Parkland Dedication and Payment in Lieu of Parkland Analysis
We're making updates to our procedures! The Municipality conducted an information session regarding this proposal, and collected feedback from the public to ensure we heard all the voices regarding this matter! (Please see the Presentation attached below, if you were unable to make it)
A Parkland Dedication By-law will help our community's growing needs in two ways:
- Developers may transfer land for parks and public recreation, or
- Developers may provide money for future parks, park equipment or recreational buildings
More About the Proposed By-law
The memo from Watson and Associates (attached below) outlines recommendations for the Municipality regarding parkland dedication and payment-in-lieu policies:
Parkland Dedication
- Currently, the Municipality imposes a 5% dedication requirement on residential development and 2% for commercial and industrial development.
- Recommendations include considering alternative rates for residential development, updating the Official Plan to identify dedication rates for institutional developments, and incorporating these changes into future parkland dedication by-laws.
Payment-in-Lieu
- Residential Per Lot Fee: Consider increasing the current fee of $4,000 per lot for residential consents and indexing it. Apply the 5% or alternative rate for other developments, subject to appraisal.
- Site Plan and Zoning By-law Amendment Applications: Freeze payment-in-lieu rates at application submission, requiring an appraisal to ensure appropriate land value dedication.
- Commercial and Industrial Per Lot Fee: Utilize an appraisal to determine rates due to varying lot sizes.
- Institutional Development: Implement a 5% payment-in-lieu rate and include it in future by-laws.
- Other Residential Development: Continue using alternative rates where it provides more payment-in-lieu.
- Parkland vs. Recreation Land: Refine definitions in official documents to distinguish between parkland and recreation land for better cost recovery and land allocation.
These recommendations aim to streamline parkland dedication and payment-in-lieu processes while ensuring fair and appropriate allocation of resources for future development within the Municipality.