The fate of a site planned for a massive sound stage facility is still up in the air, but the owners denied recent claims by 黑马磁力 Township's mayor that plans are underway to build a Costco there.
In a recent appearance on the "Jas Johal Show" on CKNW, Mayor Eric Woodward claimed that Lorval Developments had dropped its plans to build a 735,000-square-foot facility near 80 Avenue and 216 Street.
A wrangle over Community Amenity Contributions (CACs) for the site 鈥� Lorval claimed it would have had to pay between $32 and $39 million to the Township 鈥� led to a lawsuit by the company against the municipality. Lorval won that case earlier this spring, with the judge tossing out the Township's entire CAC policy.
Woodward said publicly that plans for the studio were dead in any case, and that Lorval actually wanted to build a Costco on the site.
"There were multiple meetings with Costco representatives specific to the proposed film studio site to gauge potential support for the required Williams Neighbourhood Plan amendment," Woodward told the Langely Advance Times.
"They were also seeking a parking variance for a substantial reduction in parking requirements. It was clear from those meetings that the proponent was seeking alternatives to the film studio proposal, while making public statements to the contrary."
Woodward said he had two meetings with the Costco representatives.
However, Lorval's head has denied that there are firm plans for a Costco, or for anything else for the site right now.
"I think it's curious the mayor thinks he knows what's happening with our property," said Thomas Martini, CEO and president of Lorval Developments.
He acknowledged that it is unknown right now if the sound stages, which had been in the planning stages for several years before the lawsuit, will be built. Martini Film Studios already operates local sound stages in Walnut Grove and the Martini Town backlot in Aldergrove.
"We're reviewing all opportunities in the market," Martini said.
Whatever is built, it will be a form of "employment lands," he added.
"This [site] has always been intended to bring hundreds, if not thousand of jobs," he said.
He also noted that more employment lands will benefit the Township's tax base.
Martini claimed that the CAC policy the lawsuit overturned was a way for Woodward to fund the ambitious plans on which he ran in the 2022 civic elections.
"The CAC really was a land grab on the land-lift value, and I think the judge did a great job of understanding that it was an illegal tax," said Martini.
A land-lift is the increase in value when a piece of property is rezoned in a way that makes it more valuable 鈥� for example, rezoning an acre with one house to allow it to be subdivided or developed into apartments.
Martini said Amenity Cost Charge (ACC) 鈥� a newly introduced method of collecting amenity fees, similar to CACs but provincially sanctioned 鈥� would be more fair and transparent, giving clarity to developers.
Woodward said that as of the first week of July, he was not aware of any communications from Lorval to the Township about plans for the site.
Since the court decision, the Township has now put a new, interim CAC policy in place, and there has been discussion of an ACC bylaw.
