The town of Oakville announced yesterday, July 14, that "Following public review and input, Oakville town council has approved the new Development Charges By-law 2022-068."
This "important by-law" outlines how the town collects fees from property developers for building new community infrastructure such as roads, transit network, recreation centres and libraries, parks, and fire stations.
Development charges are collected when the town issues building permits to developers for residential, commercial, and industrial construction. The town says as they, "grow through population and jobs, additional land and infrastructure is needed to continue delivering quality services."
The town utilizes three major financial tools to "recover these costs from development and minimize the impact on existing taxpayers":
- Development Charges (DC)
- Community Benefits Charges (CBC)
- Parkland Dedication.
The DC by-law is the first to be updated earlier this year. The CBC by-law (a new charge collected from high-density development of five or more storeys with ten or more units, and used towards new municipal parking, public art and cultural entertainment spaces) and Parkland Dedication by-law will be presented to Council for review and approval in the coming weeks.
The DC by-law is updated, according to Oakville town staff, "at least every five years." The current DC by-law was set to expire in February 2023. The DC Study was posted on the town website for public comment back in May 2022 and was passed by council this past Tuesday, July 12.
The town began working on the DC study in 2021 based on projected population growth to the year 2031 and the infrastructure required to maintain service levels. As growth forecasts beyond 2031 are still being finalized, this is, "a technical update to the DC Background Study to ensure DCs are collected appropriately to pay for the land and infrastructure needed to support growth in the near term."
"We have to maximize development charge collection to ensure that growth pays for growth," said Mayor Rob Burton today, "in order to minimize the financial impact on existing residents and provide residents with access to high quality services and amenities in their neighbourhoods."
"As new developments take shape, the fees collected from developers will help build complete communities that are well connected by roads, highways, transit, fire stations, recreation centres, parks trails and other facilities."
A full update to the DC Background Study that extends beyond 2031 will take place "in a few years," when new population forecasts and new service area master plans are completed.
Full details about this new by-law are available on Oakville's website.