Parksville will establish an amenity contribution reserve fund to track money allocated to community amenities or spending as authorized by council during budgetary processes.
Amenity contributions are made on a voluntary basis by developers when applying for a rezoning or official community plan (OCP) amendment.
Council passed a notice of motion by Mayor Ed Mayne during its Oct. 3 regular meeting. The motion also stipulated that council advise developers the minimum amount, for multi-family housing developments, should be at least $1,200 per unit.
“Right now somebody says ‘I’m going to make a contribution to the fire hall’, or ‘I’m going to make a contribution to sidewalks’, or ‘I’m going to make a contribution to parks’. Most of that actually goes back to general funds,” he said. “What I’m suggesting is the full amount that the contribution is goes into a separate reserve account.”
$1,200 is the amount most developers have contributed per unit over the past year or two, and the number could be adjusted as needed, according to Mayne.
Coun. Doug O’Brien said he could not support the motion without more information, such as a staff report on the pros and cons of making the practice a policy instead of leaving it to the director of planning and staff to work with developers.
READ MORE: Qualicum Beach still looking for groups interested in developing low-cost housing
City staff plan to create more types of reserve funds, such as the existing equipment reserve fund, to help with future planning, according to Keeva Kehler, the city’s chief administrative officer.
Staff are waiting so the practice can be tied with asset management and the city has hired a staff person, in a term position, to help better understand what the reserves should be saving for.
Coun. Teresa Patterson suggested the community park would also be a good candidate for a reserve fund.
Mayne’s motion called for the amenity contribution reserve fund to be established in 2023.