At Monday night’s regular meeting, City of Cranbrook council gave three readings to a new Development Cost Charge (DCC) Bylaw—an important update that helps plan and pay for the infrastructure needed as the city grows.

Developers pay Development Cost Charges that help cover the cost of new infrastructure to accommodate the city’s growth —things like roads, water, sewer, storm systems, and parks.

In other words, DCCs help make sure growth helps pay for growth, reducing the burden on general taxpayers who would have to pay for those infrastructure upgrades if DCCs were not charged to developers.

The DCC Bylaw was last reviewed in 2022. This past winter, the city conducted extensive public engagement on a revised bylaw, including a community survey with 534 responses (1,000 random household mailout invitations – 198 mailout responses, plus 336 other in-person or online submissions) and a virtual meeting for developers and builders (60 invites – 14 attendees).

Overall, 80% of respondents said they did not want to increase taxes to reduce DCCs; 82% agreed that growth should pay for growth; and 56% did not support waiving DCCs for not-for-profit rental or supportive housing.

You can learn more about the public engagement process here.

Based on what we heard through that consultation, and additional council direction, staff brought the new bylaw forward for council’s consideration. The proposed bylaw includes a one per cent assist factor from the city, a 12-month in-stream protection period for ongoing development projects, an immediate increase to DCCs upon adoption, and no DCC waivers.

DCCs are paid at the time of subdivision, or when a developer is constructing new commercial, industrial, institutional, or residential apartment buildings.

For building permits, DCCs apply to developers or private property owners where the building permit value is above $120,000. Under the updated rates, the cost per high-density residential dwelling unit is $13,884 to help fund future roads, water, sewer, storm, and parks infrastructure.

The cost per small-scale infill or medium-density residential unit is $19,329, while the cost per parcel (low-density residential) unit is $24,611.

“Infrastructure investments are essential to support housing and economic growth. DCCs are one of the funding tools we have available to create a balanced approach to this investment need and keep our city in a position to support continued growth,” said Mike Matejka, Director, Engineering and Development Services.

The DCC bylaw will be brought back to a future regular council meeting for adoption once it is reviewed and approved by the Provincial Inspector of Municipalities (Ministry of Municipal Affairs).

City of Cranbrook

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