Plans for a new interim policy to determine what developers should contribute to the community when building new projects in North Cowichan are being questioned by some council members.
The municipality is updating its community amenity contribution policy partly in recognition of the ongoing escalation in construction costs in relation to the current development cost charges that builders are tasked to pay to help cover the costs of the infrastructure for their projects.
The main focus of the policy update is on the implementation of the Bell McKinnon local area plan, which was adopted by council in 2018, for the area where the new Cowichan District Hospital is under construction, which currently contains the majority of North Cowichan’s housing-growth potential.
The proposed interim policy seeks a contribution increase to three times North Cowichan's current DCC rate.
The Bell McKinnon local area plan, as well as many other local area plans in the municipality, also calls for developers to set aside some of their properties for parks, trails and other green amenities, as well as making a contribution towards affordable housing.
Coun. Tek Manhas said at the council meeting on Oct. 16 that expecting developers to give up approximately 21 per cent of their properties for green space, as well as having 40 per cent of their properties covered in tree canopy, comes at an unreasonable cost to the builders.
Coun. Bruce Findlay said he understands the reasoning for asking three times the DCC rates from developers in the interim policy, but he agrees with Manhas in regards to the community amenities that are required.
He said he’s not in favour of so much green space for every new development because it takes away from the buildable land necessary for the density North Cowichan wants to see, particularly in the Bell McKinnon area.
“I’m also not in favour of this affordable housing in any way because it adds to the cost of the build, so if we can reduce the [affordable housing] portion altogether, I’d be quite happy,” Findlay said.
“I think we have substantial lands that North Cowichan owns that we can use for some sort of affordable housing plan with BC Housing, or a private-public partnership.”
Coun. Chris Istace said if individual councillors choose to vote against adopting the interim policy, they'll likely also vote against increases in taxes to pay for the community amenities, which includes the construction of fire halls and other infrastructure.
“A vote against this says you’re OK with putting the burden of those financial responsibilities upon the taxpayers,” he said.
Coun. Mike Caljouw said he’s not in favour of making development unaffordable to builders in North Cowichan, but developers must be expected to pay their fair share of the infrastructure needed for their projects.
Coun. Christopher Justice said it’s not just about putting up new housing, but enacting the award-winning Bell McKinnon local area plan.
“Why it won awards is because there’s a lot of blue-green networks (which include parks and trails) in it, and a lot of canopy cover and those sorts of things,” he said. “That’s what we’re trying to do with this and why we have to recover the costs that will enact the plan as it was envisioned by the community.”
But Manhas said the award-winning plan was for the whole Bell McKinnon area, and council had decided to cut that down to less than half of what the original plan called for.
He said it’s all about a balance between what is expected of the community at large and the development community.
“What it comes down to is that [the developers] will say they won’t build here because they can’t make any money,” Manhas said.
Mayor Rob Douglas said the plan is to engage with the development community to get their input on contributions towards infrastructure before a final plan is adopted.
He said the philosophy behind the Bell McKinnon local area plan is to have development pay for itself.
“I would note that we have submitted an application to the [federal] housing accelerator fund that would provide another funding source for the infrastructure that will lighten the load on some of the developers,” Douglas said.
“In regards to the 21 per cent contribution towards public lands, that was in the Bell McKinnon local area plan so the expectations were clear from the get go. As for affordable housing, what we’re talking about here is a very modest contribution of $1,000 per door. But the cash reserve that we could build would put us in a much better position to leverage investment through BC Housing for these projects.”
