Planning fees going up
Nicole Macintyre
The Hamilton Spectator
http://www.thespec.com/News/Local/article/503811
The city is moving to increase its planning fees after councillors bypassed an "economic stimulus" option that would have given developers a temporary break.
Hamilton can no longer allow taxpayers to heavily subsidize its growth, said Councillor Brad Clark.
The city has been undercharging for its development and engineering fees based on the amount of work required by city staff, a consultant told the planning committee yesterday.
To get closer to cost recovery, the consultant recommended immediately doubling and tripling many of the fees. For example, the cost of a zoning application would jump from $2,870 to $5,585.
In total, the fee increases would generate nearly $500,000 in extra revenue a year.
The planning committee endorsed the increases despite pleas from developers, who said it couldn't come at a worse time.
The decision must still go to council.
"If it was 2007, I wouldn't be here begging," said Steve Spicer, president of the Hamilton-Halton Home Builders' Association.
There are builders in the city who haven't had a sale since November, he said in support of a fee freeze.
The increased fees will add an extra $300 to $400 to the price of a new home, Spicer said.
Staff offered councillors several options, including postponing the increase or phasing it in. There was also an economic stimulus opportunity where developers would be rebated the increased fees if their project started in the next year.
But Clark said it will never be the "right" time to increase fees because developers will always complain.
"It's the nature of the beast. They know. We know it."
Hamilton is behind in its infrastructure renewal because it hasn't been properly charging for new growth, Clark argued.
Even with the increase, Hamilton still won't recover all its planning costs, explained Tim McCabe, general manager of planning and economic development.
"We're trying to catch up."
Councillor David Mitchell was the lone vote against increasing the fees immediately. He wondered if the city has tried to find efficiencies or considered the economic spinoffs that come from development.
"Putting up the fees is way too easy."
The city is completing an operational review of its planning department.
Spicer argues the review should have been completed before the city changed its fees.
The city is also planning to raise its development charges and reviewing its park dedication fees.
At a planning meeting last week, Carlo Di Gioacchino of Dundurn Capital Partners told councillors the city's fees for parkland dedication are stopping his plans to build a condo on the old Thistle Club site in the Durand neighbourhood.
The city charges a fee for every development to fund new parks.
If the Thistle project were in Burlington instead of Hamilton, Di Gioacchino said, he would pay half the parkland fee per condo but get nearly twice as much profit because of the market.
The fees, he said, signal "Hamilton is not open for business."
Councillor Bob Bratina said the city needs to address the cost for large projects.
"It does seem like a show stopper."
The parkland issue will be debated Tuesday at the next planning meeting.
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