There’s no reason “top guys” at city hall should be dealing with minor applications like deck permits, local lawyer Andrée Lacroix told city officials on Oct. 18.
“There may be a way to empower ... front-line staff ... to be able to address some of these issues,” she said during the Oct. 18 Future-Ready Development Services Ad-Hoc Committee meeting of city council.
Fellow lawyer Claude Lacroix later added that developers are getting different answers from different city departments, and more city staff should have the power to approve things along the way.
“We have really good front-line people, we don’t need to go to the third level of the ladder,” he said, describing the city as employing too much oversight, which can at times be “completely redundant.”
The two lawyers joined fellow lawyer James Carpino in representing the Sudbury District Law Association for a presentation to the committee, which was formed by Mayor Paul Lefebvre earlier this year to come up with solutions to better spur development.
The current series of public meetings are being held to gather feedback to help the committee draft a series of recommendations for city council consideration in early 2024.
During the Oct. 18 meeting, Lacroix also recommended developing some kind of incentive to encourage developers to close building permits, noting there are lots of open permits in Greater Sudbury, some of which are quite old.
Starlight Investments president (Canadian residential) David Chalmers also presented during the Oct. 18 meeting, during which he advocated that Greater Sudbury’s tax rate for multi-unit residential buildings needs to be cut in half.
His proposal tapped into a debate regarding tax rates in which competing reports have been used to make very different arguments.
In his report, Chalmers listed how much annual property tax is paid on multi-family assets assessed at $40 million in a handful of cities, with Sudbury far exceeding Guelph, Barrie, Kitchener and Toronto.
“The same competing trades are looking to build in all of these cities, so if Sudbury wants to get more development, looking at matching the peers like Barrie would be a good move,” Chalmers said.
Missing from his presentation was the context that real estate dollars go much further in Greater Sudbury than they do in southern Ontario. As such, a $40-million multi-unit residential property will have more units in Greater Sudbury, thereby spreading the taxes paid much further.
When comparing municipalities, the method most commonly accepted is property type, as it’s more indicative of how much property owners actually pay.
When it comes to multi-unit residential properties, the latest BMA Management Consulting Inc. report compares municipalities across the province using the amount paid in taxes per unit.
With walk-up apartments, the city’s 2022 property taxes were $1,944 per unit, which is considered “high” compared to the provincial average of $1,472.
Among municipalities with populations greater than 100,000, however, Greater Sudbury is close to the municipal average of $1,868 per unit.
Further, although Starlight Investments noted that Sudbury’s mill rate for multi-family units is much greater than that of Guelph, Barrie, Kitchener and Toronto, Greater Sudburians pay less per unit than residents of Guelph (who pay $2,038) and Kitchener ($1,978), while Barrie residents pay less ($1,695). Toronto’s per-unit rate is not listed.
When it comes to high-rise apartments, Greater Sudbury is listed in the “mid” range, at $2,074 per unit against an average of $1,918. The city fares much better when compared to the $2,124 average among municipalities with populations greater than 100,000.
Residents of Guelph pay more ($2,327 per unit), while residents of Barrie ($2,017) and Kitchener ($2,048) pay slightly less.
The previous Future-Ready Development Services Ad-Hoc Committee was held on Oct. 12, at which developers urged the city to streamline development approvals to be “interactive versus reactive,” and to return to in-person meetings with developers instead of virtual.
The next Future-Ready Development Services Ad-Hoc Committee meeting of city council is taking place at 1 p.m. on Oct. 26.
Invited guests include Derek Cashmore of the Sudbury and District Home Builders’ Association, and Louie Zagordo of Ontario Home Builders’ Association. They are slated to share their experiences and ideas related to Greater Sudbury development services processes.
The meeting can be viewed in-person at Tom Davies Square, and livestreamed by clicking here.
Residents can also weigh in with their ideas on city development services on the city’s Over To You page, available by clicking here.
Tyler Clarke covers city hall and political affairs for Sudbury.com.