City mulls reinstating development fees for Centretown

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City mulls reinstating development fees for Centretown

Last Updated: Wednesday, October 1, 2008 | 12:51 PM ET Comments0Recommend0
CBC News

Builders who erect new condo towers and other homes in downtown Ottawa may once again be asked to pay the same fees as developers in the suburbs.

New homes built in the Centretown neighbourhood have been exempt from development fees for more than a decade as part of the city's effort to encourage new development and boost urban density in its core. But municipal officials are now holding consultations with stakeholders to determine whether they should end the exemption.

The development charges, which range from $2,443 to $19,991 per residential unit, depending on its size and location, are intended to help the city pay for part of the cost of new infrastructure and the expansion of municipal services to support the growth. The fees are lower in rural and urban areas compared to suburban areas. Commercial and industrial developments pay even lower fees.

Diane Holmes, the councillor for the ward that includes Centretown, said the fee exemption for new downtown homes was introduced at a time when people were reluctant to move into the city from the suburbs.

"The waiving of them has been very helpful," she said, adding that there has been a spurt in downtown development over the past decade. "But I now feel it is no longer necessary to subsidize development."

She added that incentives such as rising gas prices have boosted people's interest in living closer to where they work.

John Herbert, executive director of the Greater Ottawa Homebuilders Association, agrees there is no longer a need to waive the development fee downtown.

He said it's time the playing field was levelled between downtown and suburban developers.

"There is a lot of infrastructure downtown that has to be replaced and I don't think that suburban homebuyers should be the ones financing it," he said Wednesday.

Keep waiver: downtown developer

Doug Casey, president of Charlesfort Developments, disagrees. Casey, who builds condominium towers downtown and is not a member of the homebuilders association, said reinstating the fee runs counter to the city's policy of "smart growth" and increasing downtown density.

He believes development charges downtown would end up subsidizing suburban services.

"There are already services in place [downtown]," he said Wednesday. "We're not putting in new pipe."

Casey added that he faces costs that suburban developers don't. For example, space restrictions force him to pay $24,000 a month in fees to rent the sidewalk during construction of his Hudson Park development at Lisgar and Kent Streets, he said.

This would be a good move in my opinion. The fee waver dates back to a time when no one wanted downtown - now many seem to.

And while downtown appears to already have infrastructure much of it is (over)due for replacement and upgrades. This would help pay for it.

The comments by the guy from Charlesfort just kill me. A couple of grand on the type of condos he is building is not even going to make a noticeable difference in price. And wrt to his comment about the sidewalk: No one is forcing them to build right up against the street. If the builders in the suburbs built right up to the street they would pay. The reason they don't is they leave easements.