Development fees are on the agenda Monday night in Essex.
Councillor Sherry Bondy is presenting a notice of motion asking council to direct administration to cease the multi-residential waiving of development fees unless the new proposal is deemed to qualify for affordable housing.
Bondy says back in 2019 council decided to waive development fees for multi-residential buildings because they wanted to provide incentive to developers to get some apartment buildings in Essex.
"And it worked," says Bondy. "We have one in Ward 1, Essex Centre, and we have one coming in McGregor. So the motion back then did what it needed to do, but now we need to look at financially is this feasible going forward."
She says current taxpayers have to pay $400,000 to $600,000 to cover the development fees for each apartment they're doing that for.
"Is it really fair at the end of the day and how many more do we want to do burdening the current taxpayers," she says. "Now I can see waiving multi-residential development fees if the developers are looking to build affordable housing, because that is what is missing in the Town of Essex."
Bondy says she's asking council to put their money where their mouths are to say they want to see affordable housing, they will give incentives to see affordable housing, but the way it currently works isn't fair to taxpayers.
She says there's next to no affordable housing in Essex, which is something they have to change.
"This is a tool that we can work on saying hey, if you're a developer and you want to build affordable housing we will more than meet you halfway," says Bondy. "But if you are somebody, you know a developer who just wants to make money, that's great we still welcome but the rest of the taxpayers are not going to cover the development fees."
Essex is still waiving commercial and industrial development fees, which is something Bondy believes the next iteration of council will need to look at in the new term.