Municipal officials are going to take a closer look at recently approved municipal development charges.
Six appeals have been filed since the bylaw was given council approval just over a month ago and Ward Six councillor Michael Bondy is asking for a review.
“The intention of the motion is for administration to reengage the builders and developers, the six different appellants that have appealed this, and what I’m hoping for is that we can, within our own community, come to a conclusion between the six appellants and the municipality and avoid the appeals process, which is costly and probably a little ugly.”
Many around the virtual council table said in retrospect, more consultation and stakeholder engagement should have taken place before the charges were put into place.
Chief Administrative Officer Michael Duben says they’ll do what they can.
“I can give the assurance that we will reach out to the appellants and have that discussion, but we can’t give any assurances that the appellants will talk to us,” Duben explains. “Once the appeal is filed, the process is underway, so they may choose not to speak to us except in the context of the actual appeal process. One way or another there will be discussions between us and the appellants, there’s always an opportunity to discuss settlement, if the parties are willing to do so.”
Council approved the development charges in a bid to help ease the tax burden on existing taxpayers. However, the charges are estimated to cost developers more than $17,000 extra in fees for a single detached home at the time a building permit is issued.
The bylaw remains in place for now, but should it be repealed or changed, developers would be refunded if necessary.