Letting developers' consultants complete technical reviews a recipe for higher costs
Posted Mar 12, 2010 By Peggy Feltmate
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Tweet ThisEMC News - At the next council meeting, a proposal will be coming forward to allow consultants who are working for companies developing an area to be hired by the city to do the technical reviews of studies on issues like traffic and drainage submitted by the developer. That is a recipe for higher costs and problems with traffic and drainage not being addressed in the development approvals process.
When it comes to studies for development applications, developers and residents have conflicting objectives.
As residents, we want to make sure all possible problems are fixed during the construction process. We don't want people moving into new neighbourhoods to spend hours tied up in traffic or risk flooded basements because of how new neighbourhoods were built. We also don't want to pay the cost of fixing problems that were overlooked in the development process.
This means we want development studies to identify all possible problems and to err on the side of caution when proposing solutions.
Developers are trying to make money. It is in their interest if there are few or no problems and any required measures can be put in place quickly and cheaply.
Study on Bridlewood traffic shows problem with having one consultant working for both developers and the city
While the people doing the studies are professionals, there are often issues that are open to interpretation.
A few years ago, a study for a rezoning for development along Stonehaven showed there would not be a problem - even though the intersection of Stonehaven and Richmond is considered to be failing.
A consultant hired by the city for an Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) hearing argued there would be a problem.
When a developer is able to produce a study showing that development along Stonehaven can go ahead, even though the intersection of Stonehaven and Richmond is failing, we do not want consultants working on the same proposal for both the city and developers.
In fact, the process needs to be toughened up, not weakened.
Like any business, developers are trying to make a profit. It is their job to meet requirements to reduce possible problems with flooding and traffic congestion. It should not be their job to enforce those conditions. That forces them to take on conflicting responsibilities.
Making sure conditions for development will be enough to address potential problems is the city's responsibility. That includes doing the technical review of studies required for development applications.
To expect developers to "self-regulate" ignores the fact that, the way our economy works, the primary goal for any business is to make money.
WORKING FULL-TIME FOR KANATA SOUTH
I appreciate the chance to hear from you about issues affecting our community. You can reach me at 613-580-2752 (office), 613-580-2762 (fax), www.feltmateforkanata.com or peggy.feltmate@ottawa.ca.
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