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Development Charges and Parkland Dedication

Purpose of development charges

Development charges help offset increases in capital costs which fall to the City of Welland as a result of new growth. Specifically, the City will collect development charges relative to increased capital costs involved with the provision of:

Studies
Parks and recreation
Library
Transit
Fire protection
Roads
Water
Wastewater
Stormwater

The City collects development charges on behalf of the Welland Public Library for library materials and equipment.

Other information

a) When is a development charge imposed?
A development charge on new residential development is imposed by the City when the development of the land increases the need for service and where the development requires approvals concerning zoning, minor variance, conveyance of land, subdivision approval, condominium approval, consent for servicing development, or the issuing of a building permit. The City imposes development charges for non-residential development, except for industrial development.

b) When are development charges payable?
Development charges are collected immediately before the issuance of a building permit.

c) Treasurer's statement
On or before June 1 of each year, the treasurer must produce a statement concerning development charges collected by the City.

The statement must report the opening and closing balances of the reserve funds into which development charges collected are deposited. The statement must also report all transactions relating to the reserve funds.

In addition, the statement outlines:

A description of each service for which a charge is collected.
The credits, if any, which are outstanding for any service, including the opening and closing balances of such credits.
The amount of funds borrowed from each reserve fund and the purpose for which the borrowed funds were used; the amount of interest owed to the reserve funds for funds borrowed from the same.
The amount and source of City funds used to repay any money borrowed from any reserve fund.
A list of projects for which development charges have been expended, including the total project cost and the development charges fund contribution to the project.

The statement, once received by Council, is available from the city clerk’s office.

Parkland Dedication

Section 42 of the Planning Act allows the City of Welland to require that land be conveyed or payment be provided in lieu to the municipality for park or other public recreational purposes as a condition of development or redevelopment of lands. Any payment in lieu of parkland provided to the municipality is deposited into the City’s Parkland Dedication Reserve Fund.