by Sylene Argent, Local Journalism Initiative
Consider buying or passing on the potential purchase of the three permanently closed school properties in Kingsville, that is the question members of Kingsville Council will be asking themselves over the next little while.
An informal meeting held at the Grovedale Arts and Culture Centre on Monday evening was meant to be an information session, providing the community a chance to listen in on what is known to date, as well as provide comments and ask questions.
Kingsville Council sat in the gallery with members of the community, as senior staff members outlined the pros and cons of purchasing a closed school property.
CAO John Norton explained the three recently closed schools include Kingsville District High School (KDHS) and Kingsville Public School in the urban area, and Jack Miner Public School in the rural location. They were a closed in anticipation of the new K-12 school being open this fall on Jasperson Lane.
During the meeting, it was noted Kingsville began talking about the new school construction and the old school closures many years ago.
When developing this Term of Council’s Strategic Plan last year, Norton said one of the focuses was identified as making the future use of the closed school properties a priority.
Director of Finance, Ryan McLeod, explained the Greater Essex County District School Board (GECDSB) does not intend to hold onto these properties long, and does have to work with the Ministry of Education to do so. They can be put up for sale as early as September, but that could also take place as late as early in the New Year, to his understanding.
“That is a very short window for us to make some decisions,” he said. “If they are surplus and the School [Board] decides to sell them, the question is, does the Town get involved or not?” McLeod asked.
Some of the advantages of not purchasing includes avoiding debt and tax increases, allows the Town to focus on other priorities, potential for a local developer buying the properties and building housing or commercial, or perhaps a private education institution purchasing the facility.
The potential cons of not buying includes having little control over the future of the properties, they can be used as schools without Town input, potentially end up vacant or boarded up, they could be listed or leased for maximum profit, become a private boarding school that is not beneficial to the community, or developers could demolish the potentially useful buildings, such as Migration Hall.
Buying could offer control over the future of the properties, which may result in the Town getting its money back – such as selling to a developer at the same price. The Town could potentially buy, rezone, and then sell to local developers with conditions, sound buildings may be kept for public use, and some of the lands could potentially be kept for future public use.
Potential cons of purchasing include cost being at least at fair market value – as per provincial law, uncertain condition of buildings, costs of demolition or expensive security and maintenance of vacant buildings, it could cost taxpayers significantly, and staff time will be required to oversee the project, which could take away from other priorities.
It was noted during the meeting that the GECDSB has “Building Condition Assessment” engineer reports for each of the facilities, but will not make them available to the Town at this time. It is believed they will be public when the properties are listed for sale.
Another con could be the potential additional cost of demolishing the buildings, Norton added.
“Those are what we think are the pros and cons to buying or not buying,” Norton said. “It really is going to come down to the question – perhaps soon – when Council is going to have to make that decision.”
In speaking about potential costs, Kingsville’s Senior Manager of Capital Projects and Engineering, Tim Del Greco, explained the Town is currently in the process of appraising all three school properties, “just to better understand what those costs could look like” if Kingsville were to buy any of the properties.
He said the Town did receive one appraisal to date, for KDHS, which suggests the value is $2.4M for the facility and property. As the School Board is not allowing access to the facilities at this time, it is challenging to try to properly appraise the property.
He described KDHS being in a prime location, being downtown.
Recent comparable sales include when Leamington bought its high school and an elementary school for $1.7M in 2021. Two-years later, Leamington sold the high school to developers for $1.799M, Del Greco relayed.
In addition, the former Amherstburg high school sold for $3.33M to a developer. It had three-acres.
Though it is difficult to calculate potential demolition costs, and assuming they contain some hazardous materials in the buildings, Del Greco estimated demotion for KDHS could range between $1.5M-$1.9M. The demo of Kingsville Public School could range between $600,000 to $800,000.
In terms of use, all three properties are currently zoned for education, Norton noted.
“That means we can allow things like high schools and elementary schools, as well as colleges, universities, commercial schools, specialized training facilities,” Norton said, adding churches, crematoriums, and mausoleums are also allowed.
Amendments to zoning can be Council-approved, if there is application from the land-owner who has a desire to change the use of the lands. That would be subject to a public process, he noted. It could also be subject to Ontario Land Tribunal appeals, depending on the Council decision.
Any changes also have to align with the Town’s Official Plan, which is a guiding document to land use.
The high school and Kingsville Public School are designated residential in the Official Plan. Jack Miner is designated agriculture. This property would not be eligible for more intense development as there is no sanitary connection.
Should a change be proposed, Norton added, the Town would need to amend the Official Plan.
Norton also shared that in December of 2023, the province changed laws, removing the automatic right-of-sale of a municipality to purchase closed schools before they are listed publicly.
If municipalities want to have first choice to buy, it has to purchase for a provincial priority, such as affordable housing or a long-term care home. To date, it is not known how much of the land must have affordable housing as per the province, Norton said. The federal government’s measure is 10%.
It is also not known if the Town could find developers willing to build affordable units without financial incentives. Norton noted that the province considers “affordable housing” as having a purchase price of a new detached house being $395,200. There are federal grants available, possibly.
Otherwise, municipalities would have to purchase closed schools through an open market competition. Then, the municipality could do what it likes with it. The negative, it may not win that competition, Norton said.
“Council is going to have to make some decisions,” Norton said, that includes whether they try to buy, or not. “It is important to ask ourselves ‘can we afford it?’ That is an important question, because it is going to be expensive.
“An equally important question is, ‘can we not afford it.?’ What is going to happen to these properties if we don’t get involved?” Norton added.
Any formal Council debate, questions, or decisions on this matter are to be made at future Council meeting, for which public notice will be provided.
Members of the public then had nearly two-hours to ask questions and provide comments to Kingsville’s administration.
The discussion will continue on the Town’s online citizen engagement portal, HaveYourSayKingsville.ca with an online project page, which will also provide information.
“This is the beginning of the conversation, it is not the end,” Tara Hewitt, Communications and Public Relations Coordinator, said, urging residents to head online to further engage on the matter.
Public feedback will continue to be collected until the end of August.