Region could defer development charges
Policy would apply to lands that currently are not serviced with water and sanitary sewers
By Chris Jones/The Oshawa Express
The Region of Durham could potentially change regional development charges policy for lands that have yet to be serviced.
A staff report provided to council recommends that the regional development charges for the water supply and sanitary sewerage components be deferred as certain requirements are met.
These requirements are that the lands are within the urban boundary, designated to be serviced, permitted to develop on private wells and waste disposal systems, and that the lands are currently not being serviced by regional water supply and sanitary sewerage services.
On June 6, a representative of Adamson Systems Engineering, a Port Perry based company, questioned why they are required to pay water and sanitary sewage charges despite the fact those services are not available on their land.
The company claims they’d like to expand operations, but the development charges would be too expensive.
Current regional policy requires development charges for water supply and sanitary sewer services must be paid for any land where the services have designated to be installed.
The new policy in the report recommends that the collection of water supply and sanitary sewerage development charges be deferred until the lands actually receive service.
Staff say this will allow the region to defer the collection of water supply and/or sanitary sewerage development charges for developmental areas that are allowed to develop on private services but are designated for the water supply and/or sanitary sewerage services in the region’s official plan.”
The report also advises that regional council approval should be required on a case-by-case basis, except for building permit applications for a single home.
In such a case, it is recommended “the commissioner of finance and CAO be authorized to execute the necessary deferral agreement.”