Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., city council votes to dissolve downtown business group

Martha Dillman · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 08, 2025 10:50 AM EDT | Last Updated: 7 hours ago

City assembly successful Sault Ste. Marie has voted to dissolve the downtown concern radical and person it tally by the city.

Last fall, councillors passed a question to person a person look astatine the downtown radical and who should beryllium moving it. The question stated the downtown group, known arsenic the concern betterment country oregon BIA, was established successful 1976 erstwhile Queen Street was the large commercialized territory successful the community. It adds since then, commercialized enactment has expanded passim the metropolis beyond the downtown.

A study presented to assembly connected Monday presented 3 options: the downtown radical enactment arsenic is, that the metropolis instrumentality it implicit oregon person the metropolis instrumentality power and found a concern advisory committee.

The study besides highlighted different Ontario communities that person dissolved their downtown groups, including Oshawa and Wawa.

Nicholas Luck, the enforcement manager of the downtown group, said helium disagreed with the city's plan.

"This study is incomplete and not inclusive arsenic it does not align with the originating solution of metropolis unit to analyse and comparison different communities for downtown activation, promotion and selling and study to council, which is the champion absorption to execute this," helium said.

"We consciousness that the engagement process with the BIA was not thorough oregon inclusive to members of the BIA."

Luck alternatively projected a 4th option: make a hybrid exemplary "in which determination is simply a minimum and maximum levy for members of the concern betterment country that recovered importantly trim the appraisal and fiscal publication from each subordinate and the municipality would money the remaining operating budget."

Luck added helium believes the radical should get much enactment and not beryllium rolled successful to a metropolis department.

"By dissolving the BIA, you volition yet diminish its strength, adjacent done a transitional play to a caller model," helium said. "This should beryllium a clip of strengthening the BIA, not removing it."

'Need to bash thing different'

Coun. Sandra Hollingsworth pointed retired that portion immoderate communities are getting escaped of their downtown groups, others person many, including Toronto which has 85. She said the downtown radical successful Sault Ste. Marie already has established partnerships with section businesses.

"There's truthful galore times erstwhile authorities feels that it's clip to instrumentality implicit and they person the answers. I disagree," she said. 

"As a municipality, we request to support connected focusing connected the halfway reasons of municipality exists: roads, infrastructure and truthful forth."

Coun. Corey Gardi said the eventual extremity is to amended the downtown halfway and the metropolis arsenic a whole.

"The past 40 years of downtown didn't work, successful my opinion. And we request to bash thing different," helium said.

"I appreciated the pugnacious feelings this whitethorn person for some. To the nationalist astatine large, I would accidental they astir apt won't announcement a heck of a batch of quality moving guardant arsenic to who is overseeing things."

Mayor Matthew Shoemaker, who enactment guardant the motion, said it's clip for change.

"The way of slightest resistance, successful my view, is to let the Downtown Association to proceed doing what it is doing and to proceed achieving the aforesaid results we are presently seeing, which are insufficient successful my view," helium said.

"If the downtown is simply a assemblage priority, which I judge it is and I deliberation this assembly believes it is, and I deliberation astir of you who are present judge it is, past it should beryllium funded by the assemblage and not a fewer 100 businesses."

Council yet voted to bring the group's enactment nether the city. Hollingsworth was the lone ballot against the motion.