The municipality of Kincardine is following in Saugeen Shores’ footsteps.
Council has agreed to hire Hemson Consulting to do a study into the merit of implementing development charges on new builds.
However, Building and Planning Manager Michele Barr says it’s all very preliminary.
The firm will look about a decade down the road to the town’s future service needs for things like roads and sewers.
Barr says after that, council can put a cost to those needs and determine what the development fee should be.
Barr hopes that part of the study will be complete by January of the new year.
But she adds that all depends on how quickly they can get the necessary information to the consultants, and that will hinge on public meetings as well.
Barr says they will probably look to Saugeen Shores as an example, but can’t say they’ll use the same formula.
She adds the implementation of the fees won’t come as a surprise to anyone.
Barr says they’ve talked to a few local developers, and they realize it’s something the municipality needs to fund all the infrastructure projects.
