council Passes Another One

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Revitalization Tax Exemption Bylaw

Passes Third Reading 

Without Council Reading It!

With all the hoopla surrounding Bestwick's motion to postpone the Uplands low barrier housing project, little attention was paid to what could be a giant mistake by council on the advice of city staff.

A bylaw which city councillors had not even seen until the night of the meeting was given first, second and third reading in spite of the fact councillors had likely not even opened the bylaw. Questions I raised the next day with councillors brought response only from one councillor, and based on their answer it was clear they had no idea what they had voted on. That criticism applies to one and all on city council. It makes you wonder how many other items are passed with as little scrutiny?

This Mayor and majority of council and many candidates in the upcoming election are of the opinion that all we have to do is build a new hotel downtown and voila.... our convention centre deficit will be turned around. In typical fashion this conclusion is come to without any supporting credible studies.

The bylaw itself could likely be used to get tax exemption status on projects other than hotels and motels and there is no guarantee that units built would have to be available for rent 365 days out of the year.

For example a strata condo could be built in which the owners make their suites available for rent for a percentage of the year. I doubt this is what council envisions when they think 'hotel rooms'.

Unfair Advantage Over Existing Hotels/Motels

The existing hotels and motels are not exactly doing a landslide business these days, and to have the city taxpayer grant an unfair advantage to their competition, if not illegal, certainly should be. I would hope the local hoteliers mount a legal challenge to this bylaw should it in fact go through.


On the other hand, perhaps city council and the Mayor have more business savvy than they sometimes demonstrate and will see the folly of this hastily conceived bylaw and kill it at final reading. I also thought they might have gone to tender before awarding $12 million building contracts, but I was wrong then. I hope I am not wrong this time also.

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