Development charges put on hold by county council

Essex County Civic Centre.

Essex County is putting a hold on its proposed development charges.

Director of financial services/treasurer Melissa Ryan brought forth a report during last Wednesday night’s meeting that noted that information from the Province of Ontario’s proposed Bill 60 adds new information for the county to consider.

County council will wait for more information including that coming from Henson Consulting who will be doing further investigation on behalf of the county.

“The deferral reflects legislative developments and consultant advice,” said Ryan.

Bill 60 - Fighting Delays, Building Faster Act - is aimed at speeding up the construction of new homes and the necessary infrastructure.

Ryan’s report to council noted that as part of the proposed bill, certain lands included in development charges schedule, particularly for roads, may need to be reviewed which would lower development charges rates.

The county was expected to pass the new charges, the first ever, last week but it is being deferred until January.

“Administration concluded that proceeding with final consideration at this time could result in a by-law that may require alignments shortly after adoption,” said Ryan.

The past several months has seen a lot of discussion about the proposed county development charges, which, if passed, would add another nearly $13,000 to a new single-family dwelling build as well as apartments, town houses and industrial builds.

At a recent county council meeting, representatives from the Windsor-Essex Home Builders Association said that they were against the county charges.

However, the majority of councillors feel that with the predicted future growth in population, that growth needs to pay for growth.

Each municipality sets its own local development charges. 

As part of last week’s deferral, it was decided to dip into the reserves up to $5,000 to pay additional consulting fees.

Development charges put on hold by county council

By Fred Groves