Council discusses development fees, new official plan
Council discusses development fees, new official plan
Changes needed to get in line with Ford government's latest orders
Trent Hills council spent a large chunk of its first meeting of the year dealing with bylaws and regulations it must change to comply with new laws passed by the Ford government.
Council met on Tuesday, Jan. 9 for its regular meeting, part of which also doubled as a public meeting on the issue of development fees, although no one public attended to speak on the topic. But provincial legislation requires a public meeting, so one had to be held in name at least before the new fees are officially approved in February.
In a move it says will spur construction, or at least lower developer costs, the province has changed what projects are not required to pay such fees, which are used to cover general costs for increased use of things like parks and recreation facilities, libraries, and roads. These costs are in addition to normal subdivision costs paid by developers such as internal roads, sidewalks, and streetlights.
A major change limited the fees municipalities can charge fees for new apartments. When announced last spring that change caused an uproar in larger cities including Windsor, Guelph, and Toronto, which faced the loss of millions in fees on new buildings.
“The costs are still there and if you can’t charge development fees they’ll have to be paid by taxpayers,” Mayor Bob Crate said in an interview.
However, the impact of this change is limited in Trent Hills, Crate says, because we don’t have any high-rise construction.
Councillor Daniel Giddings, whose business is in construction largely in other communities, said he’s urged any developers thinking of building apartments to take advantage of this saving.
Residential fees in Trent Hills for properties that qualify will rise about 1 per cent under the new fee schedule in the first year when a municipality can only charge 80 per cent of its full fee. Here that will be $16,790 for a detached home, 80 per cent of $20,988. Over five years the fee will rise to the full amount.
Sean-Michael Stephen, managing partner of consulting firm Watson & Associates Economists Ltd., led council through his analysis of the impact of the changes. He showed that the charges will be in line with those charged by most nearby municipalities.
In mid-2023 the population of Trent Hills was 14,041, living in 6,009 residential units, he said. By 2032 that is forecast to increase by 751 to 14,792, living in 6,612 units, up 513.
The changes to the development charges are to bring municipal bylaws inline with a number of newer laws. Stephen’s report says: “Over the past four years, a number of changes to the Development Charges Act, 1997 have been introduced through various legislation including the following:
More Homes, More Choice Act, 2019 (Bill 108)
Plan to Build Ontario Together Act, 2019 (Bill 138)
COVID-19 Economic Recovery Act, 2020 (Bill 197)
Better for People, Smarter for Business Act, 2020 (Bill 213)
More Homes for Everyone Act, 2022 (Bill 109)
More Homes Built Fast Act, 2022 (Bill 23)
Affordable Homes and Good Jobs Act, 2023 (Bill 134)”
As an aside, as a communications person I love how the PR people have clearly taken control of naming legislation.
Rental units with three bedrooms or more get a 25 per cent discount on their charges, in addition to the reduction over the next five years; two-bedroom units get a 20 per cent discount; and all other rentals get a 15 per cent savings.
In addition to the discussion of development charges, council received a report from Cristal Laanstra, Manager of Planning, about work underway to revise the municipality’s official plan, produced in 2001 just after amalgamation, to bring it into line with provincial requirements.
Laanstra reported that a public survey last April and May received 278 responses.
Major themes among the responses:
Appreciation for existing community features and character, particularly in the rural area
High value placed on natural and outdoor features, parks, the Trent River, open spaces, and trails
Support for Campbellford, Hastings, and Warkworth: small businesses, history, walkability
Concern about meeting housing needs (price, supply, variety)
Awareness of the impact of rural development on existing character (land uses, severances,
Encouraging of economic development, more / better community services, access to food and local businesses
The planning department has prepared four discussion papers that will be posted on its website to encourage more public input before the plan is completed in March.
Noting the official plan reports in the council agenda totalled 109 pages, Deputy Mayor Mike Metcalf said with a smile that Laanstra had provided “a lot of material to go through.”