A local couple has asked The Blue Mountains council for financial relief from thousands of dollars of fees they face to construct a single home in the town.
Sydney and Ben Carleton face approximately $125,000 in various fees before a shovel is even in the ground to build their dream home on property they own on Camperdown Road.
Sydney Carleton was a delegation at council’s meeting on March 11 to request relief from the town’s parkland dedication fees that she estimates would cost them $50,000.
Their property is located at Camperdown Road and Highway 26. In 2023, they received permission to sever 1.23 acres from the 1.86 acre property, which currently contains one house. They plan to build a new home on the severed parcel and sell the other home and lot.
Carleton said the planning fees for the severance and rezoning applications, plus the various studies required (grading plans, geo-technical reports, survey) cost $35,000. In addition, they must pay another $37,600 in development charges.
She said she was shocked when she recently learned that parkland dedication fees (a condition of the severance approval) would be approximately $50,000 - five per cent of the property’s value.
“It puts us in an extremely difficult position financially. It’s unfeasible,” Carleton told council, explaining that they took out a line of credit to pay the earlier fees.
She said they offered to give the town a piece of their property to be dedicated as parkland, but that option had been rejected by town staff.
Carleton called the rejection of the offer a “slap in the face.” She said she was told by town staff to hire a land appraiser to calculate the value of the property in order to figure out the parkland fee.
“Every appraiser I reached out to had never heard of this applying to an individual,” she said.
Parkland dedication is a standard condition of any consent severance in The Blue Mountains. On some occasions, land is transferred to the ownership of the town to satisfy the condition. In other instances, property owners pay the town cash in lieu of land to satisfy the requirement.
In a unanimous 6-0 vote (Coun. Gail Ardiel declared a conflict on the issue), council voted to ask for an immediate staff report on options for council to consider regarding the request from the Carletons. The report will also outline the conditions required for council to have a reconsideration of the matter as council already provided direction to staff when it approved the rezoning application.
“I can hear the frustration in your voice,” said Deputy Mayor Peter Bordignon after Carleton’s presentation. “We’re not trying to impede anybody from building.
Coun. Shawn McKinlay said he hoped to see a follow-up staff report quickly.
“It’s incredibly unfortunate you and your family have to go through this right now,” said McKinlay, who said the town needed to act quickly on the request as construction season approaches. “The clock is ticking.”
