The following article appeared in the October 29 edition of the Ontarion:
Ray Mitchell is working less than he did when he was operating the Family Thrift Store. The owner of Dis-a-Ray, an antique store sandwiched between the Cornerstone and Ouderkirk and Taylor on Wyndham St., did say his new business was also doing quite well, however.
But other than being proud of turning things around after being evicted from the space he used to operate the Family Thrift Store out of, Mitchell finds little solace in being forced out of a building that served a unique cross-section of the Guelph community for 16 years. For him, it wasn’t about the money.
What leaves a particularly nasty taste in both his and his former landlord’s mouth is that the City of Guelph has yet to act on their intentions to buy the series of buildings on Wyndham St., including the one that Mitchell’s store operated out of.
“You can’t schedule a project when you don’t have the money,” said Mitchell at his downtown store.
In early 2008, it was revealed that the City of Guelph was considering buying a series of buildings for the Baker Street redevelopment project, including the one that the Family Thrift Store operated out of. The project included a new main library branch, parkade and residential element. The development was planned to front on to Wyndham Street, requiring that those buildings be demolished.
In March of this year, Mitchell was evicted from his store after failing to reach a lease agreement with his landlord, Milan Lesic. According to a Guelph Mecury article from September, the City told Lesic to pursue nothing more than a six-month lease agreement with Mitchell because the City had the intentions of buying the building; Mitchell on the other hand wanted a three to five year lease.
“I can’t speak specifically to Milans’s building because I’m not privy to that information and even if I was I would probably not be able to legally talk about it,” said Ian Findlay, a downtown city councilor.
Mayor Karen Farbridge would not speculate on whether a conversation between City staff and Lesic took place regarding his lease situation.
But with the City facing a possible budget deficit this year, some city councilors are now speculating that the library project could be further delayed.
“The staff has presented their five-year capital plan for council’s consideration and in that five year plan the Baker Street development with that library is not included,” Findlay told the Onatrion. “So city council will be considering that when we do our budget deliberation in December. So we will finalize what is and what isn’t in that budget. But it is only staff’s recommendation. ”
Lesic, who pays $27,000 annually in property taxes, is still uncertain about his future.
“I can’t get anyone in here,” he said. “No one wants to come if they [the city] can expropriate.”
Mitchell has his own frustrations with the City. He said the City promised to help him relocate when he gave up his Wyndham St. business.
“They claimed they wanted me downtown, that they would help me. It’s just weasel words. What does that mean ‘promise me to help,'” Mitchell said. “They did nothing. So now morally they should do what they told me they would.”
The City sees it differently.
“The assistance we were offering at that time was to find another suitable location in the downtown,” said Farbridge. “It was not in respect to moving costs. The assistance would have transpired through the city’s negotiations with it acquiring the property. Because his landlord evicted him in a couple weeks, it took away any opportunity to assist him.”
Farbridge points to this past Monday’s recent accusation of a property on Wyndham St. as evidence that the city is still moving forward with their redevelopment plans.
“The Baker street redevelopment along with some other high profile projects have been removed from City plans,” she said. “That doesn’t mean they’re axed as projects or not council’s top priority. It means getting the project to a point of readiness to be able to go out to seek additional funding to move forward with the development.”
Farbridge also said that Lesic is free to pursue any lease agreement that he chooses.