At the moment, the city of Revelstoke is in the process of updating the Development Cost Charge Bylaw, significantly increasing the charges to developers.
The bylaw allows the city to charge developers and use the money to assist paying capital costs of installing services such as roads, sewer and water infrastructure, instead of that burden falling strictly on existing tax payers.
At the moment, developers pay around $12,300 per single family dwelling constructed with sanitary sewer. The proposed rates would increase that to around $31,500.
Charges for a multi-family dwelling with sanitary sewer would increase from around $7,500 to around $21,096.
For commercial spaces with sanitary sewer, developers would be charged $213.68 per square metre as opposed to $62.66 per square metre.
For industrial with sanitary sewer, developers would pay almost $450,000 per hectare as opposed to the current nearly $90,000 per hectare.
And for institutional builds (hospitals, schools, municipal buildings), developers would pay $153.38 per square metre as opposed to $69.11 per square metre.
For campgrounds with sanitary sewer developers would pay $4,550 per pad. This charge is not currently applicable.
They have proposed different, and in most cases higher, rates for Area 1, described as Arrow Heights Sewer Trunk Main Area as well as lower rates for Area 2 which does not include water or sewer access.
According to a report put together by Meraki Community Planning and presented at the Committee of the Whole meeting on June 14, calculating the charge is a five step process.
The first step is estimating growth in the city.
The report presents first an aggressive option, which projects a 2.4 per cent growth rate year over year, predicting a population of 17,935 by the year 2040.
The second option is a growth rate of 1.02 per cent, with a prediction of 11,273 people living in Revelstoke in 2040.
The second step in the process is to review city planning documents to determine upcoming projects.
Between water upgrades, parks, transportation and sanitary projects, Meraki estimated a total recoverable cost of $15, 442 per new resident.
The next step in the process is stakeholder engagement, which is currently ongoing.
On May 12, city staff hosted an information booth. On May 16 and June 21 there were stakeholder workshops.
According to the presentation at the Committee of the Whole, the themes addressed at the stakeholder meetings included understanding the proposed simplification of categories around single and multi-family housing as well as the simplified Development Cost Charge Areas.
It also outlines that the original growth rate proposed in the bylaw was too aggressive and that is has been revised based on community input and that it is scheduled to be reviewed every five years.
According to the presentation, stakeholders were also made aware that developers building not-for-profit affordable rental housing would receive a 100 per cent discount.
The next step in the process is to determine the Municipal Assist Factor.
According to the presentation many cities use the minimum one per cent assist factor to lessen the burden on taxpayers.
The last step in the process is to calculate the Development Cost Charge rates.
After the community engagement process, the proposed bylaw update goes to the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing for a preliminary review and then to city council.
The province requires that municipalities regularly update the Development Cost Charge Bylaw. In Revelstoke, the bylaw has not been updated since 2005.
