COLLIN GALLANT
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The City has lessened the immediate blow of increases for land developers in the third version of the controversial revision of the fees for licences and permits in Medicine Hat.
Right off the bat, business owners objected to fee hikes, then developers objected to hefty increases to major permit applications.
When the 2012-2014 schedule was introduced at city council on Monday, most fee increases are now in line with inflation and others are being phased in over the three-year span.
"We've made significant changes to the charges," said Abdul Khan, the city's commissioner of Development and Infrastructure, on Monday night.
He said that making sure the cost of the planning department is covered while ensuring service when it's needed is at times a balancing act.
"It's a function of economic activity and it's hard to predict, and we've tried to make our best estimate of the next three years and hopefully we won't be subsiding in the future."
The more complex or time consuming that an application is, the more resources are used to process it, and is therefore more costly.
"Nobody wants to see raises in fees... but fees are based on users and if you're going to use the planning department, or licensing, you have to pay, otherwise it's the tax base that pays," said Mayor Norm Boucher.
"We have to recoup the cost of the service."
At the same time, Boucher lauded groups that petitioned the Development and Infrastructure committee
"This is a perfect example of what can happen when the private sector and the city work together," read a prepared statement from Chamber of Commerce chair Milvia Bauman, who experienced a death in the family on Monday and did not attend council.
"No builder, developer or small business owner enjoys fee increases. We respect and appreciate your efforts to gain a strong understanding of the issues that affect our business community."
For the next three years the cost of almost all business licences issued in the city will rise by about 2.1 per cent in order to keep pace with inflation — an added cost of a dollar or two in most cases.
Most building permits will rise in a similar fashion, with several notable exceptions.
A land-use change application or new area structure plan will now cost between $800 and $1,000 more each year for each of the next three years. By 2014 the cost to developers will more than double to $5,200 for bylaw changes and a $4,660 base fee for structure plans, plus new fees for amendments.
New classifications will see fees introduced for multi-family dwellings larger than a duplex and also apartment complexes that have more than 100 units.
"We were able to take part in meetings, and have input," said Garry Ruff, the local president of the Canadian Home Builders Association, which had lobbied against applied major increases in the first year.
"We were able to see that (the city) was able to accommodate... phasing in over the three years, and keep building permits at two or three per cent. That's a step in the right direction."
Also, the city will not charge for formal pre- and post-application meetings, as was recently proposed, but subsequent meetings with city staff will cost $500.
Standard initial inspection fees are still built into permit costs, but now subsequent inspections and compliance reviews come with $100 and $250 charges, respectively.
The department is also hoping to streamline its operations by using standardized service and development agreements. Developers wishing to use different agreements will pay a premium of between $2,600 and $3,500 more at the end of the three-year phasing in plan.
Forms that have more than two mistakes will have to be resubmitted with a 100-per- cent surcharge, and expediting a permit will see the normal charge rise four times.