Development charges could soon be on the rise in Prince Edward County.
During Committee of the Whole on Thursday, committee members received information about potentially increasing the fees charged to developers building brand new housing or commercial projects. These fees are intended to offset the cost of serving the new property with municipal services.
This information session was part of the procedure to update the development charges by-law, which is currently set to expire in March.
Under the newly proposed fee structure, development charges would rise over 125% compared to 2018.
Under the previous set of charges, single or semi-detached homes would cost $6,686. If the new charges are adopted properties falling under that category will cost $15,257 in fees to develop. Under recent legislation developers will be charged 80% of that total in year one with the percentage getting higher every year over the next five years.
During public comments, a few local land developers asked questions about the data presented to the committee along with the new fee structure. Council was unable to answer questions at that time, but took the questions as public comment.
In 2021, the City of Belleville approved a 50% hike in development charges for single family homes, going from $16,000 to $24,000.
