On behalf of the Town of…

On behalf of the Town of Lincoln Planning and Development Department, we have reviewed the recently released proposed regulations pertaining to community benefits authority under the Planning Act and Development Charges Act. As requested by the Ministry, we have prepared the following feedback in response to ERO posting #019-1406.

Services Eligible to be Funded Through DCs:

The Town recommends the following clarification and changes be made to the proposed services eligible to be funded through Development Charges:

The Town recommends including “hospitals” in addition to “long-term care” and “public health” capital costs as a DC eligible service. The Town recommends that “parks development” be clarified to also include trail development.

The Town is supportive of the proposed removal of the 10% deduction for DC eligible soft services as this will now allow municipalities to fully recover the capital costs for the provision of these services.

Services Eligible to be Funded Through CBC:

The Town recommends the following clarification and changes be made to the proposed services eligible to be funded through Community Benefit Charges:

• Acquisition of Land for Parkland  This should include acquisition of land for trails and walkways in addition to lands for park and other public recreation purposes.

• Bonus Zoning Contributions  Will in-kind contributions be permitted under the Community Benefit Charges By-law? If so, will these benefits count toward the CBC cap amount? The Town recommends that in kind contributions be permitted as a community benefit charge and be excluded from the CBC cap amount. It will be difficult to recoup the cost to acquire parkland and bonus zoning contributions within the proposed 10% land value cap.

Proposed CBC cap based on percentage of land value:

The MMAH has stated that a goal of the CBC formula will be to maintain historic revenues for soft services currently collected from development charges, density bonusing, and parkland dedication including the alternative rate.

The Town is concerned with the proposed CBC cap of 10% of land values considering that land values may vary widely across communities, fluctuate over time, and are not tied to construction cost inflation. The proposed CBC cap of 10% of land value is not flexible enough to provide certainty in a dynamic and constantly changing housing market, and may lead to the Town facing decreased funding for “soft services” and increased uncertainty in its ability to have growth pay for growth.

The Town therefore recommends that the Province in collaboration with municipalities, provide a dedicated review period, approximately every five years, on the land value percentage cap in order to assess whether the cap meets the needs of municipalities over time and make adjustments as appropriate.

Other:

The Town has received and is in support of comments provided by Watson & Associates on the proposed Development Charge and Community Benefits Charge Regulations in a letter dated March 18, 2020 The Watson letter is enclosed for your review and consideration.