A local
homebuilder is suing the city for
$125,000, claiming he is due tax
credits for turning a brownfield
site into a housing project.
Mike
Quattrociocchi, president of
Mayberry Homes, and his wife,
Michelle, who runs 1498745 Ontario
Ltd., have filed the lawsuit.
In their
statement of claim, they contend the
city declined to extend all the
credits they are due under a
brownfield tax incentive program,
after they remediated an old railway
property on Grand River Avenue,
across from Jarvis Street, more than
a year ago.
They say city
officials gave them wrong
information when they purchased the
land, on the belief that they would
be eligible for credits, which would
make the project feasible.
Allegations in
the statement of claim have not been
proved in court.
The
Quattrociocchis say they lost money
when they finished the work and were
la ter told they weren't eligible.
"The (city) was
reckless and negligent," the
statement says, because it "owed a
duty of care to provide the correct
information."
Mike
Quattrociocchi said in an interview
that filing the lawsuit was a last
resor t after talks with staff
failed to fix the problem.
"It's the only
alternative the city has left me,"
he said.
City manager John
Brown said the city has no comment.
"We can't comment
on any matter that is before the
courts," he said.
The suit concerns
part of the commonly known Dwyer lands,
owned by Christine Dwyer, which was on
the city's list of designated brownfield
sites.
According to the family's business
arrangements, it was purchased in
sections by Michelle Quattrociocchi's
numbered company in 2007 and 2008, then
Mike Quattrociocchi and Mayberry, as
agent, cleaned up each block and
constructed a line of houses.
The Quattrociocchis applied for and
received $36,000 in credits for the
first phase of the project.
Just before they acquired the second
section, the statement says, they
consulted city officials and received
confirmation that they were eligible for
credits again.
The statement says that, at first, city
officials were "unsure if the credits
would apply to the abundance of concrete
found on the property." But later
confirmed that the creditis would apply.
After performing the remedial work, the
Quattrociocchis applied for credits and
sent in their receipts. But in November
2008, they received notification that
the second phase wasn't eligible because
it did not qualify as a "contaminated
site."
Consequently, the statement says the
Quattrociocchis experienced damages of
$112,000.
"The plaintiffs would not have purchased
the lands at the contracted price had
they not been advised that the lands
were eligible for brownfield credits,"
the statement says.
The lawsuit is the latest twist in
Quattrociocchi's controversial housing
project on Grand River Avenue.
The property was the site of Six Nations
land protests last year.
Each phase of development also was
opposed by local residents and a
grassroots group called Keep Our River
Public, which is fighting for open space
to be preserved along the Grand River.
Quattrociocchi and Dwyer have offered to
sell the city parts that still haven't
been developed.
Recently, they offered to swap portions
that have not been developed for
city-owned property near Wayne Gretzky
Parkway and Henry Street.
City officials are collecting appraisals
for both parcels, for a report to be
presented to council soon.
