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Mayor says high development charges won't curb housing demand Continued from page 4 5 · Thursday, April 8, 2010 OAKVILLE BEAVER · www.oakvillebeaver.com Yearly new home sales for Halton Region (as of Dec. 31, 2009) Region Halton Municipality Burlington Halton Hills Milton Oakville 2006 118 0 103 221 High Rise 2007 2008 122 434 0 0 44 15 160 233 326 682 2009 163 0 127 217 507 2006 899 185 2,156 1,118 4,358 Low Rise 2007 2008 771 251 149 69 1,750 1,520 1,064 437 3,734 2,277 2009 668 146 1,836 692 3,342 2006 1,017 185 2,156 1,221 4,579 Total 2007 2008 893 685 149 69 1,794 1,535 1,224 670 4,060 2,959 2009 831 146 1,963 909 3,849 tions, one that might be more amenable to developers. They returned to council last July asking for approval for a new financing arrangement, this time with a $7,888 perhouse charge rather than the $12,000 staff had previously said the municipality required. The reduced charge was mostly due to the postponement of two major roads projects. The Region agreed to delay the widening of Britannia Road in Milton between Tremaine Road and Mississauga until 2015, two years later than in the original November plan, but years before residential development is expected to reach that far south. The Region also pushed back the widening of Trafalgar Road in Halton Hills between Steeles Avenue and Hwy. 7 to the 2013-2020 timeframe, a few years later than planned. Carr said the Region had no choice but to postpone the Trafalgar project. "They (developers) would have gone to the Ontario Municipal Board because it (the project) had nothing to do with Milton development," he explained. Despite the apparent concessions, the development community lobbied hard for council to drop or modify the charge, busing in hundreds of construction industry workers to regional council chambers. The tactic worked. Halton Total SOURCE: REALNET CANADA INC. After acrimonious debate, a bitterly divided regional council found a compromise. It unanimously endorsed the charge, but only if the residential development industry was given an opportunity to submit its own financing arrangement. The industry took advantage of the offer and returned to staff and council last fall with a suggestion that the $7,888 be included under the Province's Development Charges Act, rather than as a separate charge. The benefit to current developers of that arrangement is they might be able to recoup the money from future developers as long as homebuilding keeps humming along in Halton. With no apparent financial hit or risk to the Region, council agreed. Combined with a stronger economy, the result has been a resurgence in demand to build homes in Halton. However, it hasn't completely alleviated concern about rising development charges and their impact on housing affordability, according to the Canadian Home Builders Association (CHBA). Opinion...................................................6 Travel....................................................19 Health...................................................20 Sports...................................................24 Classified..............................................29 The CHBA recently released the results of a nation-wide survey showing rising costs due to development charges jumped to the top of the list of concerns for new homebuilders in Canada. While about a third of respondents nationwide reported it as a critical problem, almost two-thirds did so in Ontario, the CHBA stated. The association noted some of the highest charges were in Halton, led by Oakville. For each home built in Oakville north of Dundas, for example, a developer has to pay approximately $61,500 -- $30,000 to Halton Region for water and wastewater servicing and regional road construction, along with the $7,888 up-front charge; $2,576 to the two local school boards; and $21,000 to the Town of Oakville for its services such as parks, recreation centres, libraries and local roads. The Town's development charges, about twice what Milton charges for its services, are the subject of an upcoming hearing at the OMB. However, Oakville Mayor Rob Burton, Carr's major ally in the push for the extra $7,888, said the huge demand to build in his town is proof municipal charges on new houses in Halton are nowhere near high enough to drive down demand. Burton said more are actually needed to help pay for things currently not allowed to be collected under the Province's Development Charges Act, including a portion of new hospital construction costs. Development charges are not a tax in the CLIP & SAVE! sense municipalities cannot collect the money as general revenue. The money can only be collected based on a lengthy list of growth-related projects municipalities estimate will be needed to accommodate future population. Consultants compile the projects in background studies, available publicly through municipal websites, to calculate development charges. Not averse to political lobbying himself, Burton said he intends to send Oakville's 2009 development charges background study to every member of the provincial legislature and ask them to point out projects in the list they might feel Oakville doesn't need. CLIP & SAVE FAMILY FREE FAMILY PASS! The Oakville C O UP O N PUT ON YOUR FRIDGE! 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