Evidence of Squamish’s engaged citizenry was on display at a Friday meeting about the district’s proposed Development Cost Charge (DCC) bylaw.
About a dozen Squamish Chamber of Commerce members spent their lunch hour learning more about the proposed DCCs at the Squamish Adventure Centre. It was the first time the presenter, district consultant Prashant Pandit, had ever been asked to speak at a chamber event about DCCs.
“The inspector of municipalities would be very pleased to know that we are the first municipality to have consulted the chamber of commerce,” Pandit said.
DCCs are one-time fees applied to developments to help cover the cost of infrastructure needed for new growth.
Basically, to determine DCCs, all eligible engineering works over a 20-year time frame are compiled and cost estimates are done for the projects needed.
The cost for the compiled projected projects that are required for the district’s anticipated 3.5 per cent growth over the next 20 years is $97 million, according to Pandit.
About $55 million is the recoverable cost that will come out of DCCs, Pandit explained.
“Growth pays for growth,” Pandit said.
The population growth that is used to make up the DCCs is determined by the district’s Official Community Plan’s projected growth, which was determined when the OCP was done in 2007-2008.
By 2035, for DCC purposes, Squamish’s population will grow to 35,000 from its current 17,000, said Pandit.
A principal behind the determining of DCC is that the benefiter pays, according to Pandit.
“For example if you are doing a new road, even the existing population will use the new road so say the population increase is 46 per cent, so therefore 46 per cent is covered by DCCs and 54 per cent is covered by the municipality for the new road.”
Property taxes don’t cover infrastructure required for new growth, Pandit said.
Based on stakeholder feedback, a new small lot category has been added to the proposal.
Compared to current rates, which were set in 2007, for single-family low density the increase is 37 per cent. Townhouse DCCs will increase by five per cent. Apartment charges will go down by three per cent. Commercial rates will go up by 19 per cent; institutional will go down by 11 per cent.
Industrial has the largest increase; it will go up by 103 per cent.
In terms of the industrial jump, Pandit said that is because in 2007, those rates were not increased, so the current increase is based on 2004 figures.
“By any stretch of the imagination, this increase is very reasonable,” said Pandit.
The district has been working on the DCC program since 2011, which is very unusual, Pandit said.
“The reason that this is compounded… people are very reticent, very hesitant to accept this because they think that some how DCC is subsidizing Squamish Oceanfront Development Corporation.”
About 42 per cent – or about 6,500 residents – out of the projected Squamish growth will come from the proposed oceanfront peninsula development, according to Pandit.
Squamish entrepreneur Auli Parviainen questioned the program’s assumptions of growth that were made seven years ago, in particular the assumptions made about the oceanfront development.
“Did we make those assumptions based on the Olympic-sized fever about the [projected] growth, which seemed, obviously, absolutely unbelievable? The growth is going to happen, but is it going to happen the way we think it is going to happen, is there a demand for units on the oceanfront, is it going to sell the way we think it is going to sell?”
“We are now taking that [growth] projection and all the assumption that contains and spending that money without any understanding if that is realistic,” she said.
Pandit said in an ideal world, the district would build the infrastructure for the oceanfront on its own, but the district doesn’t have the funds or the borrowing capacity to do it.
In this agreement the developer is taking the risk, he said. “Supposing that there is no anticipated growth and the district doesn’t collect DCC revenues, then they don’t have to pay the developer.”
After district consultation and council deliberations, the plan goes to the provincial Office of the Inspector of Municipalities for review, according to Pandit.
The inspector can approve or send the plan back for further explanation or work, then it goes back to Squamish council for final approval.
The district will be holding an information meeting on all things related to the oceanfront development on Wednesday, April 8 from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the Brennan Park Recreation Centre auditorium.
NOTE: The district has changed the date of the oceanfront meeting. Please see squamish.ca for more information.
