Comment
I am opposed to these new dictates by the Province for several reasons.
One, it's a cash cow gift to developers, freeing them from the responsibility of contributing to the sustainment costs of the communities they wish to build (sewer, hydro, water, local public transit and park/recreational costs), offloading these costs to municipalities which are already cash strapped. There is no guarantee that any of this cash gift would go toward reducing housing costs or making housing any more available in terms of timing or number of units. What it does mean is that local taxpayers will pay the costs developers would normally have paid as part of the new community plan.
Two, I'm opposed to the cost of 'affordable homes; being tied to market pricing... essentially, this would simply ensure there is NO affordable housing to be had. To be meaningful, 'affordable housing' pricing needs to be linked to the buyer's income/capacity to pay for the home, as is done now.
Three, I'm opposed to reducing the allotment of park/recreational land, etc for 'affordable' housing developments. This penalizes the already impoverished, and is a kind of ghetto thinking - where are these kids supposed to play safely if they don't have the same recreational opportunities as wealthier kids do? If anything, these children need more investment in community 'commons', not less.
Four, I'm opposed to the Province off loading these accumulated billions of costs from the developers to the local taxpayers, who are already burdened by grossly inflated home prices (largely because of these same developers), inflation and all those attendent costs, costs to ready their communities for increasingly violent weather because of climate change, etc etc. There are no good reasons for further enriching developers at the expense of local taxpayers, not when it's the developers who will accrue the profits from these new developments. I'm tired of this perpetual sucking of tax payer dollars into private sector pockets.
Submitted December 9, 2022 3:34 PM
Comment on
Proposed Planning Act and Development Charges Act, 1997 Changes: Providing Greater Cost Certainty for Municipal Development-related Charges
ERO number
019-6172
Comment ID
80991
Commenting on behalf of
Comment status