By Greg Nikkel
The City of Weyburn is fine-tuning their off-site development levy, with more discussion held by council members on what should and should not be in the revised bylaw for the levy.
In a report to council on Monday evening, city manager Roy Hardy provided numbers on how many developable properties there are in the city at the current time as part of the discussion centred around the pros and cons fo exempting part or all of existing parcels for redevelopment.
The city currently has 58 known properties that can be developed, and of these, 32 of the properties are larger than one acre with the potential for further development or subdivision. Three of these are currently institutional properties in residential areas.
Council members reiterated their wish to remove the charge of $12.21 per square foot for an existing home or business that wishes to expand, but the question then arose if the charge (or the off-site development fee) should apply if there is an empty lot that has a building put on it.
“If the use of the land is unchanged materially, then it would be exempt from that,” said Coun. Jeff Richards, who gave an example of a house or a commercial building being torn down with a new similar-sized building put in its place. If however a single-tenant building is taken down and a multi-family apartment building or condo was built instead, that would be different, as “that would change materially the amount of services that would be needed there.”
Coun. Mel Van Betuw said it is important to differentiate between a service connection (such as for water and sewer) from the off-site development fee.
Mayor Marcel Roy noted that information from SUMA recently stated that with the reduction of infrastructure grants from federal and provincial governments, it is becoming more necessary for municipalities to have such development levies to make planning for future expansions of infrastructure possible.
Coun. Richards asked the director of finance for information about how much revenue the city has derived from this levy since it was first established in 2013, and “I wonder what impact there would be if the lots on the list were developed, what funds that would bring in for us?”
In answer to a suggestion from the city manager to look at developments on a case-by-case basis, Coun. Winston Bailey commented, “I do not like that. The reason is they’re apples and oranges. We have to work at it so it’s cut-and-dried. Looking at case by case will have misunderstandings arise. We’ve seen that happen in the past, and gotten ourselves into a little bit of trouble.”
Coun. Jeff Chessall said he agreed with many of the points raised, and suggested once city council revises the development levy bylaw, that they review it in a couple of years’ time before the next municipal election.
“Maybe we’ll find out in two years we got it wrong. It could happen,” he said. “If there are empty lots and we see growth, it would be great to see some action on that. If this (fee) was a deterrent in the past, let’s find out.”
Later in the meeting, council gave first reading to the revised new development levy bylaw, and more information will be provided to council on some of these issues before the second reading of the bylaw, with opportunity for public input prior to the third and final reading.
The Facilities Advisory Commission received an update about the proposed fieldhouse, which is proposed to be built in conjunction with the new elementary school to be constructed on the site of the old Weyburn Junior High building.
The City has only committed to conceptual drawings so far, council was told. Once those drawings and a cost estimate is received, city council will need to make their final decision on whether to proceed with a field house or not. As part of the consultation period, committee members asked to have tours of the field houses in Regina and Moose Jaw in the near future, which Leisure Services director Mathew Warren will arrange for. His research included a survey of user groups, including Minor Ball, Minor Football, Minor Soccer and lacrosse.
The commission was told that what they decide to put in to the facility will impact the construction price of the field house. Mayor Roy noted that if built, this would be the main field house in southeast Saskatchewan as Estevan does not currently have such a facility.
