Does Development Pay For Itself?

Submitted by Mike on Thu, 20/03/2008 - 13:15.

Approved By the City of Rossland

Last night the staff of the City of Rossland provided a two hour long meeting to residents on the topic of development within the City.

In a presentation entitled, "Does Development Pay for Itself?", this question was answered in terms of the myriad of financial implications, the development and zoning process, and engineering and infrastructure (which was my area of responsibility).

After each speaker, a quick ten minute question time was set, to allow residents to ask questions pertaining to the presentation, and when the three speakers were done, a further twenty minutes of question time commenced.

Questions that were not answered were written down and handed to staff after the presentation. I was impressed with the general nature of the questions, the concerns of residents typically reflected those of staff. Issues raised included Development Cost Charges, affordable housing, water management, sewer capacity and required upgrades, and costs to developers.

The Mayor recorded the proceedings and will make copies available for those who were not able to attend.

Leave a comment if you were there, and let us know what your thoughts were. Click on the link below to see a pdf of the presentation...

Technorati Tags: engineering, Rossland BC, Rossland, Kootenays, Engineer, development, development cost charge, growth, economic growth, Red Mountain, development approval, sewer, water, water management, affordable housing, affordability, DCCs

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City of Rossland - Does Development Pay for Itself - Web.pdf	3.06 MB

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I just found you through the

I just found you through the BC Bloggers site and I am a Rossland resident.

It seems too late...I grew up here and returned in July 2006. I was shocked by the development at the ski hill and at the golf course. The price of housing seemed already completely ridiculous to me. My family is choked at the rapid increases in their taxes and resent the influx out-of-towners.

Another golf course? Are you kidding me? Enough is enough.

Submitted by Wandering Coyote (not verified) on Thu, 20/03/2008 - 19:42.

@ Wandering Coyote, I've

@ Wandering Coyote, I've seen your blog before thanks for stopping by. I understand your frustrations, we moved to Castlegar from a city of 250,000 people in Australia... we couldn't afford a house in any big city in BC or Alberta, there was just no way without my wife working full time as well. We have two young girls and want them to grow up in a safe sustainable community.

Part of the deal with sustainability though is economic sustainability. Just like Castlegar can't rely on the pulp mill for ever, neither should Rossland rely on Cominco.

The increases in taxes that you mention are mostly coming from the regional district requisition, the average home is Rossland has had a less than CPI increase in taxes in the past 7 years. (I think that's shown in one of the slides in the pdf).

If you care about the community, get involved in discussions (I'm not sure if you have been), and find ways to make Rossland a great place to live, now and into the future.

I'm not sure why you mentioned the golf course... that's not what the presentation was about!?

Submitted by Mike on Fri, 21/03/2008 - 11:08.

I mention the golf course

I mention the golf course because it's just another development we don't need, IMO.

Submitted by Wandering Coyote (not verified) on Sat, 22/03/2008 - 08:38.

And of course, you are

And of course, you are welcome to that opinion, and I'd encourage you to express it, not necessarily because I agree or disagree, rather, I see it as an important part of community, being able to have all viewpoints heard.

Thanks for your comments!

Submitted by Mike on Sat, 22/03/2008 - 16:40.