Community improvement plan program to include Crystal Beach

Original article courtesy of Fort Erie Radio

Changes to the town’s community improvement plan (CIP) program could see a mixture of consolidation and expansion.

A report to council at the Monday council-in-committee meeting recommended merging the existing CIPs into one town-wide plan with specific core areas, while at the same time adding Crystal Beach to the mix.

“By including Crystal Beach as a defined project area…the town can extend revitalization programs to a community that is ready for investment,” said junior community planner Kimberlyn Smith.

Fort Erie’s existing core area CIPs offer “financial incentives, primarily facade, signage, and residential intensification grants, to support building rehabilitation and main street revitalization in the Town’s four downtown cores,” the report said.

While the exact boundaries of the Crystal Beach area are still to be determined–Monday’s report was the first step in a process that’s expected to last well into 2026–it will join the existing core areas of Bridgeburg, Downtown Ridgeway, Downtown Stevensville, and Southend-Riverwalk.

The town’s Crystal Beach secondary plan also identifies a CIP as a top strategic priority, the report said.

The iconic Crystal Beach sign that sits at the entrance of Bay Beach. Credit: Crystal Beach BIA

Councillor Tom Lewis did offer an amendment, which was approved, that called for a “minimum of one third of funds held in reserve for the CIP be earmarked for Crystal Beach for a period of three years following inception.”

There was $640,000 in the CIP reserve fund in early 2025, with council contributing another $40,000 this year.

“Given the strength of the reserve, there is currently no plan to allocate additional operating levy funding for the CIP,” the report said.

With many of the properties in existing CIP areas having used up their applications and being unable to utilize the program for another few years, councillors said focusing on Crystal Beach made sense before making the program truly consolidated.

The report, which reviewed all the town’s incentive programs, also recommended changes to the heritage grants offered to owners of designated properties.

Previously, property owners were required to hire a heritage consultant to ensure their applications and work followed national heritage guidelines.

Instead, staff recommended removing that requirement and having staff work with the applicants to ensure work follows the guidelines.

Smith said many owners of heritage homes have lived there for years and their families for generations and already have the necessary knowledge.

“This approach maintains technical oversight while improving accessibility and will help encourage greater participation in preserving Fort Erie’s built heritage,” she said.

The report otherwise recommends keeping the heritage program in place, and also recommends no changes to the town’s brownfield CIP or the affordable housing CIP, the latter of which was just recently approved.

Staff expect to bring the new draft CIP to council for approval next June or July.