Council couldn’t deny the stats this week showing $142 million worth of road improvements needed in Westside over the next 20 years–$270 million if stretched out to 40 years. After receiving an hour -long presentation earlier this week, council requested Urban Systems wrap up its road study as soon as possible so a road development cost charge bylaw can be prepared. Once passed, developers would be on the hook for more than $13,000 in road DCCs for every single-family unit they build. That compares to the regional district’s current $5,000 per unit contribution charge. The Central Okanagan Regional District’s director of engineering was on hand for the presentation, which his department commissioned on behalf of the municipality. Hilary Hettinga reminded council the province restricted the regional district from charging DCCs. “We recognize that the $5,000 was very, very low relative to what a DCC should (have been),” said Hettinga, “So, I would really encourage council to get away from this form of contribution as quickly as possible, now that you have the authority to do that.” The regional district did place approximately $6.5 million worth of road contributions in reserves over the last several years, said Hettinga. But, some of that money is reserved for specific projects, including the Gellatly Loop.
Meanwhile, Urban Systems’ Dan Huang said at $13,000, the roads DCC would be close to the amounts Peachland, Lake Country, Vernon and by the Westbank First Nation charge for all DCCs combined—between $14,000 and $16,000. In other words, council would have to be cautious as to what DCCs it charges for other services, such as parks and recreation, water, sewer and drainage.
If council adopts the bylaw as proposed by Urban Systems, developers would be responsible for between 80 and 85 per cent of all future road improvement costs, while taxpayers would be on the hook for between 15 and 20 per cent. If the total road improvement bill comes in at the projected $142.7 million, developers would pay $102.9 million, compared to the municipality’s $23.7 million. Developers would also be directly responsible for $14.5 million in roads within their subdivisions. Other levels of government would kick in about $1.6 million, Huang estimated. Road improvement needs are based on a projected average annual growth rate of 2.25 per cent. That would equate to 6,500 new residential units in Westside for a population of approximately 43,500 by 2025, compared to the current estimated population of 28,500. The projected growth and costs do not account for growth on the two Westside WFN reserves, which would likely have 15,000 residents living on them by 2025, Huang predicted. Currently there are an estimated 7,000 residents living on the two reserves.Westside is unable to apply cost charges to developers who build on WFN land, even though residents living there use Westside roads. The same rule applies to WFN for developers who build on municipal land.
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Don Quixote Note: The $13,000 in road DCCs for Westbank as described above from a more current appraisal of the cost contrasts with Vernon Road DCC's for the same single family unit of ROADS – City Overall $ 6,734
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The DCC bylaw is coming up for debate and revision hopefully at the next council meeting.
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