AMENDMENTS TO THE FEES AND CHARGES BYLAW NO. 958, 2016
Staff report recommending amendments to the fees bylaw to clarify building permit calculations and ensure cost recovery for public notifications.
TOWN OF VIEW ROYAL COUNCIL REPORT
TO: Council DATE: March 13, 2024 FROM: Leanne Taylor, MCIP, RPP, Director of Development Services MEETING DATE: March 19, 2024
AMENDMENTS TO THE FEES AND CHARGES BYLAW NO. 958, 2016
RECOMMENDATION:
THAT the report titled “Amendments to the Fees and Charges Bylaw No. 958, 2016” be received for information.
PURPOSE:
The purpose of this report is to present Council with proposed amendments to the Fees and Charges Bylaw related to building permit and development applications.
TIME CRITICAL:
There is currently some confusion related to the interpretation of building permit application fees and therefore, it is time critical to fix the wording in the Fees and Charges Bylaw.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
It is a common practice to bring forward amendments to municipal bylaws from time to time. Through the implementation of the new Building Bylaw, staff have discovered that the wording in the Fees and Charges Bylaw that pertains to building permit application fees needs to be clarified to avoid misinterpretations and more work for staff in the future. There is also an opportunity to adjust the incremental building permit fee calculations to be more consistent with other municipalities in the region. In addition, there are outdated bylaw numbers referenced in the Fees and Charges Bylaw that need to be cleaned up.
Furthermore, at the Committee of the Whole meeting on June 13, 2023, the Committee requested that fees be reviewed for development applications to ensure costs for notice mailouts are recovered. This report also introduces proposed cost recovery for staff time and mailing costs associated with public notifications through an additional amendment to the Fees and Charges Bylaw.
BACKGROUND:
Following the adoption of the new Building Bylaw last year and receipt of building permit applications under the new bylaw, it has been discovered that there is a discrepancy in bylaw interpretation and the way building permit application fees are calculated. The proposed bylaw amendments will address this issue moving forward.
At the Committee of the Whole meeting on June 13, 2023, the Committee considered a staff report introducing a new public notification bylaw and proposed notification distances. Instead of amending the Town’s notification distances for rezonings, development variance permits, temporary use permits and Board of Variance applications, the Committee requested that fees be reviewed for development applications to ensure costs for notice mailouts are recovered.
DISCUSSION:
Fees and Charges Bylaw - Building Permit Application Fees
The building permit fees are calculated on an incremental basis. This is consistent with other municipalities in the region. Due to the current wording in the Fees and Charges Bylaw, staff are often responding to enquiries for assistance on how to calculate building permit fees. It was also discovered that the base fees are incorrect based on the incremental calculations. To ensure that staff and the public are clear on how building permit fees are calculated, staff is proposing the amendments to the wording outlined in Table 1 below, which is also more aligned with other municipalities in the region.
Another change that staff is proposing is to reduce the cost of construction that is subject to the minimum permit fee of $100 from $0 - $10,000 to $0 - $1,000 as shown in Table 1 below. Staff reviewed the building permit fee calculations in Saanich, Esquimalt, Langford, and Colwood and their minimum permit fee is applied to a cost of construction that is less than $1000. The only difference is that the minimum permit fee in these municipalities is $50. This change would result in slightly higher building permit fee for applications where the cost of construction is between $1,001 and $10,000 (approximately $112 on the upper end).
| Current Item Detail | Current Fee | Proposed Item Detail | Proposed Fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Building Permit, and other permits (cost of construction) | $0 - $10,000: Minimum $100 | $0 - $1,000 | Minimum $100 |
| $10,001 - $100,000: $100 plus 1.25% of amount | $1,001 - $100,000 | For cost of construction in excess of $1,000 and less than or equal to $100,000, the fee shall be $100.00 for the first $1,000 plus 1.25% of the amount or part thereof for the next $99,000 | |
| $100,001 - $500,000: $1,288.00 plus 1% of amount | $100,001 - $500,000 | For cost of construction in excess of $100,000 and less than or equal to $500,000, the fee shall be $1338.00 for the first $100,000 plus 1% of the amount or part thereof for the next $400,000 | |
| Over $500,000: $5,288.00 plus 0.75% of amount | Over $500,000 | For cost of construction in excess of $500,000, the fee shall be $5,338.00 for the first $500,000 plus 0.75% of the amount or part thereof over $500,000 | |
| Application Fee at submission (non-refundable) | 25% of total permit fee. Minimum $100 | Application Fee at submission (non-refundable) | No change |
Table 1. Building Permit Fee Calculations
Fees and Charges Bylaw – Public Notification Fee
The Town has collected Public Hearing deposits of $2500 (plus increments of $500 as necessary) for newspaper ads and public notice mailouts above and beyond the development application fees. Deposit refunds are issued to applicants for any excess funds. However, Council recently adopted Public Notification Bylaw No. 1106, 2023, which regulates the new notification methods endorsed by Council. There are no longer newspaper ads; however, the Town continues to carry out direct delivery of public notice to persons and businesses in the area affected by the subject matter of the notice.
There are no Opportunity for Public Comment deposits for notice mailouts for variance applications. The cost associated with providing direct mailout notices is approximately 0.95 cents per notice, plus a standard fee of $115 per month. Table 2 below provides a summary of recent notice mailouts for development permit with variances and development variance permit applications and approximate costs to the Town.
| Notice Type | Application Type | Address | Number of Notice Mailouts | Approx. Mail out Cost (based on 0.95 cents per notice) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Notice of Opportunity for Public Comment | Development Permit with Variances | 7 Erskine Lane | 81 | $76.95 |
| Notice of Opportunity for Public Comment | Development Permit with Variances | 302 Bessborough Ave | 68 | $64.60 |
| Notice of Opportunity for Public Comment | Development Variance Permit | 1681 Island Highway (Burger King) | 140 | $133 |
| Notice of Opportunity for Public Comment | Development Permit with Variances | 1519 Admirals Road | 440 | $418 |
| Notice of Opportunity for Public Comment | Development Variance Permit | 49 Tovey Crescent | 39 | $37.05 |
Table 1 – A Summary of Recent Notice Mailouts and Approximate Costs
To recover the costs associated with notice mailouts for development permit with variance and development variance permit applications, which will likely increase due to the number of multi-unit residential buildings under construction in the Town, Council may wish to consider adding a non-refundable Opportunity for Public Comment fee of $200 (approximate average of the above mailout costs) in addition to the development application fee, which is as follows:
- Development Permit/Variance Permit Application Fee: $550 for the first five variances ($100 for each additional variance).
For comparison, the City of Victoria has a non-refundable $200 Opportunity for Public Comment fee for development permit with variances and development variance permit applications in addition to the application fees (i.e., DVP application fee is $750 for one variance and each additional variance is $250).
Other Amendments
As noted above, there are some outdated bylaw references and a couple of minor grammatical typos in the Fees and Charges Bylaw, and staff will capture these items in the bylaw update.
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS:
The proposed changes will now ensure that the Town is reimbursed for public notice mailouts associated with development applications. There are no other changes to application fees at this time.
ALTERNATIVES:
That Council decline the proposed changes to the Fees and Charges Bylaw.
CONCLUSION:
In the future, staff would like to carry out a fulsome review of Development Services fees and charges, which will require a significant amount of research and staff time; however, the proposed amendments related to building permit and development applications deal with some short-term inefficiencies and cost recovery. The recommendation for Council’s consideration is to receive the report for information.
| CONCURRENCE: | Initials | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Chief Administrative Officer | SS | I concur with the recommendation. |
| REVIEWED BY: | Initials |
|---|---|
| Director of Corporate Administration | n/a |
| Director of Finance | DLC |
| Director of Development Services | LT |
| Director of Engineering and Parks | n/a |
| Director of Protective Services | n/a |
ATTACHMENTS:
Attachment 1: Fees and Charges Bylaw No. 958, 2016
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