Development charges rising Aug. 1

It’s going to cost somewhat more to build a house in many of the newest neighbourhoods in Peterborough, soon: development charges are about to increase.

City councillors voted Monday night to approve a plan to increase development charges for the first time in five years.

As long as city council ratifies the plan next week, the new charges will take effect Aug. 1.

Development charges are costs imposed by the city in order to pay for services – such as library firefighting and public works – that need to expand in order to cover new neighbourhoods.

These charges also help the city cover costs such as installing sewers and stormwater management ponds, to accommodate new residents.

The city hired a specialized firm, Hemson, to study development charges in Peterborough and come up with recommendations.

Its report identifies eight growth areas of the city where new development charges will apply:

Carnegie East ( just west of Carnegie Ave., and north of Cumberland Ave.)

Carnegie West (a bit further west)

Chemong West (Chemong Rd. and Towerhill Rd.)

Lily Lake (just north of Lily Lake Rd)

Jackson (Sherbrooke St. and Brealey Dr.)

Coldsprings (Johnston Dr. and Bensfort Rd.)

Lift Lock (Parkhill Rd. E and Television Rd)

Those areas all put together are expected to have about 12,500 new homes, by the time they are all built out.

Coldsprings will have the highest increase: it’s going to mean the development charge on a single detached house there will go from the current rate of $27,116 to $29,763 (that’s $2,647 more).

The Coldsprings area will get the greatest number of new homes of all the eight areas (4,687 homes).

They will need a lot of sewers, and also its own centralized stormwater management facility, by the time the build-out is done. The cost: $26.2 million.

Meanwhile, the Jackson growth area will experience a small decrease in development charges: the current charge of $27,244 will dip to $23,316 (a decrease of $928). The sewers and pumping stations there are already completed and financed, the Hemson report notes.