City program aimed at crime prevention

By Al Beeber - Lethbridge Herald on December 7, 2022.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDabeeber@lethbridgeherald.com

Initiatives and grants to help revitalize the downtown core was the focus of a talk at Casa Tuesday by the City’s Urban Revitalization manager Andrew Malcolm.
Malcolm gave a sparse audience a look at revitalization efforts in downtown with much of his talk focusing on the Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design program.
This program, which was recently extended by city council in the 2023-24 budget with $50,000 annual funding, is aimed at supporting businesses in the downtown core that are dealing with costs due to increasing amounts of loitering, vandalism, and theft.
CPTED provides 50 per cent matching funds up to a maximum of $5,000 for improvements. Eligible costs include, but aren’t limited to, lighting, fences, security systems and other improvements.
CPTED, the audience was told, is a “multi-disciplinary approach of crime prevention that uses urban and architectural design and the management of built and natural environments.”
It includes strategies aimed at deterring “offender decisions that precede criminal acts and build a sense of community among inhabitants so they can gain territorial control of areas, reduce crime and minimize fear of crime.”
The new money means CPTED will be able to support a minimum of 48 new projects, Malcolm said.
Projects must be for commercial tenants who have an active City of Lethbridge business licence. Retroactive funding is not permitted.
Malcolm also addressed other initiatives including the Urban Core Housing program that offered per-unit incentives of $12,000 for mixed-use and $7,000 for residential development up to 24 units “for the development of new attractive self-contained market-rate dwelling units within the urban core.”
Malcolm said seven projects have been completed downtown encompassing 24 residential units with $780,000 in grant funding paid out.
Four more projects have been approved with construction pending. These will include 56 residential units with a total of $1,278,000 in grant funding to be disbursed.
Malcolm also addressed the Targeted Redevelopment Incentive Program which was a tax-based incentive for targeted redevelopment projects with a minimum construction value of $500,000 “that reduces the effect of an increase in municipal taxes attributable to the differential between pre-construction and post-construction assessment.” This program had 11 approved projects with nine in downtown Lethbridge and two in the Warehouse District.
Estimated construction value is $23.5 million. There will be an estimated $5.3 million net increase in municipal taxes from the redeveloped properties over 20 years.

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