James and Sarah Garland wanted to build a new home on a two-acre severance on the family farm. While they waited for approval, the city’s development charge went up to $47,752.
Red tape and delays at city hall have cost a rural Ottawa couple more than $15,000 in rising development charges on the dream home they plan to build on the family farm.
James Garland and his wife, Sarah, want to build a new home for their growing family on a two-acre severance from James’ father’s 100-year old farm on Garlandside Road near Limoges. But, while they waited for what they thought would be a simple severance “for a square of a cornfield,” the city’s development charge went up and up, increasing by nearly 50 per cent in two years: to $48,000 from $32,000 originally.
When Garland’s sister severed a similar piece of land from the farm 12 years ago, the process took five months and cost “a few thousand dollars,” he said.
“I know costs have gone up, but we were expecting somewhat the same thing today. But it’s just been one delay after another. Our expectation was it would take about a year to separate the lot and get the permits and start building, then we’d move into the house after about a year and a half.”
Though Garland’s building permit had been approved, the city wanted new surveys and things such as a hydrogeology report to ensure the water table was high enough to support the house and possible future buildings. Garland had to have numerous test pits dug. He said he had spent $120,000 on legal fees and various studies before putting a shovel in the ground.
A development charge is a fee the city charges to pay for the cost of infrastructure such as roads, transit, sewer and water lines needed for new growth. Ironically, the Garland home will be on well and septic service and doesn’t require city services.
“The last time our road was paved, I don’t think I was born,” he joked.
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Frustrated, Garland has written to complain to his councillor, George Darouze in Osgoode Ward, Mayor Mark Sutcliffe and even federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre.
The city has confirmed that the amount of the development charge is correct, but that’s not what has angered Garland. He’s mad about the delays in approval during which time the development charge climbed. It’s a bit like watching the cost of your groceries rise even as you stand in line at the checkout.
“It got into this big ridiculous thing. We started the process three years ago. By that time the (development) fees went up from $32,000 to $34,000 to $40,000 to now, when it’s up to $48,000,” he said.
Both Sutcliffe and Darouze responded to Garland to explain that the development-charge increases came from the Province of Ontario and not the city. Increases under the Development Charges Act between 2021 and 2023 were 35 per cent, Darouze said.
On top of that, a 2014 council decision meant properties in “rural transit area A” — areas of Ottawa receiving at least some bus service — must pay the full public transit portion of the development charge. OC Transpo Route 222 runs three times in the mornings and three time in the afternoon betwen Vars and the Blair LRT station. The nearest bus stop is about five kilometres from the Garland property.
“I completely understand their frustration with the charge, but there are multiple factors at play which influence the development charges.,” Darouze said in an email response to the Ottawa Citizen.
Speeding the approval process for homes is the goal of a new city task force announced last week by the mayor. Speaking at the Jan. 22 council meeting, Sutcliffe said the city approved more than 50,000 new housing units between January 2023 and September 2024, but only 8,300 of those units had been issued building permits.
“We’re not building as many homes as we like in the community. It’s not the city’s responsibility to build those homes, it’s our job to approve them,” Sutcliffe told reporters. “We’ve heard many times in the feedback from the community that they want to see approvals happen faster.”
The city has set a goal to add between 90,000 and 100,000 new homes over the next 20 years, but fell short of its 15,000 target for 2024 and will likely fall short again in 2025.
“This is a challenging area and there’s all kinds of regulations and previous decisions of council to ensure that all steps are followed in the approval process and guidelines to be followed for getting a home approved in Ottawa,” the mayor said. “Staff have been doing everything they can to streamline that process. There’s been a lot of work already done to eliminate silos and to eliminate people being bounced from department to department. But there’s always more that we can do.”
As for the Garlands, they are at last ready to begin building their new home.
“It’s finalized. We got an email this month,” Garland said. “They said, ‘It (the building permit) is ready for pickup. Just bring a cheque for $47,752.”
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