ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT

TO:

Vancouver City Council

FROM:

Director of Development Services

SUBJECT:

Specific Development Services Application Fee Increases

 

RECOMMENDATION

GENERAL MANAGER'S COMMENTS

COUNCIL POLICY

On January 17, 1991, Council instructed every Department/Board to review services for which fees are now charged to ensure that fees are recovering the full cost of the services to the City, or are equivalent to competitive charges where the fee is of a market nature, rather then for cost recovery.

BACKGROUND

The budget for 2003 was approved by Council on April 22nd. This budget incorporated adjustments made to achieve a balanced budget with a tax increase of 4.67%. Included in these adjustments were several increases suggested by Community Services. These included increased revenues from the Cemetery, Building By-law equivalents; licensing of rentalsingle-family dwellings; selected application fees; and grow-op inspections. It was anticipated that possible permit application fee increases could generate approximately $125,000 in increased revenues.

PURPOSE

The purpose of this report is to detail and implement increases to specific application fees as required to generate revenue approved by Council in its consideration of the 2003 Budget.

DISCUSSION

In contemplating possible immediate development application fee increases that would be defensible in terms of enhanced service provision to applicants, yet implemented in advance of a comprehensive fee review (in progress), staff reviewed new services available since the last fee review in the early 1990s. Specifically, staff assessed the services now available through Development Services and implementation of process changes arising out of the Development and Building Review initiative begun in 1995.

In implementing changes to the manner in which the City manages the diverse City approvals a property may require for its use/development/building, the City established the Development Services Department in 2000. Included as key, new services were the establishment of staff to provide pre-application project "scoping", and project "facilitation".

Two Project Scoper positions were created to provide enhanced pre-application enquiry service for those projects that were identified as needing multiple City approvals and likely to confront unique, complex or controversial issues in seeking these approvals. Project Scopers bring their City experience, and that of other City review staff in various departments, to a conceptual project at the enquiry stage.

Experience indicates this service identifies anticipated issues a project is likely to face and provides the proponent with both a reasonable expectation of what their conceptual proposal will encounter and a prognosis of success. While this enquiry service has dissuaded some proponents from embarking on project expenditures that may prove to be futile, it has also provided proponents choosing to proceed with early reconnaissance as to realistic expectations in meeting their aspirations. This service has greatly assisted in reducing a proponent's uncertainties, enabling him/her to embark on a project application(s) and preparatory expenditures with more insight as to what lies ahead.

Four Project Facilitator positions were also created to provide enhanced project management services to the most significant and/or controversial projects submitted. This includes - but is not limited to - projects requiring development application approval by the Development Permit Board and those involving heritage resources. The Project Facilitators are a proponent's (and community's) single point of contact, neutral as to project outcome and solely charged with having the City reach an outcome in an efficient, inclusive and transparent manner. This includes identification of issues needing resolution and managing that resolution in a timely manner, and functioning somewhat as a project "ombudsperson" for all parties - owner/developer/consultants, City staff, neighbours/community - throughout the process of City review and construction (if approved). Project Facilitators have received considerable recognition for their services from project proponents and the community alike, as well as from City staff with whom they engage, indicating clear value added.

A further enhancement now provided in our project review/approval services is improved integration of what were traditionally fragmented, sequential application/approval processes. Although some sequential processing is inevitable as a project progresses from less to more detail and with information of different content related to each By-law being applied, we have now invested, early in the project review, staff expertise from "downstream" review groups. This provides a preliminary assessment of project attributes so as to identify aspects that require attention in order to avoid problems in subsequent application/approval reviews as the project evolves to greater detail.

This "heads up" assessment, particularly in terms of Building By-law and Fire Protection requirements, augments the initial enquiry Project Scoping but does so once the project is more tangible in terms of design substance. Most commonly, it is the development application drawings that are reviewed, based on the information provided, as to basic life safety and fire fighting design issues that may be problematic at the building permit application stage. This provides a proponent with more explicit forewarning which, if not addressed, will delay if not threaten subsequent approvals and potentially jeopardize approvals already received. This service has essentially eliminated the need for revisions to an issued development permit, required to achieve building permit issuance which could not be granted to the development permit as first issued. The improved process integration through earlier investment of staff expertise clearly benefits both applicants and the City alike, yielding processing efficiencies in "downstream" application/approval processes.

The development applications principally benefiting from the Project Scoper and Project Facilitator services described fall under Section 6 of Schedule 1 to the Zoning and Development Fee By-law. Section 6 establishes fees for development applications which proceed to the Development Permit Board. The services now provided would be readily defensible in terms of supporting a fee increase of 10% to this type of application. The comprehensive fee review (to be reported in October), will more fully establish the costs attributable to these applications.

Development applications not commonly utilizing the Project Scoper and Project Facilitator services but still benefiting from the improved process integration are those within Sections 2, 3 and 4 of Schedule 1 to the Zoning and Development Fee By-law. Staff are very confident both the costs and benefits are more than sufficient to warrant a 3% increase in development application fees of these types.

The current development application fees in the four specific sections proposed for revision, along with the fee increases as described above, are detailed in Appendix A.

The Private Property Tree By-law is the other area in which staff believed increased application fees would be very defensible in terms of City resource expenditures in providing services.

Past practice has been to establish application fees to enable the City to recover typical, directly related processing costs as well as a suitable proportion of the ancillary or indirect costs of administering each by-law. These ancillary costs of providing our application services include the costs in providing:

· general enquiry services related to the by-laws (e.g., "What is the zoning and what does it allow?");

· explaining corresponding application/review procedures (e.g., submission requirements and review steps/timing for a required development application); and

· responding to concerns/complaints from the public regarding activity or an application on adjacent lands (e.g., spending time explaining why permit approval was/was not granted).

The foregoing services have increased with respect to the Private Property Tree By-law. In order to more fully recover these costs prior to the comprehensive fee review which may indicate further increases are warranted to achieve full cost recovery of service delivery, staff are confident that a 5% increase in tree removal permit application fees is readily defensible. The current fees are contained in Section 12B of the By-law. This is presented in Appendix B, showing existing fees and revised fees incorporating a 5% increase.

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

The anticipated financial implications of the proposed fee increases are as follows:

These fees have already been incorporated into the 2003 Operating Budget.

CONCLUSION

There are four specific development application fees as well as tree removal permit application fees that staff believe can be increased immediately to generate revenues that will more closely reflect the costs of providing the related services they derive. It is therefore recommended that Council enact the required amending by-laws as soon as possible.

These specific services, as well as all others for which fees are levied within Community Services, are the subject of a comprehensive fee review which is examining total corporate costs associated with our delivery of services. This review is expected to indicate possible further increases in the above described fees and many others, in order to have our fees achieve full cost recovery. This review is scheduled to be reported to Council in October, for subsequent community input and a decision by Council with sufficient advance notice to enable comprehensive fee revisions that would take effect January 1, 2004.

- - - - -

SPECIFIC FEES IN THE ZONING & DEVELOPMENT FEE
BY-LAW NO. 5585

Multiple Dwellings

APPENDIX A

2. For a multiple dwelling, or for an addition to an existing multiple dwelling:

    (a) where the permit would be issued as an outright approval or as a conditional approval pursuant to Section 3.2.6 of the Zoning and Development By-law:

        Each 100 m² of gross floor area or part up to 500 m²
        For each additional 100 m² of gross floor area or part
        Maximum fee

    (b) where the permit would be issued as a conditional approval, except as provided in Section 2(a):

        Each 100 m² of gross floor area or part up to 500 m²
        For each additional 100 m² of gross floor area or part
        Maximum fee

$500.00 ($515.00)
$251.00 ($259.00)
$20,150.00 ($20,750.00)

$680.00 ($700.00)
$420.00 ($430.00)
$33,600.00 ($34,600)

Other Uses (Other Than One- or Two-family or Multiple Dwellings

  

3. For a new principal building or use, or for an addition to an existing building or use, being in all cases other than a one- or two-family dwelling and a multiple dwelling:

    (a) where the permit would be issued as an outright approval or as a conditional approval pursuant to Section 3.2.6 of the Zoning and Development By-law:

        Each 100 m² of gross floor area or part up to 500 m²
        For each additional 100 m² of gross floor area or part
        Maximum fee

    (b) where the permit would be issued as a conditional approval, except as provided in Section 3(a):

        Each 100 m² of gross floor area or part up to 500 m²
        For each additional 100 m² of gross floor area or part
        Maximum fee

$340.00 ($350.00)
$164.00 ($169.00)
$16,790.00 (17,290.00)

$590.00 ($610.00)
$340.00 ($350.00)
32,170.00 ($33,140.00)

Alterations, Changes of Use (Other Than One- or Two-family Dwellings)

  

4. For an accessory building or accessory use to a principal building or principal building or principal use already existing, or for an alteration, relaxation, or change of use to an existing building, being in all cases other than a one- or two-family dwelling:

    (a) where the permit would be issued as an outright approval or as a conditional approval pursuant to Section 3.2.6 of the Zoning and Development By-law:

        Each 100 m² of gross floor area or part thereof
        Maximum fee

    (b) where the permit would be issued as a conditional approval, except as provided in Section 4(a):

        Each 100 m² of gross floor area or part thereof
        Maximum fee

$290.00 ($300.00)
$2,350.00 ($2,420.00)

$420.00 ($430.00)
$2,950.00 ($3,040.00)

Developments Requiring Development Permit Board Approval

  

6. For an application which proceeds to the Development Permit Board:

    (a) instead of the fees referred to in Sections 1 to 4:

        Each 100 m² of gross floor area or part up to 10 000 m²
        Each additional 100 m² of gross floor area or part over 10 000 m²

    (b) instead of the fees referred to in Section 5:

        Each 200 m² of site area or part up to 1 000 m²
        Each additional 200 m² of site or part

$460.00 ($510.00)

$87.00 ($96.00)

$340.00 ($370.00)
$164.00 ($180.00)

NOTES: 1. Current fees are in regular font; proposed increased fees are adjacent in brackets and bold font.

APPENDIX B

APPLICATION FEES PER THE PRIVATE PROPERTY TREE
BY-LAW NO. 7347

12B. A non-refundable application fee of $43.00 ($45.00) shall be charged for a tree permit to remove one tree, and where more than one tree are to be removed by permit within a 12 month period the fee shall be $43.00 ($45.00) for the first tree and $70.00 ($74.00) for each subsequent tree.

Notes: 1. Current fees are in regular font; proposed increased fees are in brackets and bold font.

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