HARRISTON – Minto council has approved the sale of a parcel of land in the industrial park here to Harriston Home Hardware.
Council passed a bylaw authorizing the sale of a 2.4 acre parcel for $84,000 on July 12.
A staff report from economic and community development director Belinda Wick Graham indicates the owners plan to consolidate two existing downtown operations, Harriston Home Hardware and Harriston Home Hardware Appliance Centre, in a 13,500 square foot building at the new location.
She noted the move will also free up retail space on Elora and Mill Streets, where the stores, owned by John and Patty Mock, are currently located.
“Harriston Home Hardware and the Harriston Home Hardware Appliance Centre are a good employer and a destination retail location which draws customers to the community,” Wick-Graham states in the report.
“By supporting this expansion and sale we will be further enhancing the community by also allowing other downtown businesses to start and expand in much-needed space downtown.”
The sale has been in the works since 2019.
“This is a really long time coming. Belinda and I have been working on this for the past three years,” said director of building and planning services Terry Kuipers .
“It always seemed like it was a simple land sale, but we came across hiccup after hiccup. We ended up having to do a traffic study to justify an entrance (off Highway 9) to MTO.
“So we did that and COVID hit, so that shut down the traffic study. Got that done, everything was looking good, and then suddenly, the MTO retained a … parcel bisecting the property that caught us … off guard.”
The report explains staff discovered an 11.6-inch reserve dissecting the property was still owned by the MTO.
“Discussions with the MTO began immediately and they started their internal review process. In April 2022, staff heard back from the MTO and proceeded to sign an offer to purchase (the parcel) for $1 from the MTO.”
The town plans to sell the land acquired from the MTO to Harriston Home Hardware for $1.
The town’s industrial park development covenants typically require 15 per cent lot coverage, while the proposed building would cover only 12.7%
“However … this property provides many challenges and with the setbacks, location of potential access and truck turning radius it would be very difficult to fit a 15,393 square foot building on this site,” the report notes.
Kuipers pointed out costs to service the lot are already budgeted and the construction will generate about $60,000 in development charges.
“lt’s just a great project finally coming through. It’ll do a lot of stuff for downtown as well,” said Mayor George Bridge.
