On November 6^th, Council adopted proposed changes to the District’s Fees and Charges Bylaw. District staff are recommending a 5% service adjustment, with some exceptions to fees being raised/lowered more than 5%. These variances can be referenced in Table 1 of the report by District staff.

These changes cover:

• The Preliminary Plan Review fee within building permits has been updated to a "per hour" fee (with a minimum 2-hour charge) to provide more consistency with the "Re-check" fee;
• A new fee for finishing permits has been introduced for completion of an expired permit that is no longer eligible for a permit extension as allowed under the Construction Bylaw. The fee is based on a percentage of the original permit fee but higher than extension fees, to encourage compliance with the prescribed process within the Construction Bylaw;
• Mechanical permit fees for special inspections and installation of plumbing fixtures by someone other than the original permit holder, have been removed as these fees are no longer in use;
• Annual Electrical Permit fees will be reduced by 50% for the purpose of operating energy management systems for EV charging infrastructure. Electrical operating permits are required under the B.C. Safety Standards Act for electrical services of a certain size. Reducing the fee for this operating permit reduces barriers to EV charging for residents of multi-family residential buildings;
• Gas permit fees for re-inspection on any commercial or industrial installation due to faulty workmanship or materials, have been removed as these fees are no longer in use.;
• Permit fees relating to the installation, replacement or renewal of oil burning appliances or tanks have been removed as these are no longer in use. While some compressed gas appliances and tanks are still installed at times, they are captured as appliances under Gas Permits;
• Fees relating to engineering construction of roadway restoration, sidewalk, curb and gutter installation have been increased to fully recover the cost of development processing and materials;
• The fee for Water Utility modelling has been modified to show the "flow test" fee separately (was previously combined into one fee);
• Fees for Site Disclosure Statements remains at a maximum of $100 to ensure com pliancy with the Environmental Management Act;
• Inspection and re-inspection fees related to Environmental and Tree protection have been updated to be consistent with the same inspection services within Permits;
• Signage fees for public meetings related to rezonings and OCP amendments have been updated to include options for single-sided signs;
• Profiling fees in relation to development applications have been simplified to major and minor profiling fees.