1. GIGNUL NON-PROFIT HOUSING REQUEST FOR FEE RELIEF

ALLÈGEMENT DES FRAIS POUR LA GIGNUL NON-PROFIT HOUSING CORPORATION

Committee Recommendation

That Council approve a conditional grant in the amount of $43,500 for building permit fees from the Affordable Housing Capital Building Fund to support the Gignul Non-Profit Housing Corporation 28-unit Affordable Housing Project located at 1043 Cummings Avenue subject to the registration of a charge/mortgage on title to the project at 1043 Cummings Avenue to secure the repayment if the grant monies in the event that the 28 units do not remain affordable within the minimum 20 year affordability period.

Recommandation DU Comité

Que le Conseil approuve une soumission conditionnelle d’un montant de 43 500 $ pour des frais de permis de construction à partir des Fonds d'investissement de logements à prix abordable en vue de soutenir le projet de logement abordable de 28 unités de la Société de logement sans but lucratif Gignul situé au 1043, avenue Cummings, sous réserve de l'enregistrement d'une charge foncière ou hypothèque immobilière à l'égard du titre du projet du 1043, avenue Cummings pour assurer le remboursement des fonds de subvention au cas où les 28 unités de logement ne demeureraient pas à prix abordable au cours de la période minimale d’abordabilité de 20 ans.

Documentation

1. Deputy City Manager's report, City Operations dated 4 March 2010 (ACS2010-COS-CSS-0002).

Report to/Rapport au:

Community and Protective Services Committee

Comité des services communautaires et de protection

and Council / et au Conseil

4 March 2010 / le 4 mars 2010

Submitted by/Soumis par:

Steve Kanellakos, Deputy City Manager/Directeur municipal adjoint,

City Operations/Opérations municipales 

Contact Person/Personne ressource Janice Burelle, Manager of Housing, Community and Social Services Department/Gest.Logement,Services sociaux et communautaires

(613) 580-2424 x43081, Janice.burelle@ottawa.ca

Beacon Hill-Cyrville (11)

Ref N°: ACS2010-COS-CSS-0002

SUBJECT:	gignul non-profit housing request for fee relief
OBJET :	Allègement des frais pour la Gignul Non-Profit Housing Corporation

REPORT RECOMMENDATION

That the Community and Protective Services Committee recommend that Council approve a conditional grant in the amount of $43,500 for building permit fees from the Affordable Housing Capital Building Fund to support the Gignul Non-Profit Housing Corporation 28-unit Affordable Housing Project located at 1043 Cummings Avenue subject to the registration of a charge/mortgage on title to the project at 1043 Cummings Avenue to secure the repayment if the grant monies in the event that the 28 units do not remain affordable within the minimum 20 year affordability period.

RECOMMANDATION DU RAPPORT

Que le Comité des services communautaires et de protection recommande au Conseil d’approuver une soumission conditionnelle d’un montant de 43 500 $ pour des frais de permis de construction à partir des Fonds d'investissement de logements à prix abordable en vue de soutenir le projet de logement abordable de 28 unités de la Société de logement sans but lucratif Gignul situé au 1043, avenue Cummings, sous réserve de l'enregistrement d'une charge foncière ou hypothèque immobilière à l'égard du titre du projet du 1043, avenue Cummings pour assurer le remboursement des fonds de subvention au cas où les 28 unités de logement ne demeureraient pas à prix abordable au cours de la période minimale d’abordabilité de 20 ans.

BACKGROUND

The Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing and Ontario Aboriginal Housing Services recently approved $4,752,958 in conditional funding to support a 28-unit affordable housing proposal submitted by Gignul Non-Profit Housing Corporation. This funding will allow Gignul Non-Profit Housing to start construction on a new apartment building that will be located at 1043 Cummings Avenue and offer affordable rental accommodation to the Aboriginal community in Ottawa. These units will complement the 173 units currently managed by Gignul Non-Profit Housing and will assist in reducing their two-year waiting list.

Gignul Non-Profit Housing contacted the City upon confirmation of their conditional funding to request that the City waive the following development fees associated with the project:

• Relief from development charges and parkland levies estimated at $142,000 and $31,500 respectively;

• Relief from school board development charges (approximately $27,500);

• Relief from building permit fees (approximately $43,500); and,

• Reduction of the municipal property tax rate for the project to a level equivalent to the residential rate.

Building Permit Fees

Staff are recommending that the City, use existing funds from the Affordable Housing Capital Building Fund, to provide a grant estimated to be $43,500 to cover the cost of the City’s building permit fee for the project. Building permit fees cannot be waived like other fees since the introduction of the Building Code Statute Law Amendment Act, 2002 and Ontario Regulation 305/03 which required that building regulatory activities be revenue neutral therefore no longer allowing exemption of fees in support of charitable and non-profit housing developments. The amount of the required grant is an estimate at this time because building permit fees are charged at a rate of 12.50 per $1000 of construction cost. Any change to the building plans could result in a change to the construction cost thus impacting the calculation of the building permit fee.

Development Charges

Section 7 (o) of the Development Charge By-law 2009-216 allows of a development charge exemption provided the following criteria are met:

A residential use building erected and owned by non-profit housing, provided that satisfactory evidence is provided to the Treasurer that the residential use building is intended for persons of low or modest incomes and that the dwelling units are being made available at values that are initially and will continue to be below current market levels in the City

Staff will review the affordable housing requirements in the funding agreement that will be executed between Gingnul Non-Profit Housing and Ontario Aboriginal Housing Services to ensure that rents charged in the development will meet the exemption requirement for Development Charges as noted above.

Parkland Levies

Section 14 (1) (e) of Parkland Dedication By-law 2009-385 does not require conveyance of land or payment of money in lieu in the case of development or redevelopment where, “a non-profit rental or not-for-profit sponsored ownership residential development or other development that provides public facilities or services and that is undertaken by a non-profit organization.” Since Gignal Non-Profit Housing Corporation meets these criteria, they will not be required to provide land or money in lieu of parkland.

School Board Development Charges

Under the Action Ottawa Program and Wave 1 of the Canada Ontario Affordable Housing Program (AHP), the City had provided additional capital grants to Affordable Housing Providers as well as a grant in lieu of School Board Development Charges. Under Wave 1 of the AHP Program, School Board Development Charges were typically $994 per unit and have now increased to $1,626.00 per unit, representing a significant increase and pressure on the Affordable Housing Capital Building Fund. In addition, Wave I of the AHP provided between $90,000 to $100,000 per unit in capital funding which included a capital grant from the City which ranged between $20,000 and $30,000 per unit. The 2009 AHP extension provides for an average capital grant across the City of $120,000 with no project receiving more than $150,000 per unit of AHP funding. The proposed Gignul Non-Profit Affordable Housing Project is receiving a total of $169,748 per unit of capital funding. Given the amount of capital funding being provided in addition to the grants and fee waivers recommended above, staff are not recommending that a grant be provided for the Education Development Charges.

New Multi-Residential Tax Rate

The new multi-residential housing property tax rate, which is equivalent to the residential rate and provides lowered property taxes for new multi-residential housing, should automatically apply to this project and therefore no action is required.

In conclusion, Staff are recommending that Council approve a grant in the amount of $43,500 to pay for building permit fees charged by the City. The grant will be provided from existing affordable housing funds directly to Building Services as an internal waiver for the fee. Development Charges and Parkland Dedication will be dealt with in accordance with their respective by-laws and no action is required be staff or Council with respect to the New Multi-Residential Tax Rate. However, Gignul Non-Profit Housing will be required to pay Education Development Charges upon receipt of their building permit.

RURAL IMPLICATIONS

There are no specific rural implications associated with this report.

CONSULTATION

This report was not subject to consultation.

LEGAL/RISK MANAGEMENT IMPLICATIONS:

There are no legal/risk management impediments to implementing the recommendation in this report.

City Legal Counsel has advised that as long as the housing provider is a not a manufacturing business or other industrial or commercial enterprise, then, pursuant to section 107 of the Municipal Act, 2001, the City may provide a grant in the amount of the building permit fees, school board fees and planning fees for each project as long as appropriate security is provided so as to ensure that each rental housing unit that is created with the grant monies meets the affordability requirements of the Canada-Ontario Affordable Housing Program, Extension (2009),Year 2.

Further, if the requirements of section 107 of the Municipal Act, 2001 are met, the projects to which the grants are applied are not subject to the Municipal Housing Facilities By-law 2006-1 and a municipal housing project facilities agreement and by-law are not required for each project.

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

The estimated $43,500 for building permit fees is available in the Affordable Housing Capital Building Fund to cover the internal charge from Building Services to Affordable Housing.

SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION

N/A

DISPOSITION

Housing Services Staff will verify that the project meets the definition of affordable housing and will coordinate approved development fee relief with Building Services Branch.