A company has successfully appealed a development charge upwards of a half-million dollars levied on its new Niagara Falls processing centre — but that wasn’t before getting drawn into a political fracas at Niagara Region headquarters.

Lapennaco Liquidation Super Centres, which has retail outlets in Niagara Falls, St. Catharines and Welland, is constructing a 3,750-square-metre building (40,380 square feet) at 7874 Blackburn Pkwy.

During a special meeting last Thursday, regional councillors acting as a quasi-judicial body to hear a development charge appeal overrode their staff recommendation and reduced Lapennaco’s development charge with interest by more than $337,000.

The final total now aligns with a lower rate initially set by the City of Niagara Falls, which used its definition of

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