Cobourg Council committee declines fee waiver

Housing construction. By Ernie Journeys. Free Use Domain. Unsplash.

By Cecilia Nasmith

Without a complete waiver of development charges and post-construction taxes frozen for 10 years at pre-construction levels, an 85-unit apartment building won't get built in Cobourg, council's Public Works Planning and Development Committee heard at Wednesday's meeting.

Developer Aaron Gold of Plazacomm appeared to appeal a previous decision not to grant these requests for a proposed $35-million development on Elgin Street West by saying it would just not be viable to pursue this project without the waivers – which, between the tax arrangement and development-charge waiver, would be worth $10.5-million.

The committee was not inclined to rethink the refusal.

“It's difficult to ask a community of 22,000 people and say we are giving to one developer a $10-million break,” Lucas Cleveland said.

Committee acting chair Brian Darling agreed, saying that to do so would set a precedent.

“Once you set a precedent, it becomes hard to justify going back on that,” Darling pointed out.

The motion was made to deny the request, though Cleveland added an amendment – to reach out to Federal and provincial governments for opportunities regarding partnerships of some kind.

“We're not saying no – we're saying no, but what else can we do?” he stated.

“That way it doesn't fall dead in the water without more research,” Darling agreed.