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11 | 24 | 2016 VOLUME 21 | ISSUE 46
EDSS CURLING TEAM OFF TO A GOOD START SPORTS PAGE 9
COMMENT PAGE 6
REGION NEEDS TO LOOK INTERNALLY FOR MONEY
OMB upholds Woolwich’s staging plan for Breslau subdivision
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KINGS SKATE OVER SISKINS IN WINNING WEEKEND
STEVE KANNON WOOLWICH’S GO-SLOW APPROACH TO residential development will be in full force when two new subdivisions get rolling next year in Breslau. Where one developer, Thomasfield Homes, came to an arrangement with the township, the second, Empire Communities, opted to challenge Woolwich’s stance at the Ontario Municipal Board. Ironically, when the quasi-judicial agency’s decision came down Nov. 18, Empire ended up with a smaller annual allocation than did Thomasfield. Woolwich had been pushing for annual staging of 50 new homes for each developer, but allowed Thomasfield 75 per year to avoid any legal entanglements. Opting to go to the OMB, Empire ended up with the 50 originally on offer. The OMB decision does, however, clear the way for the next phase of the Riverland subdivision to go ahead. “Thomasfield settled and got more. Empire wanted to fight about it, and they got less,” Dan Kennaley, Woolwich’s director of engineering and planning, acknowledged this week. Previous development in the village, notably Thomasfield’s Hopewell Heights and Empire’s Riverland subdivisions, had no restrictions. But with a new settlement plan for Breslau, the staging plan for Breslau is in line with
Jacob Black scored the Sugar Kings’ ninth goal of their 9-4 victory over the Waterloo Siskins on Nov. 20, assisted by Matt Murray and Ty Biles. The Elmira team also beat the Listowel Cyclones 2-1 in double overtime the night before at the WMC. The two wins keep them at first place in the Midwestern Conference. See story page 9. [WHITNEY NEILSON / THE OBSERVER]
No extra transit charges for township developments Regional committee votes against staff recommendation calling for universal levies on new homes
OMB | 5
STEVE KANNON THOSE BUYING NEW HOMES in the township won’t be hit with thousands of dollars in extra costs to pay for transit, regional council’s administration and finance committee decided Tuesday. Members voted against a staff recommendation that would have added $3,188 to the price tag of each new home built region-wide. Instead, the development charges will apply only to the cities, with the four rural townships exempt from the amended bylaw. To generate the same
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revenue from a cities-only approach, the development charge would be $3,465 for a single-family home. A new charge for waste management – $255 for a single-detached home – will apply. Currently, there are no development charges for waste management, so the $255 fee is new across the board. For transit, homes built in Waterloo, Kitchener and Cambridge come with a $794 surcharge, with the new rate quadrupling that. Homes built in the townships don’t pay development charges for transit. Woolwich is the only area outside of the cities cur-
rently paying for the operation of Grand River Transit, with a township-wide levy being applied to cover the cost of route 21 between Elmira and Waterloo. During the consultation stage, all of the rural municipalities favoured the status quo in setting development charges for transit, with the region initially suggesting two other options: a lowered rate for the townships or a universal fee. The decision on the transit component was welcome news for Woolwich Mayor Sandy Shantz, who had called the staff report’s CHARGES | 4