Residents of Port Colborne will have a chance to weigh in on a proposal to expand the Main Street Business District Community Improvement Plan area when City Hall hosts a public meeting on June 23, 2026. The gathering, set to start at 6:30 p.m. in the third-floor council chambers at 66 Charlotte Street, asks whether a private landholding between 51 Neff Street and 818 King Street should be added to the Main Street Business District Community Improvement Plan area. Adding the property, known as VL Neff Street, would open the door to city grants that back facade fixes, new housing units, and mixed-use rebuilding.
The meeting was initially announced for January 15 but postponed, and the new date lands just a couple of months before a fresh Official Plan is due to wrap up in August 2026. The shift ensures the discussion can happen in sync with Port Colborne’s wider downtown vision. A public notice from the city confirms that anyone wanting to speak remotely or hand in written comments must do so by noon on June 2, 2026, by contacting the deputy clerk at [email protected] or calling 905-228-8063.
The request to expand the boundary comes directly from the owners of the strip between 51 Neff Street and 818 King Street. Their property has not been covered by the improvement plan, which currently focuses on revitalizing commercial and mixed-use buildings in the Main Street district. Approval would make the land eligible for the city’s Comprehensive Community Improvement Plan, a tool council adopted on November 28, 2023, that bundles financial incentives once scattered across six former Community Improvement Plans. Qualifying property owners can tap into facade improvement grants of up to $20,000, residential conversion grants of $15 per square foot to a maximum of $15,000 per new unit, and tax increment grants that redirect 80 percent of a city property tax increase back to the developer for up to 10 years on bigger redevelopment projects.
Economic Development Officer Bram Cotton, reachable at [email protected] or 905-228-8063, is the city contact for questions on the proposal. Under the Comprehensive CIP, incentives also reach beyond shopfront renewal into affordable housing and cleanup of former industrial sites anywhere in Port Colborne’s urban area, a design meant to squeeze more out of existing services while tackling housing gaps. The current council, led by Mayor Bill Steele and comprising eight ward councillors, will weigh community input before making a decision, though the date for any vote has not been laid out.
The June 23 meeting can be attended in person. It will also be live-streamed on the City’s YouTube channel. Those who wish to speak virtually must register via Zoom by the June 2 deadline. More details and the full notice are posted on the city’s website at portcolborne.ca.
