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Developers and city staff discuss making Kelowna greener and cheaper

Posted On: 2009-11-16

Developers and city staff discuss making Kelowna greener and cheaper
Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009 | 12:00 am

UDI's president Randy Shier says his organization is looking to the city to minimize the cost of new developments.

By Kathy Michaels
The much-lamented high cost of housing in the Okanagan could be lessened, should city officials to lower some fees they require from developers, says the president of the local organization tasked with lobbying for the industry.
The Urban Development Institute held its first board meeting under new president, Randall Shier Oct. 15, and discussed its focus for the year ahead. Recognizing the need to improve housing affordability for Okanagan home buyers, the board agreed its first priority would be to work with local municipal governments to find ways of reducing municipal costs and red tape.
Looking specifically at Development Cost Charges, fees and bonding, Shier said that these city-required payments account for about one-third of all soft costs or about seven per cent of total costs developers take on and ultimately pass down to purchasers.
“The city collects that money so they can improve roads, sidewalks and sewers in that area,” Shier said. “And the city’s costs have come down dramatically, so you would expect that some of those costs would come down, too.”
During the economic boom, the City of Kelowna raised costs and fees well beyond the rate of inflation with some years leveraging hikes as substantial as 30 per cent.
“There’s been a doubling of DCCs in three years,” he said. “That’s how rapid the increase was.”
As a bittersweet aside, Shier said the economic downturn has lessened the impact of rising costs in the areas of  consultant fees, construction costs and land prices.
“Our industry is struggling to provide affordability for both residential homebuyers and commercial tenants,” he said. “UDI and city staff are working together to look at the appropriateness of lower DCCs to reflect the lower construction costs the city is experiencing on current infrastructure projects.”
The City of Kelowna has also shown willingness to explore ways of reducing approval time periods, he said.
These discussions between developers and city staff are heartening to Shier who noted the relationship between the development community and city  is growing stronger.
“I think it’s commendable that we can work together on policy,” he said. “When policy is drafted in a vacuum without looking at how it will affect applicant or people who need to work with that policy, it’s impractical.”
Proof positive of a changing mindset is a new sustainability checklist that was passed in council today. That list was developed by city staff, in consultation from the development industry. It replaces a similar checklist that was put in place two years ago. That one had a  low compliance rate and the measures it put forth made it impossible to compare one project to the next. The  updated version, which will be mandatory for the next six months, was put together with input from the industry, explained Shier.
“What it is, is a measurement tool for planning that will let the city know how a   particular rezoning application scores on a sustainability basis,” Shier said.  “It gives a good way of measuring and comparing applications and seeing, over time, how  growth of the city can be more sustainable.”
The checklist offers a means to advance efficient use of public funds, protect open space and natural areas, expand the housing types available and direct developments to areas that have an ideal amount of infrastructure in their area to reduce commute time.
While it will add more onto the plates of local developers, it’s not a change that Shier anticipates will cause much consternation among his peers.
“It does definitely add a layer of work to be done in an application, however it’s a very important layer,” said Shier. “The industry is a strong advocate or green building and going in that direction, but we need to be smart and practical about it.”

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