Mayoral candidate Cody Cacciotti is now taking aim at what the city charges developers, saying costs could be discouraging growth in Greater Sudbury.
Fellow candidate Dan Melanson made similar criticisms last week.
For his part, Cacciotti said the city has to find out for certain if development charges are discouraging growth.
“Greater Sudbury is currently one of only two major cities in northern Ontario charging developmental fees, with our fees being the higher of the two,” he said. “We need to uncover whether or not these charges are discouraging businesses from developing and new homes from being built. If so, these charges need to be addressed.”
Cacciotti also said the city needs a “customer-focused, solution-based approach” and proper training for city employees to help developers through the process. What the city doesn’t need is the expense of employing a part-time facilitator to do the job city staff should already be doing, he said.
Full text of Cacciotti’s news release is below.
The City of Greater Sudbury is currently unsustainable with regard to its current infrastructure. The only way to stabilize tax increases is to create jobs and grow our current tax base. In order to move this city forward, we must position Greater Sudbury as the place of choice for new business.
To do so, we must promote an environment that will encourage growth and break down barriers preventing economic opportunity. There is a need to review all processes related to development and ensure that our municipality is indeed “business friendly.”
This includes a full study of the city's policy as it relates to developmental charges. Greater Sudbury is currently one of only two major cities in northern Ontario charging developmental fees, with our fees being the higher of the two. We need to uncover whether or not these charges are discouraging businesses from developing and new homes from being built. If so, these charges need to be addressed.
The city must also ensure that it is working with developers and is offering a customer-focused, solution-based approach to business. I do not believe that the hiring of a part-time facilitator is the answer as it will only add another layer of frustration for developers seeking opportunity in our city. It will also add another salary on the backs of taxpayers.
We need to make certain that current city employees are afforded training opportunities so that the processing of building permit requests and inspections can be done both efficiently and effectively. There needs to be a clear process relating to development requests which is easy to follow, reduces confusion and eliminates the back-and-forth for developers.
This can be done by implementing clear standards and an easy to read "what is required checklist" for all projects. All inspectors would be required to follow the established standards with no deviations by individual inspectors.
The city has the capacity to do this and must be focused on facilitating opportunities for growth. If elected mayor, I will work to ensure that the city is removing roadblocks that hamper development, positioning
Greater Sudbury as the place of choice to live, develop and invest.
Learn more about Cacciotti’s candidacy on his page on Sudbury.com's election section.
