Ottawa home builders 'very happy' with promised development charges reform

New provincial legislation to streamline development charges is being welcomed by home builders in Ottawa as well as some city councillors. Some have questioned how the infrastructure costs will be covered, however.

On Monday, Ontario's Housing Minister Rob Flack introduced Bill 17, which aims to accelerate permit issuance and streamline zoning rules. The legislation will also defer the collection of development charges until occupancy, which the province says will provide greater cash flow flexibility.

That last component is welcomed by Jason Burggraaf, the executive director of the Greater Ottawa Home Builders'​ Association. Development charges can add up to $65,000 for a single family home outside the greenbelt in Ottawa, he said. 

"This set of reforms, I think, is a little bolder than sort of the incrementalism that we've had in the in the past few years," he told CBC.

Burggraaf added that the legislation could help attract home builders to the city, as he said friction in the development approvals process has caused them to prefer communities like Arnprior or Carleton Place.

"It is in fact losing ground to new residents overall, especially the communities that are just outside its borders because it's easier to operate there. So one of the things I see the government doing with this legislation is kind of levelling the playing field," he said.

'The municipality still needs to pay for those things'

Development charges have been a long-standing issue between home builders and the city, with the latter saying that the the charges are needed to cover the cost of building infrastructure to service new residents.

The province also announced it is pledging $400 million over the next four years to help municipalities build the needed water and sewer infrastructure around developments.

Kitchissippi Coun. Jeff Leiper said he's happy with what the province is proposing as it doesn't outright remove development charges and shift the cost to the tax base. But he said he wonderers if it will be enough to make a significant difference in housing numbers.

"Certainly it's something that the developers have been seeking. I'll be looking for the guidance which will be coming from our staff in a relatively short term to understand what the implications are," he told CBC on Tuesday.

Others still wonder how the cost of the infrastructure will be covered under the new legislation if not through development charges.

"I often say to the development community, if you want to advocate for lower development charges, you need to come and advocate for an alternative source of funding," Somerset Coun. Ariel Troster told CBC.

Kaite Burkholder Harris, the executive director of the Alliance to End Homelessness Ottawa, said the $400 million pledged by the province to cover the cost of water and sewer infrastructure around developments is likely to mean less than a million per municipality.

"That's the piece of math that I don't think makes a ton of sense," she told CBC. "At the end of the day, the municipality still needs to pay for those things. And so where is that money coming from?"