Developers could soon be paying more for the privilege of building in Squamish.
The increase would be thanks in part to proposed amendments to the Development Cost Charges (DCC) bylaw that was forwarded to council from the Committee of the Whole meeting at municipal hall Monday night.
The proposed DCC bylaw came before the committee as part of dealing with the Squamish Oceanfront Lands conditions of sale.
Although the DCCs are community-wide, the bylaw has to be dealt with prior to the close of the sale of the Oceanfront land, which is set for late spring.
DCCs are one-time fees that help municipalities to recover the cost of off-site infrastructure that is needed specifically for growth.
Such needs would include upgrades to the water and sewer system, major road networks and drainage, and parks, according to district staff.
Upgrades or replacement to the existing infrastructure serving the existing population are not paid by DCCs.
The proposed DCC bylaw would see a substantial increase for some types of future developments in Squamish.
It was the fact that a portion of the increases would go to reimbursing the Oceanfront developer, Newport Beach Developments Limited, that got a couple of the developers on hand Monday upset.
Dave Ransier of Target Homes said the proposed distribution plan for the DCC funds favoured repayment of the Oceanfront developer over needs in other parts of Squamish.
“We understand that there are only two ways for the community to raise money – one is through property taxes, the other one is through fees charged on new developments – and we are happy to contribute to that part of the requirement, but we do want to make sure that those funds are spread equitably across the community,” said Ransier. “With the amount of money that is going to reimburse the SODC lands… is this really equitable?”
Jenni Chancey, who spoke on behalf of Newport Beach Developments, said that the amount of the increases potentially diverted to the Oceanfront lands is fair.
“The total budget is about $120 million [for the district capital plan] of that the front ender for the Oceanfront is about $38 million, just around 30 per cent. Not the entire fund, by any stretch. In terms of growth for the community, you are anticipating about 15,000 [more] people, and just over 6,000 of those are projected to come from Oceanfront and downtown development, which is just about 30 per cent,” she said. “In terms of growth predicted for the Oceanfront and projects downtown, and projects that will help fund development in the downtown, which is the priority, the numbers are completely reasonable, and completely in line and based on priority projects from the district.”
The district hasn’t changed its DCC rates in 10 years, according to district staff.
If passed, developers would see an increase of 27 percent on the charge for a single-family home, an 11 per cent increase for commercial builds and an 85 per cent increase for industrial developments.
Some charges would go down with the new bylaw. For townhouse builds, developers would pay about two per cent less, apartments would be eight per cent less and institutional builds would be 18 per cent less.
The exact amounts vary depending on the type of development, but put Squamish’s charges more in line with Whistler and other surrounding communities, according to a report presented to council Monday night.
Also, council directed staff to add an additional land use designation of “Residential Single Family – Small Lot” to the DCC tariff, which will change the math slightly.
If passed, the DCC increases would be mitigated by a minimum of a one percent “assist,” which increases the amount the community will need to fund when the projects are constructed.
The proposed DCC bylaw amendment would not cover the recommended $23.4 million north-south downtown connector route for commercial vehicles.
Another DCC bylaw amendment option was considered at the meeting that would have included the connector, and made the DCC increases higher, but that option was voted down.
The DCC bylaw is set to come before council for consideration and adoption next month.
