Re: City of Ottawa comments…

Re: City of Ottawa comments on the Proposed regulatory matters pertaining to community benefits authority

The City of Ottawa would like to propose two changes to the recently released draft regulations concerning the Community Benefits Charge (CBC): allowing municipalities to implement Parkland Dedication or Cash-In-Lieu in different areas and allowing municipalities the option to delay implementation of the CBC.

The first proposal would allow single tier municipalities that have large greenfield and rural land components the option to implement a CBC By-law in certain geographical locations while at the same time continuing to apply a Parkland Dedication or Cash-In-Lieu By-law solely in other areas. Currently, this option would be available where there is a Regional governance model in place but not an option for single tier municipalities. A two-tier fee approach would allow the City to maintain the existing Parkland Dedication policy in areas that are suburban (outside the greenbelt) locations and to apply the new CBC within urban (inside the greenbelt) areas. Plus, this broader application process would lower the City’s administrative costs and better match the servicing requirements in each of these locations.

In our case, the proposed boundaries would not be contentious and are clearly definable because of the existence of the greenbelt. This system of applying the fees aligns with the current practice concerning the application of area-specific development charges by which the cost of servicing has been historically attributed to specific geographic areas resulting in more efficient land use practices and a more accurate attribution of growth-related costs.

In addition, the rationale supporting the continuation of this type of approach would be outlined within the supporting strategy that is required to be provided with the implementation of the CBC regime. The proposed requirements are similar to those included within the development charges background study and include the anticipated type of development that will be subject to a CBC, the increase in need for community services resulting from new development, a parks plan, a parkland per person analysis, capital costs associated with the increased need for community services, excess or available capacity, any benefit to existing residents, and any available capital grants, subsidies or contributions from other levels of government or other sources. The flexibility to apply different by-laws would allow single-tier municipalities the ability to continue to determine the most appropriate type of fee that is best suited to respond to their changing circumstances.

The second proposal would be to allow municipalities the option to delay implementation of the CBC and to extend the transition period to two years after the date the proposed regulations come into effect. The extension of the transition provision would allow for greater certainty as to which option best conforms to existing policies and funding practices.

We would be please to discuss the above in further detail at your convenience.