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Exhibit A City of Kingston Employment Land Strategy Review In Association with: Dillon Consulting Limited March 11, 2015 Exhibit A Contents Page Executive Summary (i) 1. Introduction 1-1 1.1 Terms of Reference 1-1 1.2 What are Industrial Lands? 1-2 1.3 Why are Industrial Lands Important? 1-2 2. Macro-Economic Trends Influencing Industrial Land Development 2-1 2.1 Macro-Economic Trends 2-1 2.1.1 Ontario Economic Outlook 2-1 2.1.2 Shift in the Provincial Economic Structure 2-2 2.2 Evolving Nature of Industrial Lands 2-3 2.3 Observations 2-4 3. Regional Competitiveness Analysis 3-1 3.1 Kingston’s Key Attributes 3-1 3.2 Municipal Comparative Analysis 3-2 3.2.1 Supply of Vacant Industrial Lands 3-2 3.2.2 Cost of Development 3-4 3.3 Observations 3-9 4. Kingston’s Economic Structure and Profile of Industrial Lands 4-1 4.1 Kingston’s Economic Structure 4-1 4.1.1 Employment Growth Trends 4-1 4.1.2 Industry Clusters in Kingston 4-3 4.1.3 Business Growth by Sector, 2007-2012 4-4 4.2 Industrial Lands Profile 4-5 4.2.1 Industrial Lands Overview 4-5 4.2.2 Official Plan Designations 4-5 4.2.3 Urban Industrial Lands Employment Structure 4-7 4.2.4 Rural Industrial Lands 4-9 4.2.5 Overview of Kingston Industrial/Business Park Areas 4-10 4.2.6 Industrial Lands Employment Density and Building F.S.I. 4-17 4.2.7 Trends in Development Activity on Industrial Lands 4-18 4.2.8 City of Kingston Industrial Land Sales 4-25 4.2.9 Vacant Industrial Floor Space 4-27 4.3 Observations 4-28 5. City of Kingston Urban Industrial Land Supply 5-1 5.1 Vacant Urban Industrial Lands Analysis 5-1 5.2 Vacant Industrial Land Characteristics 5-6 5.2.1 Industrial Lands Designation 5-6 5.2.2 Serviced Shovel-Ready Lands 5-9 5.3 Market Choice Requirements 5-10 6. City of Kingston Forecast Employment Growth and Urban Industrial Land Needs 6-1 6.1 Long-Term Employment Forecast 6-1 6.2 Industrial Land Needs Forecast Approach 6-6 Watson & Associates Economists Ltd. H:\Kingston\Industrial Lands Strategy\Final Report\Kingston Employment Land Strategy Review Report -Final.doc x Exhibit A 6.3 Employment on Industrial Lands 6-7 6.4 Industrial Land Demand 6-10 6.5 Industrial Land Needs 6-11 6.6 Industrial Land Needs by Land Type 6-12 6.7 The City’s Industrial Land Needs 6-16 6.8 Urban Residential and Commercial Land Needs 6-18 6.9 Observations 6-19 7. Policy Context 7-1 7.1 Provincial Policy Context 7-1 7.2 Municipal Policy Context 7-5 7.3 Other Relevant Planning/Economic Studies 7-10 7.3.1 Urban Growth Strategy 7-10 7.3.2 Kingston’s Strategic Plan, 2011-2014 7-10 7.3.3 K.E.D.C.O. Strategic Plan “Kingston 2020” 7-11 7.3.4 Kingston Norman Rogers Airport 2007 Master Plan 7-11 7.3.5 Kingston Airport Expansion Studies 7-12 7.3.6 City of Kingston Transportation Master Plan 7-13 8. Assessment of Kingston’s Industrial Areas 8-1 8.1 General Characteristics of Industrial/Business Parks 8-1 8.2 Potential to Accommodate Development within Industrial Areas 8-3 8.2.1 Market Choice and Quality of Vacant Industrial Lands by Industrial Area 8-3 8.2.2 Intensification Potential of Underutilized Industrial Lands 8-4 8.3 Industrial Areas S.W.O.C. Analysis 8-11 8.4 Industry Sector Requirements 8-17 8.5 Assessment of Competitiveness and Investment Readiness of Industrial Areas 8-18 8.6 Conclusions 8-32 9. Proposed Conversion of Designated Industrial Lands 9-1 9.1 Context for Industrial Lands Conversions 9-1 9.2 Candidates for Conversion 9-1 9.3 Evaluation 9-4 9.4 Sites Recommended for Conversion Based on Evaluation 9-22 9.5 Potential Conversions to Industrial Designation 9-25 9.6 Industrial Land Supply Adjusted for Conversions 9-26 9.7 Industrial Land Needs Analysis Based on Recommended Conversions 9-27 9.8 Review of City’s Official Plan Evaluation of Conversions Framework 9-28 10. The City’s Future Role in Industrial Land Development 10-1 10.1 Municipal Trends in Industrial Land Development 10-1 10.2 Evaluation of Industrial Land Development Approaches in Kingston 10-3 10.3 Public-Private Partnerships 10-4 10.4 Conclusions 10-4 11. Accommodating Forecast Growth on Industrial Lands 11-1 11.1 Accommodating Future Growth within New Industrial Areas 11-1 11.1.1 Currently Available Serviced Shovel-ready Supply 11-1 Watson & Associates Economists Ltd. H:\Kingston\Industrial Lands Strategy\Final Report\Kingston Employment Land Strategy Review Report -Final.doc x Exhibit A 11.1.2 Expansion of Medium-term Land Supply (5-10 years) 11-3 11.1.3 Long-term Land Supply (10+ years) 11-5 11.2 Redevelopment of Industrial Lands 11-6 12. Policy and Zoning Evaluation 12-1 12.1 Introduction 12-1 12.2 Kingston’s Policy Competitiveness with Other Highway 401 Municipalities 12-1 12.2.1 Competitiveness of Official Plan Policies 12-2 12.2.2 Competitiveness of Zoning By-law Provisions 12-5 12.3 Trends and Specific Issues: Policy Analysis and Discussion 12-15 12.3.1 Best Practice: Improving the Environment for Employees 12-15 12.3.2 Balancing Office Space in Employment Lands versus the Central Business District 12-17 12.3.3 Strengthening Commercial and Complementary Land Use Policy for Employment Areas 12-19 12.3.4 Pro-Actively Clustering Rural Industrial Development 12-21 12.3.5 Clarification of the Eco-Friendly Policy 12-22 12.3.6 Clarification of Permitted but Conflicting Land Uses 12-23 12.3.7 Keeping Pace: The Brownfield Community Improvement Plan 12-24 12.3.8 Guiding the Transition: A Policy Framework for Conversion to Non-Industrial Uses 12-24 12.4 Summary of Recommendations 12-25 13. Marketing Strategy Outline for the City’s Industrial Lands 13-1 13.1 Key Elements of Marketing Strategy 13-1 13.2 Marketing Best Practices 13-2 14. Recommendations 14-1 Appendix A – Key Findings of Stakeholder Consultation A-1 Appendix B – Written Submissions Through Public Consultation B-1 Appendix C – Industrial Land Inventory C-1 Appendix D – Policy and Zoning Evaluation D-1 Appendix E – Zoning By-law Comparison of Permitted Land Uses E-1 Appendix F – Zoning By-law Comparison Matrix F-1 Watson & Associates Economists Ltd. H:\Kingston\Industrial Lands Strategy\Final Report\Kingston Employment Land Strategy Review Report -Final.doc x Exhibit A List of Acronyms and Abbreviations C.N. Canadian National E.A. Environmental Assessment E.L.R. Employment Land Strategy Review F.S.I. Floor Space Index G.D.P. Gross Domestic Product G.F.A. Gross Floor Area G.I.S. Geographic Information System G.T.A. Greater Toronto Area Ha Hectare I.C.I. Industrial, Commercial, Institutional K.E.D.C.O. Kingston Economic Development Corporation K.T.M.P. Kingston Transportation Master Plan L.Q. Location Quotients N.A.I.C. North American Industrial Classification O.P. Official Plan P.P.S. Provincial Policy Statement R. & D. Research and Development Sq.ft. Square foot S.W.O.C. Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Challenges U.S. United States Watson & Associates Economists Ltd. H:\Kingston\Industrial Lands Strategy\Final Report\Kingston Employment Land Strategy Review Report -Final.doc x Exhibit A Page (i) Executive Summary The City of Kingston retained Watson & Associates Economists Ltd. in association with Dillon Consulting Limited, hereafter referred to as the Consultant Team, to prepare an Employment Land Strategy Review (E.L.R.). The E.L.R. was developed under the provincial framework and represents a key component of the City’s comprehensive review exercise with respect to the expansion of settlement area boundaries and/or the conversion of employment lands. The purpose of developing an E.L.R. is to create a long-term vision and plan for future industrial (employment) lands within the City of Kingston, in keeping with the provincial policy direction provided under the Provincial Policy Statement 2014 (P.P.S.) and the City’s Official Plan (O.P.). A primary objective of the E.L.R. is to ensure that Kingston continues to develop as a competitive, well-balanced and sustainable community. The E.L.R. also supports the City’s economic development objectives to ensure that Kingston is competitive with respect to future business retention and attraction in the community. The study also represents a critical background document to the City’s Official Plan (O.P.) review process. Integral to this analysis for the City of Kingston is an assessment of how employment growth in Kingston will be planned, phased and accommodated in its industrial areas. This analysis is critical to guiding the timing and quantum of future land needs, hard and soft infrastructure requirements and municipal finance impacts associated with new development. The following provides an overview of key study findings: Economic Trends and Influence on Industrial Lands The macro economy has experienced significant volatility in the past decade, including a period of strong economic growth followed by an economic recession and subsequent modest recovery. Recent trends suggest a strengthening outlook for the national and provincial economies with regard to economic output or gross domestic product. However, the past decade has been a period of considerable change for the Ontario economy.