4.             CASH IN LIEU – PARKLAND FEES

 

REGLEMENT FINANCIER DES FRAIS RELATIFS AUX TERRAINS A VOCATION DE PARC

 

 

Committee recommendation

 

That Council approve the cash in lieu of parkland fees be waived for 2231 Pagé Rd.

 

 

Recommandation DU Comité

 

Que le Conseil approuve que le 2231 du chemin Pagé est exempté du règlement financier des frais relatifs aux terrains à vocation de parc.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Documentation

 

1.                  Corporate Services and Economic Development Committee report dated 14 December 2009 (ACS2009-CMR_CSE-0012)

 

2.                  Extract of Draft Minute, 19 January 2010.

 

 


Report to / Rapport au :

 

Corporate Services and Economic Development Committee /

Comité des Services Organisationnels et du Développement Économique

 

and Council / et au Conseil

 

14 December 2009 / le 14 décembre 2009

 

Submitted by / Soumis par : Carole Langford, Committee Coordinator /

Coordonnateur de comité

 

Contact Person/Personne-ressource: Councillor / Conseiller R. Bloess

(613) 580-2472, Rainer.Bloess@ottawa.ca

 

Innes (2)

Ref N°:  ACS2009-CMR-CSE-0012

 

SUBJECT:    CASH IN LIEU – PARKLAND FEES

 

OBJET:          REGLEMENT FINANCIER DES FRAIS RELATIFS AUX TERRAINS A VOCATION DE PARC

 

 

REPORT RECOMMENDATION

 

That the Corporate Services and Economic Development Committee recommend Council that the cash in lieu of parkland fees be waived for 2231 Pagé Rd.

 

RECOMMANDATION DU RAPPORT

 

Que le Comité des Services Organisationnels et du Développement Économique recommande au Conseil que le 2231 du chemin Pagé est exempté du règlement financier des frais relatifs aux terrains à vocation de parc.

 

 

BACKGROUND

 

At the 1 December 2009 meeting of the Corporate Services and Economic Development Committee (CSEDC), Councillor R. Bloess submitted the following Notice of Motion for consideration by the CSEDC at its meeting of 19 January 2010:

 

WHEREAS, the City requires parkland to be conveyed or the equivalent value in cash to be paid to the City as a condition for (re)development; and

 

WHEREAS severances and new building lots requires a payment in lieu of parkland dedication; and

 

WHEREAS, an exception to this rule may be applied if City Council should decide to waive the fee;

 

WHEREAS, the proprietor of 2231 Pagé, following the death of her spouse, has decided to sever her property to make ends meet; and

 

WHEREAS the Cash In Lieu in the amount of $10,000 will cause hardship to the property owner;

 

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT the cash in lieu of parkland fees be waived for 2231 Pagé Rd.

 

 

DISCUSSION

 

Council passed the new Parkland Dedication by-law 2009-95 on 11th March 2009.  This by-law standardized the parkland dedication provisions across the City and applied the alternative parkland requirements, which are permitted by the Planning Act, to all residential development that exceeds the density of 18 units per net hectare.  The City also adopted Official Plan policies in support of the use of these provisions.  Upon application of those alternative rates staff realized that the parkland required for many urban re-development projects discouraged rather than encouraged intensification.  The Official Plan amendment was also appealed and in the mediation the appellants argued that, for residential redevelopment projects, parkland should not exceed 10% of the value of the land being developed.  The City agreed and By-law 2009-385 was passed on 25th November 2009 to amend the Parkland Dedication By-law.  This amendment continues to apply the alternative requirement but limits cash-in-lieu payments similar to that imposed on the severance at 2231 Page Road, to no more than 10% of the appraised value of the land.

 

The severance at 2231 Page Road creates a new residential lot with an area of 464.5sq m.  Historically, such a severance would have required conveyance of 5% of the site area as parkland or the payment of a cash, which in this case would have been $ 6250.  The current by-law requires the conveyance of 33.3 sq m (approximately 7% of the site area) as parkland or the payment of cash determined to be $8961.  This is the amount requested of the owner by letter dated 3rd November 2009.  Where payment of cash-in-lieu is required the applicant is also required to pay the City’s appraisal cost, which is an additional fee of $525.  The City’s records indicate that both amounts were paid on December 16, 2009.

 

Staff cannot comment on the personal hardship that the applicant may experience.  However, the new parkland by-law was developed recognizing that urban communities that currently do not meet the City’s targets for parks and recreation areas will continue to experience intensification in various forms.  Parkland contributions, either as land conveyance or as cash-in-lieu, assist the City in the provision of new parks or in upgrading the capacity of existing parks to accommodate the increased demand.  Without contributions in this way the park provision in these communities will continue to decline.  Waiving this requirement will set a precedent for other landowners to make similar requests, thus reducing the City’s capacity to fund new parks or park upgrading.

 

Staff do not recommend the waiving of the that the cash-in-lieu requirement for the severance at 2231 Page Road.

 

 

RURAL IMPLICATIONS

 

This is an owner specific matter of personal hardship and concerns the redevelopment of an urban site. There are no inherent implications for the rural area.

 

 

CONSULTATION

 

This item will be advertised in the local dailies as part of the Public Meeting Advertisement on Friday preceding the Corporate Services and Economic Development Committee Meeting.

 

 

LEGAL/RISK MANAGEMENT IMPLICATIONS

 

On 28 October 2009, Council approved (Planning and Environment Committee Report 59), a program for the reimbursement of fees.  The report did not provide for the reimbursement of cash-in-lieu of parkland.

 

 

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

 

If Council waives the payment of the parkland fee in this instance, the amount of $8961 paid by the owner will be refunded, and the City’s Ward 2 parkland reserve fund will be reduced by that amount. Such a refund may set a precedent for other such requests, further reducing the City’s ability to provide park facilities.

 

 

DISPOSITION

 

Staff to take appropriate action as directed by the Committee and Council.

 


CASH IN LIEU – PARKLAND FEES

REGLEMENT FINANCIER DES FRAIS RELATIFS AUX TERRAINS A VOCATION DE PARC

ACS2009-CMR-CSE-0012                                                                                        INNES (2)

 

Councillor Brooks questioned if a policy was put in place with respect to the reimbursement of cash in lieu of parkland which he believed was explained in the financial implications, but wanted clarification in case a similar situation arose in other wards. Tim Marc, Senior Legal Counsel, stated that the recommendation in this report, if approved by Council, would not create a policy for this type of situation.  Mr. John Moser General Manager, Planning and Growth Management, indicated that this is considered a one-off situation and confirmed that he did not see staff bringing forward a policy on waiving these fees in the future.

 

Councillor Wilkinson highlighted that staff did not support the recommendation and questioned how many severances happen in the City in a year.  Mr Moser replied that the average is approximately 300.  He clarified that only cases of severances that are applicable would be applied, noting that there are some cases where they may have already paid.

 

The Councillor questioned the amount of money given for a single lot.  Mr. Moser indicated that the value is based on the time of the appraisal.  Further, he added that when there is a severance, it is based on the actual value of the property and then a percentage is determined, which is how the total is arrived at, it is on the current value of it and Real Estate Services does the appraisal.

 

Councillor Wilkinson asked how much money in a year the City would get from severances from cash in lieu of parkland by individuals.  Mr. Moser said that they would be talking about hundreds of thousands of dollars and now with Council’s approval of the Cash In Lieu of Parkland By-law, it is based on a 60/40 formula in terms of the money that comes in.

 

Councillor Bloess responded to a question by Councillor Wilkinson that the reason he had brought this item forward was because in this particular situation, the owner of the property is recently widowed and is in dire straits and in order to try and resolve her difficulties, she has decided to sever the property to sell off one piece and have it developed.  

 

Councillor Wilkinson questioned that prior to approving the policy, a five per cent cash in lieu was collected on severances.  Mr. Moser confirmed it was and he believed the majority of the municipalities did collect the severances; therefore, this was not a new policy.

 

Councillor Wilkinson asked if the owner was planning on selling this lot, and what the selling value of the lot is.  Councillor Bloess believed that it was in the range of $100,000.  Councillor Wilkinson felt she could not support report report on the basis that it was going to set a difficult precedence that the City might regret in the future.

 

That the Corporate Services and Economic Development Committee recommend Council that the cash in lieu of parkland fees be waived for 2231 Pagé Rd.

 

                                                                                                            CARRIED

Yeas (6):          Councillors R. Bloess, G. Brooks, R. Chiarelli, M. McRae, S. Desroches and Chair Jellett

 

Nays (3):          Councillors D. Deans, E. El-Chantiry, M. Wilkinson