Development charges in Centre Wellington are set to drop.
At a public meeting on Sept. 23 Gary Scandlan, of Watson and Associates Economists Ltd., spoke to Centre Wellington council on the recent development charges study update and recommended changes.
In his detailed presentation to council, Scandlan noted the report prepared in late August included recommended fees and those charges were amended following an early September meeting with local developers.
Much of the drop is associated with area-specific charges in urban areas – such as the charges imposed for wastewater and water services.
In urban areas, the fees for single and semi-detached homes could drop from the current charge of $19,190 to $18,248, while the non-urban fees are proposed to drop from $10,288 to $10,076.
For urban non-residential buildings, fees are dropping from $8.84 per square foot to $6.70/ft2; for non-urban buildings in this class, the drop is from $3.63 to $3.19/ft2.
On paper, this drops Centre Wellington’s proposed urban development charges below those of the City of Guelph and those of Guelph-Eramosa (Rockwood).
In the urban commercial category, Centre Wellington’s rates remain below Guelph-Eramosa (Rockwood) but above the other five lower tier municipalities in Wellington County.
However, on the rural side of commercial development charges, the proposed rates would bring Centre Wellington fees below those of the Town of Erin.
Councillor Walt Visser asked if the changes were the result of good planning in the past in Centre Wellington in the areas of water and wastewater costs.
Visser noted Centre Wellington knew about some of its future costs and worked towards the targets.
Scandlan said there were a number of factors involved, but he agreed the municipality had kept on top of its water and wastewater needs and had moved from estimates to actual costs.
“All those factors play into the (proposed) reduction of the charge,” said Scandlan. Wastewater is the key one.”
Scandlan stressed council was not making a decision on the development charges that night.
A decision will be made after a report from staff.
