March 26th, 2024

As noted in previous UDI newsletters, at Council on March 11th changes to implement fee increases to water, sewer, and drainage connection fees, as well as developer permits and fees, were adopted. The purpose of these changes was to support cost recovery for the City.

The changes include:

• A $9000 increase to water, sewer, and drainage connection fees, with an effective date of January 1st, 2024; and
• A 20% increase to developer permits and fees, with any applications initiated before March 1st, 2024 able to remain under the old fee structure.

March 12th, 2024

At Council on March 4th, proposed amendments to implement increases to water, sewer, and drainage connection fees, as well as developer permits and fees, received First, Second, and Third Reading. The emphasis of these amendments was on cost recovery for the City.

Proposed changes include:

• Water, sewer, and drainage connection fees in the Water Utility Bylaw and Sewer and Drainage Utility Bylaw see a $9000 increase to utility connection and severance fees, with an effective date of January 1st, 2024;
• Developer permits and fees in the Construction Regulation Bylaw see a proposed 20% increase. Any fees with applications initiated before March 1st, 2024 remain under the old fee structure.

More information can be found in the full report by City staff.

January 16th, 2024

On December 4th, 2023, Council adopted changes pertaining to the 2023 Fees and Charges Review. The report by City staff considered several bylaws influence the municipal costs incurred by developers within the City. Most rate changes are the result of inflationary increases.

Developer Permits and Fees – Planning and Development

As average construction values are increasing and there has been a 35% increase in CPI over the past 12 years (when CNV's permit fees were last updated), a gap has emerged between the fee revenue coming into CNV and the costs being incurred. Due to the financial analysis conducted, fee increases are needed to enable cost recovery.

Changes to the Construction Regulation Bylaw that would come into effect on March 1st, 2024 are displayed below:

Street Permit Fees – Engineering, Parks, and Environment

With regards to transportation and the increase in development in the City, typical community concerns raised are around restricted access, safety, delays, and inconvenience due to construction activities that occupy portions of the road, boulevard, sidewalk, bike facilities and multi-use paths (public space). Any occupation of public space for exclusive use of adjacent construction sites therefore requires a temporary street use permit, of which there are a few options, including:

• Temporary Building Zone ("TBZ") permit allows an on-street area adjacent to the construction site to be designated for the exclusive use of vehicles engaged in construction activities of that site.
• Temporary Street Occupancy ("TBO") Permit allows a public space to be reserved and fenced off for the exclusive use of a construction site's activities, including storage.

An inflationary increase is therefore recommended to update the TBZ and TSO fees. The fee increases in the Street and Traffic Bylaw that came into effect on January 1st, 2024 are displayed in the table below:

Connection Fees – Engineering, Parks and Environment

Staff are proposing that connection fees increase above the average actual costs incurred in 2023 to account for the timing of payments received by CNV versus the length of time it takes for developers to advance projects to the stage where they are ready for CNV to install utility connections and incur costs.

The changes to the Water Utility Bylaw & Sewerage and Drainage Utility Bylaw that came into effect on January 1st, 2024 are displayed in the table below:

More information can be found in the full report by City staff.