OMG. The New Council has ruined everything. Or have they?

When Mr. Marty Chenin declared that he would Never Invest a Dime in this Town Again, people started to talk about development of the waterfront in Sydney. And this is surely almost always a good thing.

Almost always.

The Cape Breton Post published an article titled:

CBRM a challenge to deal with, say Sydney businessmen

(The term “businessmen” seems a bit retro.)

I am not sure that it is useful for the Cape Breton Post to run a story where Mr. Danny Ellis, owner of the Portside restaurant, complains about the council led by Cecil Clarke being unresponsive to the business community. That ship has sailed, no?

Portside. A nice spot to enjoy a cold beer in the summer. 

The Post also interviewed Mr. Ron MacDonald of MacDonald Ford and MacDonald Kia for the story, who had this to say about an uncooperative CBRM when he was renovating his businesses: “At the time, there was a guy who always gave businesses a hard time at the CBRM and put his nose in where it didn't belong. But I’m not naming names and he too is retired.”

(Shhh! I don't want to spill the beans but the photo below may be of the person Mr. MacDonald referenced.) 

So, the logic over at The Post seems to go like this: CBRM Council voted to open up the process around development of the Sydney waterfront because Mr. Chernin’s 18-month exclusivity ended, so we shall interview people who were unhappy with the way the last council, not the current one, supports business.

Oh, and business columnist Mr. Adrian White responded to the Chernin affair by lamenting the fact that developers cannot do whatever they want to in

ADRIAN WHITE: Is CBRM a bad place to do business? #UNIONS STINK.

But this was just to start.

Hi advice to Council - and I quote: “Please don’t embarrass our community further on the national stage with your inexperience. Enough damage has been done to the municipality's public image in the last week and it may take decades to recover from the fallout.”

Whoa. I say grab hold of the reins. You too, Councillor Eldon MacDonald, “To pass on that development, of which I had been a big supporter, is risky, seeing that we only had one response previous to now. But that’s why you do an RFP, to know where things are now compared to where they were three years ago.” 

Cape Breton Island is in a good place. CBRM is too.

Council should take the time to decide what kind of waterfront Sydney needs, and then take the beginning steps to develop it. The strategy should link to our island’s tourism and community strategy. They should  do their homework and ready a new request for proposal (RFP).

You know, this is what transparency looks like. I doubt that calling for new planning ideas when one developer’s exclusivity deal has expired is going to destroy CBRM’s cred with the business community ay home and globally.

The worst thing that Council could do is rush into developing the Sydney waterfront in a way that does not improve our lives and enrich tourist’s experiences. The thing about bad development is that we are stuck with it.

For decades.

Take your time, Council.

I recommend Tom Urbaniak’s article on  this issue. It is sensible and points a way forward.  

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Mandy Ardelli (Roy) Follow Me
Now *that's* the Commerce Tower in the distance of that picture, I believe. And that CBPost article is unbelievable. But not surprising.

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