Tax breaks for NorthPoint’s Canal Winchester expansion await August council vote
Canal Winchester City Council could approve tax agreements for a controversial warehouse project when it returns from its summer recess in August.
A NorthPoint Development Inc. representative said its multimillion-dollar expansion at Bixby and Rager roads, known as the second phase of Canal Crossing, could generate nearly $450,000 annually to Canal Winchester and Groveport Madison school districts over the course of a 100% real-estate tax abatement for 15 years.
The school compensation agreements, which also need approval from the districts’ boards of education, specify that NorthPoint would pay 20 cents per square foot of building in lieu of lost real-estate tax revenue.
“This also proposes (the city) sharing 25% of the income taxes that come in with these properties with the school districts,” city development director Lucas Haire told council July 5.
By 2025, each warehouse is expected to add 175 jobs, with payrolls of roughly $6.7 million each.
More: City Council OKs rezoning for warehouses in third phase of Canal Crossing
“That would be committed to by year three, so it allows these buildings to have a period where they get up to full occupancy to meet that commitment,” Haire said. “That would be monitored annually through the tax-incentive review council process.”
According to the proposed agreement, Canal Winchester Schools would receive, at minimum over the next 15 years, more than $280,000 in tax revenue. Groveport Madison Schools would receive more than $166,000.
The compensation agreements and a community-reinvestment-area agreement received the first of three readings on July 5.
Also included is a “community-benefit agreement” totaling $1.5 million, which could be used for “public purposes” at the city’s discretion.
NorthPoint’s project moved forward in May, when council, for the second time, rezoned 70 acres owned by Teresa and Dale Schacht.
The emergency ordinance ensured the land would remain in Canal Winchester after a citizens group opposed to the warehouses secured enough signatures on petitions for a November referendum vote on a previous rezoning approval.
The second rezoning was a setback for the citizens group CW for Smart Growth-No More Warehouses! The referendum would have let voters decide if council’s January decision to rezone the property would stand.
Because the second rezoning was passed as an emergency measure, it was not subject to a referendum, according to the city’s legal advisers.
The Schachts were prepared to pursue an annexation agreement with Columbus had the referendum proceeded.
The family’s pre-annexation agreement with Canal Winchester permitted the Schachts to detach from the city if zoning approvals were the subject of a referendum.
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This article originally appeared on ThisWeek: Tax deals for NorthPoint’s Canal Winchester expansion await August vote
